| WHAT
AGE: |
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At what age do people
usually begin to work in your country? |
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How old were you
when you got your first job? What was it? |
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Do new people at
a job suffer from hazing? - Did you get hazed? How? |
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Talk about age:
- Are you expected to have crappy jobs when you're younger?
- Can a boss ever be younger than their subordinates? - Is
the age hierarchy a positive or negative thing? |
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Do children work
in Korea? - What are some jobs that children do? - Why do they
not work while in other Asian countries they do? |
| CURRENT
JOB |
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What influenced
your choice of job? (Why did you choose your job?) |
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Describe
a typical day at your current job. |
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What time do your
start and finish work? |
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What time do you
get home from work? |
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How many hours a
week do you work? Is this normal / fair? |
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Is it more important
to work hard or work long hours? (Peer pressure) |
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Do you have to work
on weekends / Sundays? |
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Do you ever work overtime?
If so, how often / do you get paid more for overtime work? |
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Do you have to do
a lot of paperwork? |
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- Do you have to
attend a lot of meetings for your job? Probelms: n BUZZWORDS - People
just offer these all the time but they don't mean anything
1. soliloquy 2. ??? 3. Profit! n Boss
just talks and talks and... yet never really listens. n Topics
get bumped and thus never discussed n People
don't prepare and just bluff their way through n CYA - Cover
Your Ass / find scapegoat / Passing the Buck u It's
never the bosses fault |
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Do you like your
job? Why or why not? |
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Does your office
have Big Brother style monitoring? - CCTV - Recorded / scanned
emails - Recorded / scanned telephone calls - Time of arrival
/ departure / breaks exactly measured |
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What three adjectives
would describe yourself as a worker? |
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Would you describe
yourself as a workaholic? A slacker? |
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Do you like the people that
you work with? What are they like? |
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Do you have an additional part-time
job? Why? What do you do? |
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How long do you
plan to continue working where you are? Why? |
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What job do you
want to have in five years' time? |
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What would you change
about your job if you could (apart from money)? What would
you keep the same (i.e. what's the best bit) |
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How have working
conditions changed in recent years? Positive and negative. |
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Is there a problem
with sexist / racist practices in Korea? (Ha!) - Is there anything
you can do if you feel oppressed from: n Sexual
harassment n Ageism
n Racism n Bullying
n Underpaid/overworked
n Dangerous
work conditions - Is the world getting too Politically Correct?
n Positive
discrimination |
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Ever got revenge
at work? - Setting up the boss - Spread rumors - Tape fish
under a desk - Piss in the coffee / Put laxatives in coffee
- Go postal with big rifle (common?) - Jump off roof (common?) |
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How do you get rid
of your pent up stress then? - Gym - Herbal teas - Sauna -
Valium - Looking forward to revenge (last laugh) |
| BOSS |
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Do you like your boss?
Why or why not? |
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Does your boss appreciate
you? |
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Can a boss ever
be your friend? / If you're a boss, is it possible/advisable
to be a friend with your underling? |
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Is becoming a boss
more about what you know or who you
know? |
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If you're a boss
/ manager: - What makes a good boss? - What are the pros and
cons of being a manager? - How is being a boss similar / different
from being a parent? n Which
is more difficult? Why? |
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Do you think your
company is well run? What's the best thing / worst thing? Is
management a bunch of idiots? |
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If you could be
in charge for a week what would you change? Is it possible
to really change things? |
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How can you encourage
growth / improve moral? - Have sales targets and give bonuses
- Give commission n Does
the above cause too much rivalry? n Does
the above cause too much American-psychology-bullshit - "There's
no 'I' in TEAM" etc? |
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Many bosses in Korean
companies are now westerners - is this a good or bad thing?
Why? - How are they different? - Is this difficult to get used
to? (Western = direct style) |
| COMPANY
TEAM BUILDING |
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Do you have office
parties (e.g. a Christmas party?) - Is it a good thing or a
nightmare? - Did you cop-off with anyone? - Can you relax or
are you being watched? |
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Ever been on a weekend
retreat? - Where / how long / why? - Was it a good thing or
a nightmare? - What activities did you do? - What did those
activities teach you? |
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Drinking after work
- Do you feel forced to go? |
| PROMOTIONS |
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Have you ever been
promoted? Did you have to wait / work a long time before you
got the promotion? |
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When was the last
time you were promoted? |
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Did you get a large
pay raise at that time? |
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How many times have
you been promoted? |
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Ever had a sideways
promotion? |
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Are promotions always
good? (Sometimes you get only a little extra money but a lot
of extra work) |
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Have you ever turned
down a promotion? |
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Is becoming a boss
more about what you know or who you
know? |
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Have you heard of
crap people getting promoted so as to remove them from the
department? What other tricks do management use to get rid
of crap staff? - Making a crap employee sound good so you can
offload them onto another department - |
| LOSING
YOUR JOB |
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Ever been fired?
