Korean Job Discussion Forums

Wishmaster · Joined: 06 Feb 2003

Morrison was wrong. The West is not a good place to be. It is really irritating to hear people complain about teaching an extra class a week or having to prepare an extra 30 minutes. Whining...ridiculous whining. If you want something to whine about, just go back to the landsliding economies back home and tell me your tale after 4 months. The market is tight and employers are more than happy to be picky. You will apply at places that you would have never considered before...and you will be turning your application into someone that has less education than you and he will grip your resume as if he were a King or an Imperial Lord. He will see that you have a degree and he will merrily exploit your current unemployed situation by offering such tidbits as, "See, the only reason to go to college was the girls...everything else is impractical" or "You have a degree and you are applying for THIS job". Such pearls. Your ego and sould get sucked in and you realize the fraudulent nature of the business. You realize the little unpleasantries and the destruction of your self.

You go to a job fair and realize that a person driving a truck can make more per year than your college degree and its supposed merit. "You should be driving for us," said the recruiter at the job fair. "You would be making money and have job security." I was tempted. After all, I like traveling and I like the solitary lifestyle associated with it. But...I had the college degree. Instead of a mark of honor...a mark of achievement, it has turned scarlet. I am persecuted by it because I must obtain employment that is commensurate with my degree...I can't work at a job that doesn't implement my degree to some extent..otherwise, I feel the death grip tightening and I feel that time has been wasted. Time is infinite but always limiting....

"You have to have experience". Yeah, that is a common theme that haunted my dreams nightly. Experience. Does college or university really prepare you for the perils and dangers fraught by society and its perverted views on success? No. There should be a preparatory course designed to direct you in applying for employment after you have obtained your degree. But...no. Colleges and Universities know that they can make more money if they leave you out in the cold, steely world...they know this. This is the aegis of academia. After all, you have to come back for your Master's...yeah, that way, you can get a job. But then, I knew two people that had MA's and they were working for a telemarketing firm. Maybe go back and get that PHd...yeah, things will work out for sure then. Said the glassy-eyed school administration official.

"But the West has many jobs, many high paying jobs," said the fifteen year old. Starry eyed. Yes, there are plenty of jobs in our beloved western world...if you enjoy working for $8 an hour and hoping that you can endure that $8 job until your benefits kick in. You hit the floor with a deadening thud. High-paying? How many truly are? Only a small percentage and the western world continues to prostitute its image of prosperity and affluence. You may fool those that believe in your "dream" but I know the truth. A truth that is battle-hardened and earned by chaos and loss of sanity(to a degree). The truth is that you are a black-hearted place filled with the disenfranchised and your are progressively imploding. Only the implosion is non-dramatic; only meandering and slowly decaying.

The next time you feel the need to complain about life here, just remember my words of earned wisdom. Or go back and see for yourself(although I wouldn't recommend it). The West is dead to me..........

Wishmaster · Joined: 06 Feb 2003

Great post, Wishmaster. Dulce et Decorum...............

Wishmaster · Joined: 06 Feb 2003

Okay, here....Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori....there never is glory in the dark...only silence.

Clutch Cargo · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Location: Sim City 2005

Someone needs a hug.
If that doesn't work try some kind of strong tranquiliser.
If that doesn't work try not returning to the evil West that is the sole cause of your failure at life.
Naughty, naughty West.

rudyflyer · Joined: 26 Feb 2003 Location: pacing the cage

dead on. We've gone back twice to find that scenario you mentioned to be all too real. We wind up back here and this time we may here a while.

Here though is the catch 22. Every year you're here makes it that much harder to get a job there. They look at your resume and say "WTF were you doing teaching where????? (if they even know where Korea is) for x years?" But you're stuck here because here is the only place where that Liberal Arts degree will get you a job that allows you to 1) pay your huge student loan debt and 2) allow you to get inexpensive medical if god forbid you get sick or need dental work

then you forget all the other headaches besides getting a job like trying to get credit, renting an apartment (where is your recent rental history?) and then the sky auto insurance rates because you dropped your insurance while here because you don't have a car.

fun isn't it? At least here the worst you're going to get is a chance to spend a week on Ko Samui or Ko Chang while in the US you might be able to afford a weekend at some coastal dive.

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

It's not just the people with the liberal arts degree. People with Science degrees in the Sciences and Engineering displines are filing up at the employment centers, hoping to find a job. Eventually, some will start coming here.

Trinny · Joined: 01 Feb 2003

Can the same story be said for the Koreans looking for a job in Korea?

Clutch Cargo · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Location: Sim City 2005

Trinny,
I agree it can be said for degree holders here and in any developed country that they will probably encounter difficulties in securing employment in their chosen field. It's not unusual to do a stint or two doing something unrelated to your degree until opportunities come up. It's just easier for some to blame the West for the woes of the world. There's no hypocrasy, double standards, corruption, poverty, cheating, lying, false promises, marketing of image overseas, racism, sexism, etc in non-Western countries. In non-Western countries they are honest about the employment situation and don't make any promises, they are not corrupt, there is no poverty, no cheating, no theft, definitely no racism or sexism, nor any particular race or cultural preferences for certain jobs. It's just so much better in non-Western countries. It's sort of like a paradise here (or in any non-Western country) where there are just so many opportunities for degree holders it's just mind-boggling.
The West is not the best, but neither is the East. [/quote]

whatthefunk · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Dont have a clue

Whining about the American Dream crumbling beneth you will do no good and you won't find it in Asia either. Yes its good now, but where are all the other people who can't find jobs in the west? On there way to Korea to teach engrish... And what will happen when the job market here is flooded? Wages will go down so that the school managers can make more money. It will happen here to, its only a matter of time..

Clutch Cargo · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Location: Sim City 2005

Hi Whatthefunk,
I was responding sarcasticly to the original post.

whatthefunk · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Dont have a clue

I was kind of wondering.... sorry about jumping all over ya then. Ill edit.

Clutch Cargo · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Location: Sim City 2005

No worries.

rapier · Joined: 16 Feb 2003

It is indeed worrying..soon they'll only be hiring blonde americans to teach here, there'll be plenty of them available, and they'll get away with paying them 1M a month..but it'll still be better than in the west.
Life in the west does indeed suck. I've never had my talents so unnappreciated as in london, for example. Its a rat race- and getting your foot in the door is a mission- but who wants to join life on the treadmill anyway?
I won't be going back. My days of gardening or washing dishes to barely survive, while being the holder of a degree and several other qualifications, are firmly over.
if you don't join some firm or blue chip company the day you graduate, and promise them your life, you've had it...Just one year out, just one year backpacking, and you're assigned to the wierdo scrapheap.

rapier · Joined: 16 Feb 2003

Further to all that, I reckon the threatening political situation out here, and its portrayal in the western media, is helping to keep all those unemployed graduates from flooding into korea, to some extent. long may it be so. If you read any foreign newspaper, you'd think that Kim Jong Il is hovering over the button ready to nuke Seoul at any moment.