Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Adventurer]

I was wondering if there were any changes regarding changing jobs or hagwons? As far as I understand, you have to have a release letter from your boss. But doesn't that leave you at the mercy of your boss. What does one do if one is concerned with certain things occurring at their said workplace. I like my boss, but I am concerned with the way things have been done in terms of management and certain things make me nervous about the long-term future. As an experienced teacher (in North America), I would eventually want to work somewhere where there are more foreigners and more students. What are my options besides waiting for my contact to end or hoping my boss would give me a letter of release if I ask for one. I am not saying I will ask for one. I just want to know my options in case I run into problems. On a side note, do any of you think it is generally better to go to a bigger city like Seoul and leave behind the mid-sized cities? I mean more people speak English in Seoul, and it is easier to get around.

Thanks for answering my questions...

[Whitey Otez]

To answer your first question, you may be released from your visa if you throw enough of a fit. You'd need to amass a substantial, verifiable list of grievances and get the labor board involved, but it is possible. Understandably, your director may want some recompensation for flying you over if quit within six months.
I'm in a situation now where my manager will not allow a release letter unless I give my contracted 45-day notice and do whatever she says during said period. So far, few have survived those 45 days. My alternative is to suck it up and be overly urbane to her and fly under the radar until she either cans me or my term runs out. I paid for my own flight, too, so all she can use to hold me down is a threat of blackballing me.

In regards to your second question, your choice of city is important. I enjoy a packed, anonymous city like Seoul where there's always plenty of things to do and see 24/7. You may prefer "the Korean Culture Experience" that many FOBs talk about. "I want a ton of Korean friends and Korean culture. I don't want to just hang out with other expats," they say. There are some nice cities far away from Seoul, where the natives still point at airplanes (thanks, Swiss James ). You may be lonely, but you'll finish that screenplay in no time flat. In my experience, the area to truly avoid are places like Suwon and Guri, where you feel like a teenager sitting with your cousins at a card table on Thanksgiving, waiting for one of your elderly aunts to die so you can go to the grown-up table.

Anyway, you know yourself. It's best to tough out a year for the same academy, and you'll have to decide for yourself whether you're a city mouse or a country mouse.

[Canadagirl]

Found this site interesting... a Korean sent it to me.

http://www.aacircle.com.au/visas-korea.htm

[Guri Guy]