How to find English speaking expat jobs in korea
You are a brand new foreign worker in South Korea and you’re looking for a job. So I want to show you how to find English speaking jobs across the country.
Whether you’re looking for jobs in Korea in certain industries or specifically for expats and English speakers only, I’m confident you’ll be well-informed after reading this article.
Let’s face it, job hunting is a tedious experience. It can seriously feel like a chore. It can also take a long time to find a job that you’re both qualified for and are likely to enjoy. So when you add in the stress of looking for jobs when you don’t speak the local language, it can seem overwhelming.
But since it is such a popular destination for foreign workers, there are many places outside of Korean job sites to find expat jobs for English speakers.
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| Country: | South Korea (Republic of Korea) |
| Currency: | South Korean Won / KRW |
| Do you need a visa to visit as tourists? | Check here |
South Korea is one of 8 countries British passport holders can get a working holiday visa between the age of 18 and 30. This is a work permit that allows you to live, work and travel there for up to 1 year.
Still need to get your South Korean work permit? Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you apply for a working holiday visa in Korea before you come back here to find jobs for expats.
Different ways to find expat jobs in Korea
Official Korean job sites (including in English)
Xpat Jobs
Xpat Jobs is a top choice and should definitely not be left out when job hunting. As it states in the name, most of the job vacancies are expat specific and aimed at newcomers and foreign workers. It’s a modern and very easy-to-use website with a large collection of roles to look at.
JobKorea
JobKorea is one of the go-to websites to find jobs online from inside Korea and overseas. What makes them so great for foreigners and expats is they have an entire section of jobs specifically for English speaking roles. To make it easy for you English speakers, I have directed the JobKorea link directly to the English section so you don’t need to go looking too far.
PeopleNJob
PeopleNJob is my third choice of large job sites in Korea. The only downside for me with this site is that it is a bit more cluttered and slightly harder to navigate in comparison to the other two. They still have a large selection of jobs for newcomers to the country and expats so you’ll have little to no issue finding vacancies as English speakers.
Saramin
Saramin is another very popular job site for jobs in Korea. Unlike JobKorea, there doesn’t seem to be a section dedicated to English speakers but it does hold plenty of job vacancies for them. They have everything from recruiters to individual job postings and they can narrow down the job selections easily to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Albamon
Albamon is another popular job search engine. Its grid layout can make it seem crowded and overwhelming but it is extremely easy to narrow down jobs by specification and find what you are looking for. Many of Korea’s large corporations use this site to scout for new staff.
Pro tip: Make sure you can use google translate from Korean to English through your browser to make navigating these job sites easier.
Recruitment agencies
Robert Walters Recruitment
Robert Walters is a popular recruitment agency located in Seoul that covers many different industries. They have been around for over 12 years and have helped many expats and English speaking newcomers find jobs in Korea.
- Phone number: +82(0)264547000
- Office: 21st Floor East Center, Center 1 Building 26 Euljiro 5 Gil Jung-gu, Seoul 04539, Korea
Reed Specialist Recruitment Agency
Reed is already a well-known and established recruitment agency in multiple other countries. Unlike some of the other agencies which focus on specific industries, Reed actually fills positions for a wide range of sectors.
- Phone number: +82 (0) 221872000
- Address: 6F, 458, Dosan-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
JAC Recruitment (Korea)
Jac Recruitment is a multi-national recruitment firm that help international workers find work in Korea. The company was founded in the UK but has since extended their reach across more than 10 countries worldwide.
- Phone number: +82(0)221830511
- Office: 615, East Wing Hanshin Intervalley 24 Teheran-ro 322, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 06211
HR net One Recruitment
HR Net One is one of the oldest recruitment firms on our list and they also handle placements for a big range of industries. Anything from retail, construction, accounting and healthcare to name a few.
- Phone number: +82-2-6030-8100
- Address: 22nd Floor, Morae Asset Center 1, East Tower, Euljin 5-Gil 26 Jung-gu, Seoul 04539, South Korea
Expat Websites & Forums
Luckily South Korea is a very common destination for expats and foreign workers. This means there are a few different expat-specific forums and community channels to help meet people and find work. Apart from having many Facebook groups (which we will get to below) available to you, I want to share some other avenues directed at foreigners and expats.
