How to Get a University Job in South Korea: Tips for Getting the English Teaching Job of Your Dreams Teaching in a Uni in Korea (Expat Living)

I recently read this book and it offered a lot of good tips. In fact, some of the tips for things like improving your resume and building professional networks are good not only for teaching in Korea but also for applying for jobs in general. The book offers numerous excellent resources and websites. It is well-written and well-edited.Having said that, I think that the book makes it seem easier than it actually is to be able to get a university job. I have a master's degree, a couple of years of teaching/training experience, and am currently in Korea. According to the book, I should have a decent shot at acquiring a university job. So after editing my application documents and having a current Korean university professor (and HR professional) look over my resume, I applied to over twenty-five different positions university and unigwon positions. The result: not a single interview. It wasn't just sending out resumes either- it was networking, attending KOTESOL meetings and other tips that the book recommended.So while the book offers good tips and while I would certainly recommend it, I think that the book views the Korean university position job market with rose-colored glasses. In reality, there are so many people in Korea looking for work (and so many people with advanced degrees) that it is next to impossible to get a university job these days. Again I recommend the book, but I think it can falsely get your hopes up when the English teaching market is getting more and more competitive each year in Korea. Without a master's (or higher degree) in ESL and at least two years of university teaching experience, you're going to be hard-pressed to find a university job in my humble opinion.

It takes you from ground zero to all the nitty gritties, backed by personal experiences. Highly recommended if you are trying to get a university job in Korea.

For those just starting their University job search in Korea, this is by far the most cost-efficient and helpful book you could get. It primed me on interview advice and several other sources of professorship posts, as well as confirming information I had gleaned from many hours online and through going through the Dream Job University program.After roughly $2,000 spent on mailing applications and portfolios across international borders, with limited success, the biggest lesson was to be in Korea before sending out applications. If I had read this book sooner, I would have been around $1497 richer. And that's just ONE lesson I learned.If you want to be a professor at a Korean University, and are truly committed until you succeed, you cannot afford not to listen to Jackie Bolen's voice of experience.

It's not that the book is bad, but it is unneeded. First of all, the job market for English teachers (both university and non-university) has changed dramatically in the last year. The market for university jobs is flooded. A Master's degree is no longer enough. It must be a Master's in Education. The number of incoming freshman will plummet in 2017 (and continue for years) due to a dip in the birth rate in 1999. Second of all, all of the information is available for free with a Google search.

I found this book to be quite helpful, especially the parts about preparing for an interview and teaching demonstration. I recently had two interviews at universities in Seoul, and was glad I had read this book beforehand! The links to additional resources are great, and I was happy to discover Jackie's blog as well. Unlike many people, I found the blog through the book and not the other way around. If I am lucky enough to get one of the jobs I interviewed for, I will definitely be consulting eslteacherinkorea.blogspot where Jackie has posted a lot of great ESL teaching resources.

After reading this, I know what steps I need to take from here. Thanks for all the great info! The last few pages with all the resources is also much appreciated.

This book offered a lot of helpful advice on how to get a university job, market yourself favorably and also offers advice on how to network (which is really important in Korea). She gives an insider's perspective which is good to know. It's very realistic and she gives you the run down on how it works job searching for that perfect university job in South Korea.

Very informative.

