Hello TLers,

I am a 23Y.O French student, i am also a web developer since more than two years now.
Wether or not i get graduated this summer, i plan to go live in Seoul for at least 6 month.
My main goal for the first six month will be to learn a somewhat decent Korean(i will start learning before i go).
I intend to find a part time job that hopefully will force me to practice some Korean so i can continue my web developer job at the same time.

I have absolutely no contact out there and since i have took this decision few days ago i did not do a lot of research yet.
I have already found a lot of good website with valuable information and i have some place to check in Paris that will provide some help.
Anyways i also hope that TL is good place to request some advice(and yes i have checked many thread about the topic).

So here are some of my questions :

-From what i have seen, you can find a decent studio for something like $700/month.
I'd like to live in downtown, is there any kind of downtown in Seoul or the whole city is just to clustered ? Which part of the city would you recommend for a young men that likes to go out and meet new people (sounds gay, but I'm not) ?

-How hard is it to find a ~~shitty~~small part time job when your Korean is very bad ? Are the foreigners only working at key post in big companies ?

That's pretty much it for now, I'll try yo update this blog as my research advance I'll surely have more questions for you folks.

Update 1 :

Well i have the support of my employer so i won't have to find a job once i'm there. That's a hudge bonus, i'm pretty happy about that and i'm confident that i'll earn enougth to substain all my needs.
I have to show a big heart for my job, ourcompany.ch <3

Musou

1375 Posts

March 08 2011 07:17 GMT

If you don't have a company sponsoring a work visa or a student visa from some university, you won't be able to stay for more than 3 months at a time. In fact, it's illegal to work without a work visa, so unless you have some foreign company paying you to work there, you won't be able to get a job.

Marou

Germany1371 Posts

March 08 2011 07:22 GMT

On March 08 2011 16:17 Musou wrote:
If you don't have a company sponsoring a work visa or a student visa from some university, you won't be able to stay for more than 3 months at a time. In fact, it's illegal to work without a work visa, so unless you have some foreign company paying you to work there, you won't be able to get a job.

Well i intend to apply for the Working holiday program that should do it. And yes i work for a swiss company that will pay me when i'll be out there so anyways i'll have a job.

edit : the problem with the working holiday program is that you have a lot limitations work-wise but i'll go to the S.K. ambassy this week and learn more about that.

mizU

United States12125 Posts

March 08 2011 12:15 GMT

Why're you moving to Korea? For the SC scene? Change of scenery?
It sounds like you're moving long term...
Is there a specific reason for your choice?

Jayson X

Switzerland2431 Posts

March 08 2011 12:43 GMT

Without speaking korean you will have a tough time. I met a lot of people there that were looking for a job through agencies but nothing came up even over the span of months. And these were well-educated westerners that had jobs in china and japan, highly payed in their respective fields. And the general consensus was that without having good contacts and speaking korean the only real option seems to be through a foreign company. There's a shitton of teachers though >_>

The city is a blast, no doubt. And I wish you all the best of luck.
I would advice you to learn the language first, intensive courses over a year.

Marou

Germany1371 Posts

March 08 2011 12:56 GMT

On March 08 2011 21:15 mizU wrote:
Why're you moving to Korea? For the SC scene? Change of scenery?
It sounds like you're moving long term...
Is there a specific reason for your choice?

Well since several years i have been willing to go live in a foreign country for year or so. This is just an experience in life that i'd like to do when i'm still a young man. As an early ESPORTS fan i always wanted to go visit Korea at some point. So i figured out that i could do both and go live in Korea for a while.
Also being able to speak Korean could allow me to secure a job in the very small world of ESPORTS, i plan on doing a lot of blogging when i'm out there.

On March 08 2011 21:43 Jayson X wrote:
Without speaking korean you will have a tough time. I met a lot of people there that were looking for a job through agencies but nothing came up even over the span of months. And these were well-educated westerners that had jobs in china and japan, highly payed in their respective fields. And the general consensus was that without having good contacts and speaking korean the only real option seems to be through a foreign company. There's a shitton of teachers though >_>

The city is a blast, no doubt. And I wish you all the best of luck.
I would advice you to learn the language first, intensive courses over a year.

Thanks for your insight, the thing is i don't want to spend a whole year learning Korean before i travel, that's the point of going directly there so i can learn the language faster.
If the company i'm working for currently is supportive and agree to hire me full time while i'm in Korea that would solve the problem and allow me to go there. I guess it all ties down to that.

lilsusie

3861 Posts

March 08 2011 13:20 GMT

You can find housing for around 700 easily but again, if you don't speak the language it ~~might~~ will be hard. Some places want a large key money deposit, and it all depends on what area you want to live in.

You will not be able to find a job without a working visa + if you don't speak Korean.

Korea's a great place to visit and travel around and party in, but to actually live here, it will be tough. Forget getting a legal job (if anything you can post flyers around and teach French to students) and just enjoy your time here.

http://www.meetup.com/cities/kr/seoul/

You can meet other people who are in Seoul through website like this. They are really great times and you'll be able to meet lots of people.

Good luck.