I moved to Seattle right after college and then, almost immediately, was hired at a large global financial services firm where I did a lot of (busy) administrative work. I worked there for about 5 years, though after about 2 years I was extremely unhappy with the type of work I was doing. I stayed for so long because of all the cliche reasons: it was stable, great benefits, steady (awesome) paycheck. In the end it really wasn't enough. By year four, I had it in my mind that I had to leave before what was left of my soul would just crap out quietly without my knowing. The economy started tanking but I still didn't really have a game plan. I just knew I would leave by my self-allotted deadline and figure things out then. My employer beat me to it. During this round, 30% of their employees were laid off, myself included. And I was OK. Ships and I went to Belize for about 10 days and I tried not to think about being a statistic.
I came home and started the job search. I was immediately offered a job at a law firm. Which I turned down. I didn't want to start down that path again. I had a game plan: travel and have fun before I settle down and become a grown up. During my year off, I rested (a lot), volunteered as a Production Manager for various non-profit theaters, did more acting, received my TESL (Teach English as a Second Language) Certificate, worked a preschool, and enjoyed my life.
Which brings us to Korea.
Oh Korea. We were fairly undecided about which country to teach at until around November or December 2009. We decided on Korea because, of all the other countries we were considering, it offered the best contracts and we knew the least about its culture. Why not?
We began "Project Learn About Korea and Apply Apply Apply" immediately after we decided on the country. We did this in the middle of getting rid of our worldly belongings and moving to California to spend time with friends and family there so the actual applying was a bit more sporadic. We officially relocated late January and were in Accelerated Apply for a Damn Job mode:
1. We sent 50 emails, applying to at least 80 different jobs (all couple positions).
2. Not to mention applying online to about ten different recruiting websites.
3. All required us to send a photo.
4. Most required us to state our ethnicity.
5. Of the 50 emails (80 available job posts), 3 people contacted us to request more information. 2 people informed us that the jobs were now unavailable.
6. We responded to the three who wanted more information and never heard back from them again.
7. Two agencies had extremely extensive application processes. We wrote essays, created an introductory video, sent scans of all of our qualifications, phone interviews, etc. They both responded fairly well.
8. One recruiting agency phoned us and spoke to Ships only. She asked him what our ethnic background was. He responded extensively about his half Caucasian and half Japanese (American) background. They asked about mine. He responded that I was born in the Philippines but grew up in America. She responded that they only hired "native born English speakers." He informed her "we ONLY speak English, would you like to speak to my wife?" She declined and said "but her parents were born in the Philippines...We'll call you back." And they never did.
9. I've suffered a few bouts of intense upper back pain which I believe to be mental or stress related because of this situation.
Frankly speaking, there are many factors contributing to why it has been so difficult to obtain a job abroad. Many college grads with no experience are able to get jobs abroad. Why couldn't we obtain a job as easily? I can't say for certain that it was race/skin color. It's more difficult to place a married couple, there's been a new movement in hiring "kyopos/gyopos" (people of Korean heritage who do not reside in Korea), we're a bit older, the economy is bad so we're in competition with more experienced instructors, the list goes on. But it was hard not to let myself feel like I was being discriminated against because of the way I looked. Having done some acting, I'm supposed to be used to audition posts that require someone Caucasian or blonde or whatever even though the part itself doesn't specifically require someone white. I'm used to constantly playing someone exotic. I have to accept that as part of acting. And apparently, I have to accept that as part of being an ESL instructor. Why? Because in some countries, schools have marketing materials that advertise learning English from a native English speaker and all of their damn perceptions mean that they'd be learning from young, pretty blonde folk. I could write pages on this issue. But it happens and sometimes it's easy to accept. Other times, not so much.
Fast forward to now...two hours after I had finished crying to Ships about the futility of it all, we received
two job offers and are now trying to make our decision! We are leaving for South Korea in April. Needless to say, it's been such an emotional roller coaster. Having felt like I was making wrong decision after wrong decision, not being given a chance, hating the entire world for being so damn racist...just
getting the job feels like I conquered something already. Korea can't stop me from doing what I intend to do.
My advice to all would-be ESL instructors: be as prepared as possible, keep trying, and try not to let anyone fuck with your mind if you have goals to accomplish.
Chips
