Dear Non-Teaching Job Seekers in Korea – Part 1

Dear Non-Teaching Job Seekers in Korea,

Dropping my Korean skills from an advanced level to a simple conversational level was already a huge bummer in my job searching journey in South Korea. The very first time I attended a job fair made it clear to me that one has to be fluent in Korean to actually get the attention of the person manning the booth. More so,

the conversation will always start with, “한국말 할 줄 알아요?” – if you couldn’t even read or understand that phrase, do not even bother selling yourself to them.

Fortunately, a list of experiences which involves a Korean company may give you a slight chance for that job. It precisely delivers the idea that you are familiar with how the Korean Work Culture works and that is very important to them.

Prior to my graduation, I have asked the help of a Korean friend in writing my cover letter in Korean. Several blogs have reminded me how a Korean resume and cover letter is preferred over other styles. The palli-palli culture 빨리–빨리 , loosely translated as ‘hurry, hurry’, of Korea may have influenced this format. On your resume, you have to write a list of schools you’ve attended including your GPA, a list of your skills (i.e. MS Word/PPT/Excel etc) which must be proven with a certificate from a certain academy, a list of your language scores (TOPIK/JLPT/TOIEC/etc), and more facts paired with figures. I, personally, do not agree with this style since you can never measure one’s full capability or potential through a sit-down exam.

The cover letter, on the other hand, is your space for redemption. From what I have learned, a Korean cover letter is not necessarily written in a letter mail format; instead, it is a one page document where you have to provide a paragraph or two to the following questions/topics:

• 성장 배경 Background – narrate your family background, your family’s upbringing of you, (for example: my parents are musically-inclined people and they influenced me to attend a piano academy OR my family is a devoted Christian which…. blah blah)
• 성경의 장단점 Talk about your strengths and weaknesses self-explanatory
• 화창시절 및 특히 사항 Talk about your expertise, your achievements, your experiences, and skills this is where you could explain briefly how great of a Web designer you are without enrolling in an academy – tell them about your clients and the number of projects you have successfully launched! Not everything can only be proven with a certificate. This is the space to defend yourself – but don’t overdo it! and finally,
• 지원동기및 포부 Tell them why they should hire you. again, self-explanatory.

You need to exert time and effort in preparing these two as they are your sword to this battle of unemployment.

First impressions matter in Korea; thus, you need to add a photo on your resume (although, they are trying to eradicate this practice, it is still prevalent in Korean society). Do not randomly download a selfie from your Facebook and paste it in your resume. Also, take note what type of visa the job requires and if the company is willing to sponsor your visa.

Prepare yourself physically, emotionally, and psychologically for this challenge.

Good luck and keep posted for the next part – what to do with your resume and cover letter! 😉

PS. Many of the available non-teaching jobs in Korea involves social-media management or translation services; therefore, perk up your social accounts and brush up your writing skills. Do not be ashamed of your 5k followers in Instagram or your spamming attitude in Facebook. This may not sound like the career you wanted but you can always earn the badge of having worked in a Korean Company after! So, do not lose hope 😉

We all have different opinions and experiences, comment down below how you wrote your resume or cover letter! Or share to us your job-searching experience in Korea as well 😉

Would you like to receive a free Korean resume and cover letter template with English translation? Subscribe to my newsletter and I will send it to you for free 😄

This post is written from the perspective of a scholar who graduated from a Korean University with an M.A. degree. This will be written in series as there is so much to consider and talk about the job-hunting process here in Korea. So this is. no. 1.

This post was originally published in my previous website last September 2015 and recently updated on July 2020.