Why? |
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Is being fired a
social taboo? |
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Ever been made redundant?
Why? - Did it make you angry? - Is it seen as a bad thing /
reflects badly on you as a person? |
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Ever been visited
by the dreaded management consultants? (Have to be interviewed
for your own job) |
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Ever heard of unscrupulous
employers: - Firing you just before 12th month so you lose
bonus (11th hour) - Taking on "Permanent temps" who have less
rights / money - Sacking older people as they cost too much
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| EXTRA
COURSES |
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Have you ever taken
any courses that specifically help you with the job you are
doing now? - are they actually useful? |
| MONEY
ISSUES |
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What's the average
wage in Korea? |
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Is there a minimum
wage? - Is it possible to live on minimum wage? - Is
the minimum wage a good idea? |
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Is it easy to save
money in Korea => can talk about how good they are at saving
money - see appropriate sheet. |
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Do you get paid
what you deserve (are you underpaid / overpaid?!) What is a
fair wage for the skills you have? |
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Do you think it
is more important to make a lot of money or to enjoy your job?
- i.e. choose between a job you love for no money, or a job
you hate for lots of money. |
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How much money do
you need to make to fulfill you dreams and desires? |
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How does money affect
your decisions? |
| OWN
BUSINESS |
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If you could own
your own business, what would it be? |
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Is owning your own
business a good or bad idea? Why? |
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Do you want to be
the big boss / number one in your company one day? Why / Why
not? |
| RETIREMENT: |
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At what age do people
usually retire in your country? At what age would you
like to retire? |
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Do you think people
over 65 should be forced to retire? |
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What do you think
you will do after you retire? |
| WOMEN
IN THE WORKPLACE |
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Are there any jobs
that can only be done by one gender? What are they? |
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Is it common for
men and women to have the same jobs in your country? |
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Do you think women
and men should be paid the same for the same job? - Why doesn't
this happen now? |
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What are some jobs
that some people think only one gender can do, but can be done
by either gender? |
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Do you think women
make good bosses? Would you mind a female boss? |
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Do you think it's
acceptable for women to be in the military? Why/why not? |
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Do women usually
work after they get married in your country? |
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Does / did your
mother work? |
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Would you let your
wife work if she had children? |
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Is it embarrassing
if your wife earns more money than you? |
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Would you mind being
a house-husband? What about being a kept man? |
| OTHER
POSSIBLE JOBS |
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What are the most
common occupations in your country? What do most of your friends
/ family do? |
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Which jobs do you
think are the most prestigious? |
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What do you think
is the best / most interesting job? What do you think is the
worst / most boring? |
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What would be your dream
job? |
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When you were a
child, what did you want to be when you grew up? (why is your
current dream job different from your childhood dream?) |
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Would you like to
be famous? Why/why not? - What would you like to be famous
for? |
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If money weren't
a problem for you, which job would you prefer to have? |
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What job would you
most like to have, if social/cultural boundaries did not apply?
(How different are they?) |
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What occupation
could you never do? (too difficult/dangerous) e.g.: - policeman
/ fireman / undertaker / doctor / relief worker n Why? |
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Would you consider
the military as a career choice? Why or why not? |
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Would you like a
job in which you traveled a lot? Are lots of business trips
really all that good? |
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Would you like to
do the same job for the rest of your life? Is it common for
people from your country to have one job for life? |
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Would you prefer
to work outside rather than in an office? Why or why not? |
| CRAP
JOBS: |
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Would you ever work
in a call center? |
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Have you ever had
a McJob? |
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Do you see any unfair
labour practices in your country's workforce? |
| WEIRD
JOBS |
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What are some jobs
that you think sound interesting but in reality probably aren't?
E.g. - Finding the cure for cancer sounds interesting but the
reality is dull. - Owning your own bar sounds cool, but there's
tones of work. - Being a model sounds easy but it's actually
tough - Being a gynecologist! - Would you like to be a spy - is
it as fun as James Bond? |
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Do you know someone
who has worked as an undertaker? |
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Can women do this
job or is it better for a man to be an undertaker? |
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Have you ever worked
on a farm? Did you like it? Would you like to go back on this
farm job? If not, why? |
| JOB
HUNTING |
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Is it easy to find
a job in Korea? |
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How long did it
take you to find a job? |
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What are you trying
to do in order to find a job that you really like? |
| INTERVIEWS |
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Are you good at
interviews? Why/How? |
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What should you
not do during a job interview? |
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Who would you hire
a employee with a lot of experience or an employee with a lot
of education? |
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What are some questions
that are frequently asked in a job interview? Common questions:
- Why do you want to work here - Why did you choose this company
rather than a rival? - What are you bad points? (Perfectionist!)
- What positions of responsibility have you had in the past?
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