Even sites such as Reddit can sometimes be helpful when looking for work. They may not have many subreddits aimed at job hunters but I’ve definitely seen posts of vacancies being shared for cities and regions. If you take a look at some local Reddit threads you might see an ad or two. I’ll give you some examples below
Facebook Groups (Teaching & Non-teaching)
As you probably already know, millions of people use Facebook and it is still a very active social networking site. What’s great about Facebook is they have groups for pretty much anything you could think of for people to join.. and that includes finding English speaking expat jobs in Korea.
Jobs for expats in Korea (Foreigners in Korea)
This group has 22,000 active members and they regularly have new posts of job vacancies each week. This is the most active group I’ve found.
This group has 8,600 members and an average of 50+ posts each week of people offering positions and looking for work.
Although this is a very active group, it seems a little spammy compared to the others. That doesn’t mean you can’t find legitimate roles here, it just takes a little longer to weed out the right jobs.
Non-teaching job seekers Korea
As the name suggests, this group is specifically for jobs that are NOT teaching. If you are on a general work permit or a working holiday visa then this could be ideal for you.
When looking to teach English specifically then you will need to make sure you are on the right visa type since the working holiday visa is not eligible for teaching.
If you would like more opportunities to find work, take a look in the “groups” section of the site or app. There are Facebook groups for everything from specific types of jobs, to individual communities so it’s a great way to make connections too.
Personal connections
As with anything, the saying is always “it’s not what you know, but who you know” and it is also true with job hunting abroad. If you are lucky enough to have some contacts already in South Korea it can sometimes benefit your job search.
They might be able to direct you to Korean job sites themselves, or they may already be aware of jobs for English speakers elsewhere in Korea.
Whether they are already working in a company that has vacancies, or they heard about a job role in passing. Maybe they actually are hiring staff themselves or are part of the recruitment process.
Regardless of the situation, it is always beneficial to ask around some of your new and old contacts in case they know of a job vacancy you haven’t yet heard of.
Pro tip: Consider making some basic business cards with your personal details in English and Korean. This is a huge way to stay in contact with business associates here.
Linked In
Although LinkedIn is technically a social media platform, it really is an opportunity to look for work – even in South Korea. This site definitely isn’t the main avenue when looking for English speaking jobs in Korea but it’s always worth exploring this option as an extra job site.
Generally speaking, you can go into the LinkedIn job section and narrow it down by country, region, job type and more. There is also a great phone app for applying for work on the go. By keeping your profile up to date and accurate it’ll be much easier to find yourself expat jobs going forward too.
Local Ads (Newspaper & Craigslist)
Similar to how the UK used to advertise for jobs in previous years, Korea still uses old-school advertising tactics by buying ad space in a newspaper. Luckily, two of the best English language newspapers for job hunting are countrywide, but I have also included one locally for Seoul.
If you are planning to stay in another region, take a look at the regional local paper as well.
What’s great about each of these papers, is they are directly aimed at English speakers and residents based in Korea, so of course, that includes the expat lifestyle and jobs.
Pro tip: You have the opportunity to read the physical copies of the papers as well as the websites below.
- The Korea Herald (countrywide)
- The Korea Times (countrywide)
- The Seoul Times (Seoul only)
- Any other local Newspaper
Craigslist is kind of an odd-one-out kind of deal because it is an online avenue to find work (sometimes) but it isn’t exactly a job site. It’s known as a classified ad site (which is why I’ve grouped it with the newspapers). They do sometimes have job postings that are relevant to English speakers as well as locals.
Career & Job fairs
Similar to what you might find at a university at home, Korea holds job fairs every year too. If you are a foreign worker or international student looking for work, these job fairs are beneficial. Not only could you line up a few interviews, but you could also start creating your international work network.
If in doubt, you can check out this event calendar for any tradeshows and job fairs coming up. Below are some links to job fair venues and fairs themselves for you to keep track of when looking for work.
- Kintex (the site that advertises fairs and tradeshows)
- Job fair for international students (an annually held fair)
Final thoughts on finding English speaking jobs as an expat in Korea
So, knowing you have many of these options above to help you with your job search you can relax a little. Yes, looking for work is a tedious task but with so many avenues to do so, you’ll find a job in no time! With a little bit of drive and determination, you’ll be able to find jobs for English speakers like yourself in Korea
Once you’ve got the job and some income coming in, you’ll be able to celebrate by exploring this beautiful country. Good luck!
If you’re new to working overseas and are not sure what to expect, why not check out the pros and cons of working abroad? This will help you understand why it’s really worthwhile to progress your career in various expat jobs.
