this is a rant over 10 years old, but when i was about to graduate college back in '97, i applied for english teacher positions in asia - mainly Japan, Korea, and Taiwan - thinking that i could see parts of asia i've never seen and make some money while learning the local language. i interviewed with a few of them over the phone and it seemed to have gone well until they saw me: "we're very sorry, but you're not...a foreigner, so we can't hire you."

i was outraged! being an asian american made me unfit to teach english? WTF?!

just wondering if that kind of crap is still happening today in asia?

 

damn, would think this would only happen in movies! but thats messed up

 

Wow. Uhhh. . . is there any way for me to answer this without seeming like some bigot, racist, or, at the very least, ignorant douchebag?



The single greatest asset and liability I've seen in my Asian friends, both FOB and second-gen, is the fact that there is still a very STRONG allure to image, with a mere cursory scrutiny for substance. . . .forget what may work best for a person at certain point in their life; if they can't have the best, or at least appear to be successful, then they clearly are not. You, Mingster, got donkey-punched by this very Achilles' heal.

You OBVIOUSLY cannot know English as well as I, because you're not. . . uhh. . . American enough. Ignore substance; you're clearly selling yourself as bum goods. No Asian will pay for "authentic" American English instruction from an Asian; it doesn't look right.



I really really hate to IBTL myself; but it's the single trait that I find philosophically disturbing and disruptive between myself and many of my (hey; I live in the Bay Area here!) Asian friends.

 

Image is very important if you try to teach over there. Good looking, well dressed, ect. My friend taught in Korea and said that the ugly chick at his institute got paid less, everyone knew it, and the boss told her to lose weight.

 

I'm running the risk of being flamed horribly, but please don't take this the wrong way. Chances are the reason they gave you was not the actual reason you were not hired.

I have tons of Asian friends that successfully returned to various Asian countries to teach English; China, Korea, Japan, etc. None of them had a single problem with being Asian, and in fact they report that a good number of American sourced English teachers were ethnically native to country they were teaching (Koreans in Korea, Chinese in China, etc).

In fact I think now I have 4 friends still currently teaching English in Asia. A Chinese American Yale grad in Beijing. Another Chinese American Upenn grad in Beijing as well. A Japanese American Uconn grad teaching in Tokyo. And a Korean American Uconn grad teaching in Seoul.

It is classic Asian culture not to be direct about why they rejected you. Using the standard "you are not foreign" excuse is a polite rejection as it is something that you cannot help. Yet this excuse really does not make sense if you think about it. If "Ming" is any part of your name (just assuming from your screenname), they clearly knew you were Asian (Chinese) before going into the interview. If they interviewed someone with "Ming" or some other Asian first or last name, they were clearly open to Asians for the job. If you have an Asian sounding first or last name, they were clearly not surprised when an Asian walked in on interview day. The vast majority of applicants they get are Asians, so I doubt they just missed it. If they wanted non-asian applicants only, they could have easily screened the names and eliminated the majority of them.

Don't stress about it, it does not reflect anything about you. Chances are they had TONS and TONS of interviews, and could pick and choose pretty much at random. Many times these jobs are extremely competitive because of the legions of people wanting to do it. Unlike in America where employers pretty much say "sorry but I found better, you suck," to the vast majority that didn't get the job, in Asia they will pin it to some reason out of your control. They'd rather have you angry at them rather than disappointed in your own abilities.

The most telling example is what is happening to my white friend who studied Chinese for 6 years and wants to go to Beijing to teach English. He was rejected from a bunch of places that said basically "they wanted someone more culturally natural to China," basically saying he was too white. This is obviously as much BS as them saying to you that you are too Asian. The fact is the picked someone else, and had to come up with excuses for the rest.

So don't sweat it, it's a job rejection like any other. I think I've been rejected from no less than 100 jobs in my career. Job rejection is a natural part of joining the work force. Just keep applying and someone will appreciate your talents.

 

yes it still happens, and openly here in taiwan. i couldn't get an interview at any of the smaller places, and even at the chains where ABCs are more welcome i was rejected. on the phone and over email i was told i wouldn't be considered because i was an ABC. a few places told me to call back or come in, until i mentioned i was an ABC, and then was told sorry.

luckily, i landed a pretty decent job in a good industry and am much better off than if i were to have been an english teacher.

to the poster above, i don't think i've ever heard of anything such as "too white" for a teaching position in asia.