A dash of overconfidence ruins the soul
Korean life June 30th. 2006, 6:48pmI had to say, for the few days after I found out my school was closing and I was having interviews with schools all over the neighborhood, I was feeling pretty good about myself. I couldn’t go a day without someone offering me a job. Nevermind that most of the jobs would be longer hours, or worse schedules. People were falling over themselves to offer me something. This would build up anyone’s confidence.
I applied at a National University earlier in the week. There was a stated deadline, so I was waiting to hear back from them about if I had made the cut. I gave them a call today and found out I wouldn’t even be given an interview for a position, and they hadn’t bothered to even call me back to tell me I wasn’t even in the running for a job. Not only did I get shot down, no one even told me. While I find this a bit unprofessional, it looks as though I had accidentally swam out of the "kiddy pool" of my local hiring bubble and found out that I was swimming with sharks at a much more competitive environment. The job I had been hoping to land must have gone to someone earlier that was qualified or had better connections. Damn.
Anyway, I’ve been moping around the house all day depressed that I wouldn’t get the job. I’ve still got standing offers, which supresses my panic a bit, but the prospect of ending up at another job where burnout and turnover is high sucks. There is a chance I might end up working with my wife again, which wouldn’t be so bad, but we bought our house on the assumption we’d be working in different neighborhoods. Now it looks like we’ll both have to put up with the long commute across town. At least I know that the school is run legally. It’s not my first choice, but it is a choice. At least I still have a few other options. I even have some time when I get back from the States to decide if I absolutely can’t decide where I want to end up.
It could be worse, I know. I could have no one offering me a job, or have to find a job before I run out of money. Neither of these is the case. I have time to take a vacation and get away for a few weeks. I don’t think the timing of my vacation could be any better. I have enough money saved that our travel will not be affected by this sudden surprise.
Tonight will be my last chance to hang out with the teachers from my old school. One of them is leaving for South Africa in a few days, and another will go back to Canada briefly and return in a month’s time to Korea looking for work. They were wonderful people to work with and made my last job one of my best experiences in Korea. I’ve learned a lot about professionalism and gained a lot of confidence from them. I’ll be sorry to see them go.
7 Responses to “A dash of overconfidence ruins the soul”
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June 30th, 2006 at 10:15 pm
Is there much difference in the working conditions offered to you as a foreigner and your wife as Korean? Is there much difference in salaries?
July 1st, 2006 at 12:58 am
“they hadn’t bothered to even call me back to tell me I wasn’t even in the running for a job”
This happened to me a lot when I was looking for teaching/university jobs. There must be some sort of international class in educational administration where they teach managers to treat potential employees like sh*t. Not only is it unprofessional, its just plain mean. We’re adults, and human beings. How about some respect? The worst is when you go in for the second of two interviews and then don’t get a call, which is explicitly promised at the end of the interview, but instead they just send a rejection letter a month late. Farging iceholes.
July 1st, 2006 at 5:07 am
I think it’s the first lesson they teach you at HR school, although normally they will say “only successful applicants will be contacted”
In the UK you have the right to call someone up and ask where your application fell short
July 1st, 2006 at 7:22 am
Is there much difference in the working conditions offered to you as a foreigner and your wife as Korean? Is there much difference in salaries?
Yes. There would be an SIGNIFICANT difference between the two schools. The new job has its perks, but they are slightly intangible. The salary is nearly the same, but the quality of the materials, students, and facilities , vacation time (?), and benefits were far superior at the job I wanted to get.
Between what’s offered to me and what’s offered to my wife? It’s like night and day. I’ll work part time, less than 20 hours at the new school. Come in later, leave earlier. I’ll have less preparatory requirements. Don’t have to contact mothers/parents. I’ll get paid significantly higher per hour. I’ll have more pull to make demands. I’ll be treated much more importantly. Etc. Korean teachers get the SHAFT here compared to spoiled foreigners.
If I worked there with my wife, the other teachers are intimidated that we would make too effective a “team” to get what we want and make them look bad. The advantages for her getting me as a work partner once more is the fact that I can help her with her work, like evaluations. I can make the expressions easier to translate, or help focus on needs more intensively.
July 9th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Actually, it is perfectly standard for employers not to tell prospective candidates that they have no chance at all. Don’t worry too much about that; we’ve all been there at some point. Getting your first university job isn’t as easy as getting a hagwon or a public school position, but it can be done, with patience and perseverence–and qualifications and experience. A Master’s degree or a CELTA/TESL certificate is more or less required in most places, I think, but you can get positions outside of Seoul with only an undergrad. I’m not sure how easy that is, but I have seen postings that didn’t require either a graduate degree or an EFL/ESL certificate. I suspect that such positions will become rarer, as the number of people who have such credentials rises. Actually, I have seen a position at a “SKY” institution that only required a B.A.; it was for teaching non-credit classes to adults and children.
As far as elementary schools go, they often pay better than universities, do, and the jobs are easier to get. I always find that something of a paradox.
July 9th, 2006 at 11:53 pm
I had been working at another university at the time, so it was a bit of a slap in the face to not get a call. I did get a better job as a result of a little more searching, but beefing up my qualifications with some certification is something I’ll be doing before I plan to move on to another school.
July 10th, 2006 at 11:43 am
Glad things worked out for you, Torgodevil! Good luck with the return flight later!