Where should I look?

May 25, 2009 2:56 PM

[CareerFilter?] Help me make the most of my time in Korea (plan for career, have fun)

I will be traveling to Korea from next month and plan on staying for 6 months to half a year. I'm still a college student with no degree, but my degree should be complete by January of next year. I figure after my stint in Korea I will return to the states for about a year before trying to head back and find work.

I am seeking advice on making connections and opportunities for myself in Korea that will:
1. Put me in a position to speak a lot of Korean
2. Help me gain usable work experience that I can use later looking for a career abroad (probably Korea or Japan)

I'm particularly interested in Hospitality type jobs but anything will do. I have about a year experience working in a higher class hotel as a bellman/concierge.

Basically I want to create connections that I can use later to establish myself. I don't mind low wages and hard work as long as it pays off in the long run. I'd work for free just to get the language practice.

A little about me: native English speaker, fairly fluent in Japanese and intermediate-advanced Korean. I don't have many other marketable skills other than being able to put out a lot of raw effort.


Long shot sub-question: Any anecdotes/advice about rock climbing and punk rock in Seoul would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

posted by kinakomochi to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

One thing I wouldn't do is one of those teach english after school programs. My mom (who doesn't currently live in Korea but knows enough friends there) warned me about those programs when I was considering it, apparently it's a big scam where they lure you with promises of only 30 or so hours a week, but the thing they don't tell you is that you have to teach 6 sometimes 7 days a week. EPIK is the government teaching program that is supposedly legit but I'd be very skeptical of the other ones.
posted by BrnP84 at 5:27 PM on May 25

In all honesty it's going to be very difficult for you to got a non-teaching job in Korea and I'm not even sure you'd be able to get that, seeing as you don't have a completed degree. I imagine the same thing would apply to Japan.

Teaching at an after school program (at a hagwon) does not have to be the negative experience BrnP84 mentioned, although the situation he mentioned definitely does occur. It's best to find somebody who works at a reputable hagwon and have them refer you to their boss. There is also a demand for private English tutors, but again, it will be difficult for you without a degree.

The only other opportunity I can think of for you is to WWOOF (volunteer on an organic farm).

Maybe you can try contacting the Korean consulate in your area to see if they know of any business that would be interested in mentoring you or taking you on as an intern. Otherwise you could try contacting a business in Korea directly (aim for an international company located in Seoul) or try contacting a business here, but with an office in Korea and see if they will send you abroad.
posted by Rora at 7:33 PM on May 25

Thanks for the answers so far! I'd like to clarify that I'm looking for ways to make connections through internships or volunteer. I would be returning to Korea later degree in hand (double in Japanese and Korean) and hopefully a high level of spoken/written Korean. I'll be a student full time the whole time I'm there, but things like WWOOF seem like a lot of fun.

Also I'm only interested in English teaching as a last resort or as a way to have a visa while I look for something else. Not that I have anything against English teaching, just that I've done it before and it wasn't really for me.
posted by kinakomochi at 8:08 PM on May 25

Some sort of internship would seem ideal, but you're arriving next month, which cuts down your options dramatically. At this stage you probably need to find a company without am established intern programme and sell an internship to them. You would have to figure out the legality and finances involved, essentially making it easy for them to say 'yes'.

Korea is full of people who will work very hard for very little money and so you need to focus on what you can offer beyond that. AFAICS, that's your language skills and experience in a hotel. No one wants to risk putting an untested intern in front of valued foreign customers straight away, so your language skills would be best put to use communicating within an international company.

I'm thinking this through because I do know quite a lot of executives in Seoul, but I can't yet quite think how you could sell yourself to them. Reply in thread if you have any good ideas...

On preview - so how much time per week will you have for the internship?


PS Climbing in Seoul (check out the rest of the site too)
posted by Busy Old Fool at 8:42 PM on May 25

You need to be careful working on a student visa, or double-dipping on an E-2 (standard work visa for teaching English in Korea, which I'm on). If you get caught, they will deport you.

That said, finding someone to practice Korean with is easy. Just look at Craigslist or the local papers for a "language partner."

Finding a non-teaching career path in Korea would be tricky, to say the least. Why hire someone who isn't fluent in Korean?

The non-teachers I've met over here are either military or the occasional business person or university professor with a background in Korean history or law.

My sense is that finding a US company with ties in Korea and working through them would be your best shot, rather than finding a Korean business that would not only hire you, but more significantly sponsor your work visa.

Good luck!
posted by bardic at 9:20 PM on May 25