In the world of EFL, teaching English at a university is often seen as the pinnacle of success. With increased autonomy, less teaching hours, and more vacation days these positions appeal to teachers far and wide, and by extension allow universities to be more scrupulous in their selection. Unsurprisingly, it is not uncommon for universities to reject aspiring teachers looking to transition from private academies (hagwons), public schools, and even experienced applicants who make it to the interview stage. How to Get a University Job in South Korea by Jackie Bolen is a self-published that fails on a number of levels.Unlike most books in the genre, however, content in this book is not divided into numbered chapters. The absence of such organization forces the reader to ponder where the text begins to answer to the book title the author has chosen. It also presents inherent challenges to writing a review. From what I gather, it appears as though the content is arranged in chronological order to mirror the job application process: 1) where to look for employment; 2) how to craft a resume/cover letter; 3) how to pass a job interview with demo lesson tips; and 4) some bonus extras including “Not the Perfect Candidate?”, “Frequently Asked Questions”, “Cultural Tips” “Online Resources”, and a one-page explanation on “How to Set Yourself Apart”.Baring resemblance to the book’s title, it is hard to miss the heading “How YOU can GET that Fabulous Job” listed in the Table of Contents, or perhaps because the author has consciously decided to type ‘you’ and ‘get’ in capital letters. It turns out that poor writing mechanics act as a kind of harbinger of things to come. Analysis of the passages show why How to Get a University Job in South Korea fails not much because it is poorly written (which by the way it is), but rather because the author lacks credibility and struggles to identify with readers in her audience, opting instead to fill these voids with passages of dubious advice, a number of which subject the reader to derogatory remarks about Korean culture.It is hard to fathom how any aspiring university professor, qualified or unqualified alike, would benefit from passages where the author asserts her dominance, such as “The people who are conducting the interview are far more important and busier than you, so it really is their time that is the priority, not yours” (It’s Time for the Interview), and subjects them to catalogue of imperatives, such as “Arrive Early Especially if your interview is out of town, you need to leave yourself a significant amount of extra time to get to where you need to go” (It’s Time for the Interview), and “Smile, Look Friendly and be Outgoing Along with appearance, this is the other thing that is going to get you that job” (ibid).Aside from stating the obvious, what permits the author to write with such command and authority? This is answered, in part, under the heading “Who am I” where the author announces her ten plus years of teaching experience that includes contracts with private academies and two Korean universities, in addition to an undefined MA degree, and a DELTA certificate. The author is a Canadian expatriate who has amassed a number of followers through in her involvement with Korea TESOL (KOTESOL), and perhaps more notably through her work online blog. Such credentials warrant applause but fall short in permitting the author to write in the kind of authority that would typically be reserved for someone with years of experience recruiting professors for teaching positions at Korean universities.Nowhere in the text does the author document her experience screening resumes or conducting interviews; nor does she even qualify her experience as a job seeker. How many applications did she submit? How many interview invitations did she receive? How many interviews did she attend? And ultimately, how many offers did she receive? This critical information that goes surprisingly unreported would provide the author with much needed credibility, so that pronouncements like “Koreans will ask you personal questions at your interview, which would be considered illegal and/or extremely rude in Western countries” (It’s Time for the Interview) could not be dismissed as comically anecdotal.In the absence of credibility, the author seems unaware that a distant relationship is created with the reader by choosing a writing style that seems to speak not to, but rather down on the readers, as if they are immature, inept adults in desperate need of a tutorial on common sense. Yet, in a strange twist, the author feels compelled to include a section on networking, enlightening the reader with more imperatives on the dynamics of social interaction: “Also, be careful of your love life or dating reputation. You might not get a recommendation if a friend fears that you might try to date your students” (My First Rule of Networking), and “Do not get all excited and try to go in too early for the kill. I recommend actually talking to that person like they are a human being and not just a university job vending machine” (My Second Rule of Networking).There is little relief: “Do not be that guy who gets ridiculously drunk every weekend and makes a fool out of himself, or who is racist, homophobic or generally not cool” (Ooze Professionalism). Exactly, how does the author miss the point that people who enjoy getting “ridiculously drunk every weekend”, or who are “racist” or “homophobic” require the assistance of a licensed physiologist, not some EFL teacher trying to assist with applications to teach at a university? “My first rule of networking is do not be creepy, obnoxious, immature, lazy, unethical or unprofessional because nobody wants to be your coworker. You can be sure that people will not recommend you to work at their university because you will be like a black mark against them when your behavior offends people (which it surely will)” (My First Rule of Networking). Speaking directly in the second person, it seems clear that the author had a few bad encounters with people she deems to be undesirable – but why speak directly to these people using grammar in the second person? How many of these undesirables did she encounter to warrant word space in the book? What kind of thinking is required to believe that this passage or the one preceding will be read by the right members in the audience, and ultimately lead to positive change?The only relief from such dubious advice is a one-page summary under the heading “Job Seeker's Checklist” that catalogues actions needed to be taken prior to beginning a new job. What makes content in this heading is that it tends to be more succinct in its message: the imperatives sentences are presented in point form and are arranged into three categories: insightful actions needed to be taken six months, 3-4 months, one month prior to beginning a new job. It would have been nice to see if the book had used these three categories as an outline for the book, then explained each point in finer detail by elaborating with examples, illustrations, and citing other useful resources.In other passages in the book, it becomes clear that the author struggles to identify with her readers. In a more concrete example, the author’s poor choice of wording gives thanks to her editors in one sentence using grammar in the third person, then refers to those same editors in the second person in the following sentence: “Before we get started with the nitty-gritty details of finding that job of your dreams, I would like to express my appreciation for two amazingly helpful editors: Jason Ryan and Lauren Fitzpatrick. The book is much better because of you. Thank you for all your constructive criticism and encouragement” (Preface). How did this error, seemingly elementary in nature, not only pass by the author, but the editors themselves?Oblivious to the possibility that her audience might include a Korean or possibly a Korean American, the author makes no apologies for a number of derogatory comments on about Korea, and its culture as a whole. By means of searching ‘Korea’ and ‘Koreans’ on Kindle, the author manages to move the reader to both pity and scorn characteristics she perceives to be distinctly Korean.Here, the author’s condescending remarks on appearance in Korea: “In Korea, it may seem unbelievable, but if you look like a ‘teacher’, Koreans will think that you really are a good teacher” (Appearance is Everything); “How you look is the number one thing Koreans consider” (Who is the Prime Candidate?). Both examples illustrate the author’s view that Koreans are somehow incapable of evaluating candidates on job-related competencies inferring that Koreans are shallow and inferior relative to her own perceived notion of Western virtues.In these passages, the author’s remarks on how Koreans view educational certifications and a foreign teacher’s association: “Koreans do not really seem to care that much about KOTESOL, so the previous four things are definitely more important and only include presentation certificates if you have nothing else ‘extra’ to include” (Your Application Package); “While the CELTA and DELTA are not currently very well recognized by Koreans, it is slowly changing and if there is a foreigner on the hiring committee, they will know the value of them” (Your Application Package). A quick note about teaching portfolios. These are entirely optional in Korea and no employer will probably ever ask you for one. But, outside Korea it can be quite a valuable thing to have” (It’s Time for the Interview).But the example that remains piercingly salient in my mind is the author’s observation on how employment is governed in Korea: “Contracts are not so important in Korea and I often say that they are not worth the paper they are written on” (Cultural Tips). This run-on sentence that ends in a preposition highlights the reality that the author is handicapped both in her knowledge of written composition and labor law. Regarding the latter, in all cases grievances cannot be resolved through the Ministry of Employment & Labor without first presenting a copy of an employee’s employment contract and a written declaration that reports upon the infraction.You get the idea. Do yourself a favour, don't buy this book.

Not a lot of back up to the info presented here. Mostly it is very opinionated and the author wants us to trust her just because she says so.