Before I came to Korea there was a common preconception among my coworkers in Australia that finding work in Korea was a piece of cake.  However, I came to realise this was just a myth and I'll explain why.  First of all, I should define hagwons. 

A hagwon is the Korean word for an extra-curricular learning centre.  Students attend these extra classes to keep up with the highly competitive educational atmosphere in Korea.  For the last ten years or so, I guess, English language hagwons in Korea have been spending much time and effort to employ English native speakers.  Notice I said "native speakers" and not "native speaking English teachers."

These hagwons will employ just about anybody with a degree in any field, and often people without degrees.  In this sense, the preconception that "finding work in Korea is easy" is true.  You don't even need to be qualified, you just need to:

a) Speak English as a native speaker, or

b) Seem like a native English speaker.

My first job in Korea was a part-time job teaching elementary school children.  In fact, you could hardly have called it teaching.  It was more like babysitting because the children had neither the interest nor the necassary basic language skills to have conversations in English (it was my job, as the native speaker, to make the students have conversations).  But I digress...

The thing that annoyed me most was that I, a qualified and professional teacher,  was reduced to "babysitting"  elementary school students while unqualified native speakers were getting paid the same as me and probably caring less about the quality of lessons.

The reality is most hagwons place more importance on the image of the teacher than his or her credentials.  For example, I am an adopted Korean.  Though I'm a native speaker, I look like a Korean.  This fact made it a little difficult for me to find a job at first.  During the phone interview the recruting agent sounded so excited, but after meeting me in person, they didn't bother to call me again.  Unfortunately, in many cases, it is even harder for Indian or African people to get teaching jobs, even though their English is perfect and they are more qualified for the job than  Caucasians.

Eventually I managed to find employment at a reputable university in Seoul.  However, the position is not really full-time, and I have been applying for lots of part-time jobs recently.  I have received hardly any responses and I think I know why.  It's because I'm over-qualified for those positions.  Most hagwons or companies that advertise for English teachers prefer underqualified people so that they can:

a) Pay the teacher less and

b) "Bind" the teacher to the contract by providing things like visas, accomodation and health insurance.

The fact of the matter is that professional teachers know how much they are worth and are much more difficult to keep.  If you are reading this, you are probably a qualified and experienced teacher.  I am not discouraging you from coming to Korea to work.  I absolutely love Korea and I'm having a fantastic time working here in Seoul.  Just remember that it's not as easy for real teachers like us to find the job we deserve here in Korea.