5 Things To Do if You Want To Find a Non-Teaching Job in Korea

 

 

 

I made this list for my fellow expats looking for non-teaching jobs.

I created this list based on my experience and I'm willing to answer if you have any questions! 

 

 

 

 

1. Decide the Job 

 

This might be a duh~ moment for you but believe me, it is the very first step. Look for jobs that are related to your major. The jobs you are thinking may not be available in Korea or there may be other jobs that are requiring your major to apply. You never know. You should look for it. What I can recommend is using Korean Job Finding Websites (such as saramin) to see how the companies are categorizing their jobs. See if what kind of job titles they have and what is their requirement. Then, you can list the job titles that are related to your major. 

 

2. Check the Position and Prepare your Resume Accordingly

 

After you find the Job Titles, look for the position requirements. However do not strictly think that you have to have exactly what they want.  At some point, the way you show your experience might match with what they want. Let me clarify myself. 

 

So my bachelor’s degree was Computer Education and Instructional Technology and if you are not familiar with this major, it is a degree that lets you work in various fields such as computer education, network, software development, instructional designer and so on. I chose the instructional design part after I graduated and get my masters in Korea in Educational Technology. I focused on preparing educational material and training programs for young children and for companies. 

While I’m doing my projects, part-time work etc. I tried to work with/for Human Resources departments in other companies. My ultimate goal was to work in HR as Training and Development specialist.

 

For my current job, they wanted someone who has a degree related to HR or experienced as HR. The wanted person would help team lead for administrational work and recruitment. I applied this position anyway because I wanted to start my HR career from somewhere. I showed everything that I’m experienced related to HR. Hear me out. None of them was related to Recruitment and HR administration part. I showed my Training and Development related experiences as a well-prepared portfolio in my resume and applied for it. 

 

I got the interview and then I got the job. Later, my team lead told me that they were really affected by my resume and decided to hire me as Training and Development specialist because they were planning to hire someone for that position anyway. And he continued to do HR administration part and then one year later, we hired someone to do HR administration and Recruitment (the position they were looking for before they hired me).

 

I’m not saying this works every time and all managers have the opportunity to do this, but again you never know. You see the job you want, then you have to check if you can match your experience somehow to that field. Even if you are not match for that specific position, they might consider you for another position. 

 

3. Why would they hire you? 

 

This cliche question is something you really think about. Korea already has many talented people who try to get jobs. Why would they hire a foreigner instead of a Korean person. You should show your additional or unique value/perspective that you can contribute to company. While preparing for interview or preparing a resume, you should focus on your unique side that comes with you being foreigner that’s why, they need to hire you if they want to benefit from this uniqueness. 

What I recommend is being comfortable with Korean language. There are some positions that requires Korean language as must like my job. Even though I work in a multi-national company, I have to speak Korean and prepare everything in Korean because I’m in HR. On the other hand, there are other positions that may not require Korean as a must skill. In that case, being able to speak fluent Korean is a huge advantage because, the language is requirement for you to communicate with your co-workers. They would choose someone with less-qualified than you just because they are fluent in Korean language. 

In my opinion, start studying Korean and get TOPIK 6 before you graduate. In my case, I had both TOPIK and IELTS results that show I can work professionally  in both languages.

 

4. Use various platforms for job postings

 

I’m sure you can google this and find so many platforms. The thing I want to add is use LINKEDIN. You may think that it is not really popular in Korea but companies that have or are planning to have foreigners in their workforce are definitely using LinkedIn. Make sure you have a full profile that shows your experiences and has all information a company may need. 

 

5. Look for foreigner-invested companies

 

When you think of Korean companies, you may think LG, Samsung, Hyundai and so on. However, as foreigner, I recommend looking for foreigner invested companies just for one reason. WORK ENVIRONMENT. (And also the reason they have literally hundreds of thousands people from Korea applying for them.. )

Foreigner companies are more flexible and foreigner-friendly. The working environment may be easier to adapt and you have more chance to be hired as a foreigner. 

 

These are coming from my own experience as a expat in Korea and as an employee in HR. I wonder if you guys have different experiences! If you have a question, let me know in the comments!