Hi everyone,
So recently I've been running into some people who are having some financial problems, or at best they're J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) so I've been counseling them on ways they can earn extra income.
Now, many people from across the world have financial problems, so that's nothing new, however as a foreigner in Korea there are certain restrictions on the type of work we can do here, which makes it difficult to get over any financial problems someone may be having.
Therefore I would like to share some tips on how you can legally earn extra income while in South Korea.
However, let me give you some caveats before you continue on.
This will not make you rich. Nobody's getting rich from doing this, but the earning you make can help you accomplish your financial goals, and quite frankly have an enriching, fun time doing it.
It's not magic. Please understand that all of these jobs require work. In fact some of the jobs like the online jobs, I'll explain later, often start off just making a few cents a job, but with diligence those jobs roll into much bigger paying jobs.
Some of these programs are not available to everyone. For various reason some jobs are only open to certain nationalities, ethnic groups, or certain visa holders. I'll point those out case-by-case later on.
Now that those caveats are out of the way, let's get started.
- Online work. Amazon Human Turk is a very popular and relatively easy program to access. Basically, someone has to be a U.S. resident or citizen to signup. After signing up/gaining approval from Amazon.com Requestors (workers) access various Human Intelligent Tasks (HITs ) that cover everything from answering surveys to transcribing Russian videos into English. This is a really a good option if you or a spouse can't legally work in Korea, but still want to earn some money.
Another option for people more focused on writing is Click Worker. Click Worker is a German company that is setup similar to Amazon Human Turk. However, with CW anybody can join, workers must pass assessment tests before they can start receiving jobs, and it pays in Euros. So if you're looking to earn extra money in a something other than Korean Won or U.S. Dollars than this can be a good option.
There are actually many more options to choose from, and a quick Google search under "Alternatives for Amazon Human Turk" will lead you to them.
- Language focused odd jobs. This is a broad topic to includes everything from acting/modeling to writing articles in your native language.
For example, this job,linked below, from jobsee.kr. pays from $10-$1000 monthly for people to write about Chinese dramas.
http://jobsee.kr/job/21628825/soompi-chinese-drama-features-writer
This job, linked below, is a one time translation job that pays $1300.
http://jobsee.kr/job/85821510/korean-english-translator
Another job from craigslist.org is for making an educational video that pays 200,000 KRW.
Finally, this job is for some Caucasian Americans https://seoul.craigslist.co.kr/tfr/d/caucasian-americans-needed/6369238142.html
The jobs in this category are nearly endless, so the above are just a sample to help you get started.
After School Tutoring: This one is a no brainer as education is a big business in Korea. Many subjects can be taught. If your good with math, music, or computers you can make extra money teaching these on the side, AND if you do it in English you will really be killing it. Also, by extension there are companies out there that pay teachers to teach over the telephone, and Skype. However, I've heard that the Korean government is cracking down on illegal teaching so be careful not to violate any laws with this.
Part Time Job. Believe it or not there actual normal jobs at restaurants and coffee shops that hire expats to work at them. Places such as Itaewon, Anjung-Ri (Camp Humphreys) and others with a strong foreign influence have a wide assortment of businesses that hire foreigners to work as servers, bar tenders etc.
So that's it for now. To be honest there are many more out there, this list is designed to show some of the options you have, and encourage you to do your own searches. Please feel free to leave your comments.