Korean Job Discussion Forums

[teachingld2004]

Seems to me that there are either no good jobs around for September, or perhaps I am not looking in the right places.

My contract expires Aug 21, and I am looking for something September 1.
(or for the last week in August)

Many jobs want some one to start "now", and I cannot do that. I am just hoping that in the next 2 weeks that the job market will be wide open. I hate to take a lousey job just for the sake of a job.

I am beginning to think it would be easier to get a job if I was home and tried to get a job from there.

Anyone have any advice? I am just bummed out at this point.

[cdninkorea]

You could try sending your resume and what you're looking for to a bunch of recruiters... most of them will send you job offers which don't match your request at all (at least that's what happened to me), but it's worth a shot since they have job openings rolling in all the time.

[teachingld2004]

Yep, thats just what I did, and I am getting sent jobs that are paying 2.0 with 5 days vacation, or jobs that are paying 2.1 with shared housing.

Oh, and I did get sent one that paid 2.3 with NO housing.

I also am getting sent jobs that say immediate when I said I cant start till the last week in August.

You are right, recruiters send anything they have, not what you ask for.

Ijust am assuming, and I hope correctly, that in August there will be jobs that say "immediate".

[Son Deureo!]

[own_king]

Teachingld - You are right. It is very hard to find a good job right now. I am even a certified teacher, but I am also quite particular about the conditions I am willing to accept. It must be in central Seoul, single accomodations, no Kindy, at least 2.4, etc. I have been looking all summer and have had many offers, because I am certified, but turned them down because one of the conditions was unsatisfactory for meeting my criteria. One school had Kindy, one was shared accomodations, and another job was in Bundang, while another was is Nowon Gu. No offense intended to those living in Bundang or Nowon. But who the hell wants to live out there? The worst part is jobs in Seoul are becoming more and more scarce as well. Most jobs now are in Kyungido, Suji, Masan, Daegu, etc. And again some may like it, but I don't want to live in the sticks. I finally landed a 2.5 in Kangnam, single accomodations, middle school, but it took the better part of three months. So OP I sympathize with you fully. It is easy to find a job, but finding a good job is quite hard these days.

[teachingld2004]

Thing is for me, I adore kindy, and I like bundang. But I also needa good job. I hate this job huning.

So, whateof next moneh there will be jobs.

My friend has her own apartment, and find jobs with no housing. She puts 2 jobs on her E2 and she is very happy, and make good money.SO I have to see.

[Junior]

Newsflash!

There are no good jobs in Korea.

There are no good jobs in Taiwan.

There are no good jobs in China.

Even Japan sucks.


There are good jobs, however, in Singapore and Hong kong.

[own_king]

[quote="teachingld2004"]Thing is for me, I adore kindy, and I like bundang. But I also needa good job. I hate this job huning.[quote]

You must give terrible interviews then. If you like Kindy and Bundang, then the schools and recruiters should be banging down your door. And at the risk of sounding stereotypical, if you adore Kindy, then you're probably female as well. A white female in Korea? You should be able to write your own ticket. I've turned down about 3 jobs because of Kindy or Bundang and another couple because of shared accomodations. One thing I might suggest is, proofread your cover letter and resume, because your spelling is brutal - no offfense. But if I found spelling mistakes on a prospective English teacher's resume, I'd pitch it out right away. It might sound harsh, but sometimes, that's all it takes to eliminate someone, when you have 20 resumes sitting on your desk for one or two jobs. If you're really stuck PM me and I can recommend a couple decent recruiters (not an oxymoron), who seem to have a lot of jobs right now at over 2.3 that I had to turn down because of one of the factors above.

[Zark]

[VanIslander]

wow, has the market swung again so fast? this spring it was incredibly good! in march and april i had hagwon offers of 2.3-2.5 coming out the yinyang, and 2.5 for at least three public school jobs

i decided on a lesser salary of 2.2 (less than eight offers i'd listed and considered) because it's a three-day weekend position (every Friday, Saturday, Sunday off). and yes, with one's own accommodation, my shortlist all included that.

i suspect that hagwons pay more in the spring because they are competing with public schools (especially with their waygook-in-every-school mandate now) and universities for hirings.

suggestion: perhaps take a six month position (and don't tell me they're all gone! make an offer, several employers have been willing if i'd sign) then get yourself a sweeter job next spring.

[SuperHero]

A number of universities will still be hiring now due to last minute drop-outs from earlier hires as well as the occaisional teacher who decides to leave Korea at the last minute instead of renewing the contract.

I recommend cold-calling as many universities as you can.

[teachingld2004]

My typing is not good, granted. But my resume is great, and my references are also.

When I write on here I do not usually check for errors. When I send out any formal mail I always use "spell check" and type slowly.

When people post on "Dave's", they do so for many reasons: For advice, to help others, or just to "sound off". This forum is great; we help others, and others help us.

I am seeing jobs now that say "August 25" and "September 1st".

I know there will be jobs, but I just do not want to take one that will be a bad match.

So many of my friends (and me included) had accepted what seemed like a great job, and turned out to be "the job from hell".

Who knows. And super thanks to the posters who PMed me about jobs they know of.