Next Monday I have my final interview for a position I've put all my weight on. I'm really hoping this job pans out. I hope it's all I've hyped it up to be and that they agree to my salary expectations because I have high hopes for the position. I feel like I've been hunting various Korean job posting sights on the Internet so I'm eager to pin this job down. I justify giving into the long hours of the job with the fact that it's a one of a kind position among so many mundane and common foreigner jobs out here in Korea.
After living and working in Korea for six years, returning to a hagwon job just seems to backwards to me. I want something different... I need something different. This job is my anticipated different. Consequently, I haven't really done much job hunting since the first interview for this position. However, today after we did the long drive back to both Buyeo to drop off Granny-K and then back to Cheonan, I did some job hunting. It was more or less me answer numerous emailed job offers.
My frustrations with job hunting in Korea stem from a couple of issues I have.
My issues with Korean job hunting:
1. Required picture attached to resume.
In Canada this would be regarded as flat out discrimination unless the job you were going for were something along the lines of modeling or whatnot. But here in Korea, all jobs you respond to insist on a photo.
2. Age being an issue.
Again, another thing that could be an important factor if you were applying for something like a children's commerical but come on, what Korea thinks about age and what foreigners think about it are so different. Korean schools tend to not look favorably upon older teacher candidates. According to the job I'm hoping to land, I'm too old... two years too old.
3. Being a married women with no baby.
I know it's not as common for a foreign female to marry a Korean guy as it is for a foreign male to marry a Korean guy but being asked continually about it as if what I did is unbelievable kind of wears on your tolerance.
"Your resume says you married a Korean... you married a Korean man?"I always respond with a simple "yes, my husband is Korean" but sometimes I'd love to just blurt out one of the following:
"No, I married a Korean woman."
"Yes... rumor has it."
"Yes, and I'm just as shocked as you."
"I did?"
Then of course, the next question that follows after I reassure them that what they read on my resume is true, is "do you have a baby?", followed by "what's your baby plan?"
What's my baby plan... hmm... my plan is to not have a baby to plan for.
4. Having a F2 visa.
Having a F2 visa isn't the issue really, it's people's reaction to it. It goes hand-and-hand with the fact that there aren't a lot of foreign women marrying Korean men in this country so there aren't a lot of female F2 visa holders. My resume clearly states that I do in fact have a F2 visa but I am always questioned about it or am mistaken for a Canadian-Korean who meant to type that I have a F4 visa and not a F2 visa. It gets kind of annoying too because it doesn't say much for what they think of Korean men, it's like they think a Korean man can't land a foreign woman. Are we foreign women such a "luxery" item or unattainable for the average Korean man?! I think not. I'm not too sure when or where the idea stemmed from but I happen to think Korean men have a big upper hand on foreign men for numerous reasons... beyond the fact that they're gorgeous and have way better sense of style!!!
5. My last name.
My maiden name is Amy B[enter in pretty much the whole alphabet here]. People end up killing the heck out of my Polish name, am use to that by now, but sporting just my Korean name, Amy Kim, means I get labelled as either a Korean girl or a Canadian-Korean. Either way, I miss out on numerous jobs if I go this route. Mind ya, when I hyphonate my last name, many Koreans don't know what to make of is so I get asked a lot "What is your real name?"
6. Living in Cheonan.
Finding a decent job in Cheonan is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Cheonan is considered kind of country and Seoul, the country's capital, is filled to the brim with so many jobs. I'm willing to commute to Seoul, that's not the problem, nor is the problem the actual commute. I live literally two minutes from the express bus terminal so it's a hop, skip and a jump away, but I know me living in Cheonan is why so many of my job inquiries have gone ignored or pushed aside. "You know the job is in Seoul?" I'm often asked, followed by "but we're looking for someone living in Seoul". I knew in answering an ad for a job in Seoul that it'd mean traveling to Seoul but the issue to commute or not commute is my own personal choice so I really can't stand it when they make the decision for me. Moreover, back when Snickers was in Japan, I had to find my own way out to my Samsung morning tutoring and my Church Kiddies' class. I often took the bus on cold days but busing it to and from Samsung means an extra hour there and an hour back. That's an extra two hours for a one hour class. So on days I took a bus to both Samsung and the Asan church, it meant I spent almost four hours traveling in the Cheonan area. Traveling out to Seoul for one jump would thus be easier cause an hour commute out there would ultimately save me the two extra hours I'd be traveling in Cheonan.
Dispite all the unfairness that is so evident in Korean job hunting, I find it rather ironic that the very job I am hoping to score racked up the highest score among the jobs I've applied for. They've asked for a couple of pictures of me despite me already handing in a head shot, they've called me to ask me my height, they clearly sized me up at the first interview, and I got drilled on my "baby plan" and lack there of it at the interview.
Ironically though, I want this job more than any other job. My salary expectation is much higher than they wanted to offer, I live outside of the city, I'm two years older than the age bracket they mentioned in their ad, but apparently I have all the qualifications and I fit "the look" they're going for. I am very well aware that they're very image conscious about this position but I kind of expected them to be, after all I will be shadowing a very influential CEO. I don't justify it but I do kind of understand it, to a certain extent that is.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What image does your image give off?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted paychecks.
-- Author Unknown
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