Career opportunities in Korea?

I'm currently a year 12 student wondering about my potential degree options. Before the year started I had a fairly solid idea that I wanted to study Korean at uni and would probably teach English as a career. Now I'm unsure of what job I could do and am looking for advice. I was attracted to Korean because I have an interest in different cultures, which led me to discover Korea and how different of a country it is. However, I'm also very into politics which has left me wondering which I should study. I know fairly well what opportunities a degree in politics would get me but I'm unsure of the potential jobs that a Korean degree would get me other than an English teacher as that seems to be the most common job for foreigners there. Does anyone what job opportunities I could get, specifically more detailed ones than what different unis advertise live public sector work? I'm also a mature student (I turned 23 in December) so I'm really concerned about making a mistake with my choice. Thanks in advance!

Reply 1

umbrellala

Universities Forum Helper

19

Original post by CoreyPeel

I'm currently a year 12 student wondering about my potential degree options. Before the year started I had a fairly solid idea that I wanted to study Korean at uni and would probably teach English as a career. Now I'm unsure of what job I could do and am looking for advice. I was attracted to Korean because I have an interest in different cultures, which led me to discover Korea and how different of a country it is. However, I'm also very into politics which has left me wondering which I should study. I know fairly well what opportunities a degree in politics would get me but I'm unsure of the potential jobs that a Korean degree would get me other than an English teacher as that seems to be the most common job for foreigners there. Does anyone what job opportunities I could get, specifically more detailed ones than what different unis advertise live public sector work? I'm also a mature student (I turned 23 in December) so I'm really concerned about making a mistake with my choice. Thanks in advance!

I'm studying Korean at SOAS so if you have any questions you're welcome to send them my way! I would start off by saying teaching English is more often than not a temporary job or gap year of sorts for language graduates. There's not really any potential for promotion or progression, so unless you're happy doing the exact same thing for a long time then that might not be the most attractive option. That's what put me off that career anyway.

I was in the same position as you before applying, I actually wrote personal statements for both Korean and International Relations since I was so unsure. The main politics-based route I was interested in (and still am) is the civil service/diplomatic fast stream which you can get into with any degree, and I was more interested in Korean at the time so I thought why not double my options. A lot of politics-related careers only require a degree, not a specific one, and it might be to your advantage to have a more varied skill-set than a typical politics graduate. Personally, I'm planning on doing a politics-focused masters to broaden my options a bit more, but that's not necessary unless you're looking to do something with specific requirements, or you're just genuinely interested in staying in education. If you're interested in a particular route and set on following politics in your career then maybe a politics degree would be more suited to you, but if you're not totally sure on where you want to go then I'd recommend exploring as many avenues as you possibly can and find out what the positives and negatives of doing each course are for each of those paths. Ultimately, I'd say do whichever degree you're most passionate about and that will lead you into a career which you enjoy and also have a passion for