I am going to a university soon and want to study abroad, I want to go to South Korea and work in the health care field or sciences but I hear its hard for foriengners to find work in South Korea if your not an English Teacher or translator. How realistic would it be for me to find work. I am currently studying Korean and I am hoping that will help me in some way.
Korea - 5 Answers
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1 :
I think it will be very hard, cause like I said before - Some korean get easily effected by the media (look at ex 2pac, snoop dog, biggie etc and just see how they act on tv and what they sing about) and they think all black people are like that unfortently, so they tend to be very racist. Also there live a lot of people in Korea (48 mill) and 99.9 % of them are Korean. So they might choose a korean guy/girl over you. I am not sure, but I'm just giving you and idea on how it is. You can take a trip downthere and see how everything is. It will help you make up a decition instead of you just quickly jump into it. Good luck from here!
2 :
it will be hard because you are a foreigner and don't speak korean well(i'm assuming you don't). Not because you are black. Even if you have the qualifications it will still be hard because citizens are in priority for employment.
3 :
It would be hard, but not impossible. I have several foreigner friends who went to university in Korea and went on to work at Korean companies. Like the other posters said, there may be a little prejudice and slight bias towards hiring Koreans, but if you work hard, in the end your ability and experience would speak more loudly than your race. If you're truly serious about working in Korea in those fields what I recommend is that you not only study Korean and study abroad there, but also plan to study post-graduate at a top science university in Korea as well. My friends who went on to work at companies were not only from the US, but from other places like India, Sakhalin, China, Japan, and other countries in southeast asia. But, they studied hard at the top Korean Universities such as Postech, Seoul National University, and KAIST. Koreans are very "brand conscious", and give more respect to people who graduate from top universities, regardless of nationality (that includes top US universities, as well) The only drawback to going to a Korean U is that it will carry less weight in the US... something to consider as well. The other option i recommend, is that you try to get internships at Korean companies while you're in school (in the US and while you're doing study abroad). That will give you more experience and more you more attractive to companies when you're job-hunting. Lastly, aim for companies that are international, especially American companies that have branches in Korea. They will have more of a need for foreigners and be more open-minded in their hiring process. Good Luck!
4 :
Yes, it would be hard
5 :
Well, it definitely won't be easy, but it's not impossible. Aside from English, Korea doesn't really need foreigners working here, unless they're engineers or of another science/technical field. Don't let this deter you though; if they see your stellar grades and experience, then there's a chance they'll hire you in a larger city with more foreigners like Seoul. Koreans love achievement, so if they see you're 4.0 GPA, hours of volunteer experience, somewhat fluency in Korean (this will impress them greatly; Koreans LOOVE when people speak Hanguk), etc. You'll be alright. Realism all depends on your drive and ambition. Are you willing to lose sleep and social time to achieve your goal? If so, nothing's impossible. Raku has the most informative answer.
