English guy working in finance in Seoul

[martin_chingu]

I'm thinking about moving to Seoul.

Does anyone know what the chances are of finding a good job there?

I study maths at one of the top universities in the UK and I'm a qualified actuary.

Are then any uses for my skills? Would I be valued there? I get the sense that Seoul's financial services industry isn't all that developed - but it must have good potential... Does anyone have any experience / views on this?

My Korean is basic - but I'm working hard to change that.

Why do I want to go? My girlfriend is from Seoul and I think I should give it a try - she's put up with London for the past 3 years...

[koreageng]

do you have working experience? if yes it dramatically improve your chances. sk has been seriously hit by the financial crisis and i would say that financial skills are not the first skills that might interest korean companies. The best option for you would be to apply to international institutions or bank like HSBC who might look for people like you. How old are you? As an european citizen If youre under 30 you can find International voluntary programms for a year or two might be great too. Working in a korean company without knowing korean would be a very difficult task but not impossible. however i think its not the good time for finding a job in Sk as even SK people struggle to. Korea is however always looking for high skilled IT profesionals and Electronics majors. Finally if you work for a korean company dont expect to get the same salary that you could get for a job in UK. In a very good company it should be around 60 to 70% of the salary you could make in a normal company in UK. Good thing is that life is cheaper (except accomodation) and fun.