K-Alien
Life in Korea from a Foreigner’s Perspective
recent posts
- Korean Men and Handwashing: The Dirty Truth Behind Korea’s Clean Reputation
- Job Interview in Korea: How I Blew an Offer at a Top Company
- The Most Dangerous App in Korea: Food Delivery
- Why Cars in Korea Are Mostly White, Silver, or Black
- Working hours in Korea
- Top 5 Places in Seoul Locals Don’t Want You to Know
- Housing options in Korea
- Hoesik: Korean Workplace Bonding
- Understanding Korean Workplace Culture as a Foreigner
Category: Korean Work Life
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What Foreigners Need to Know About Korean HR and Hiring Culture I want to share a story about one of the biggest job interview failures I have had in Korea. At the time, I was still new in Korea and I was still struggling to fully assimilate into the culture. One day, a headhunter approached…
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Visibility over productivity One of the most frustrating things about working in Korea is the culture of staying late in the office. You are expected to remain at least an hour after the end of official working hours.Appropriate number of hours will depend on your industry, the size of the company but most importantly the…
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Time to Let Bygones Be Bygones Now let’s talk about the good things in the Korean workplace. Korean companies often hold team or department dinners called Hoesik to celebrate small wins or to strengthen teamwork and create a more collaborative environment. The frequency depends largely on how alcoholic your boss is. For a few unfortunate…
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What It’s Really Like to Work in a Korean Office as a Foreigner Yes! You’ve heard of it: seniority-based hierarchy. Your boss is always right. And if you challenge that rule, you’ll learn the consequences quickly—just as I did. Working in a global company, I assumed things would be different. More open-minded, less rigid, and…