Teaching English in South Korea (The process and options involved)
All this info is based on my own experience thus far and I’ll try my best to simplify what seemed a very complicated process to me in the beginning!
First things first you need to know that there are three different ways you can go about if you want to teach in Korea: Public (EPIK), Public (GOE) and Private (Also referred to as hagwons). All explained below.
However before I go through each category Please see the contact information for Teach Korea (Dan) e-mail: teacheslkorea@gmail.com, Website: http://www.teacheslkorea.com/ He is essentially my agent who put me in contact with all the below recruiters. He is there for you every step of the way, offers great advice and once you have chosen your agency and have found your job his wife Aggie will guide you through the visa process and send you helpful information and links that will help you prepare for Korea and help you feel at home here faster. What you will need to do is tell him which way you would like to go- EPIK, GOE or private and which location you are looking for if any and then if you are applying with a friend and would like to be in the same school with or near him/her. He will then get in contact with agencies he thinks will suite you and your request, and the offers will start rolling in.
Public (EPIK):
Facts: Probably the most renowned way to go. EPIK is the official and only public school recruiter for the whole of Korea excluding the Gyeongsang area. Their application process is very specific and quite detailed; they also require more official documents in comparison with the others. However they seem to offer the most secure package, what you’re offered is what you get; your job is more secure than private institutions and in general I believe their orientation and ‘getting you setup period’ is much more supportive. The process involves getting in touch with a third party agent, who will take you through all the documentation you will need, they will also prep you for an interview and provide a lot more helpful information. There after you will have your interview and if successful, EPIK will contact you minimum two weeks before the time to secure your contract and tell you where you will be placed.
Personal experience: I couldn’t apply with them as they did not accept my Namibian school junior school education, also upon more research I found that GOE potentially pays more than EPIK and offers a similar if not the same package.
Contact information: Korean horizons (For South Africans) Alistair@KoreanHorizons.com
As mentioned above alternatively you can go through Dan at Teach Korea teacheslkorea@gmail.com
Public GEO:
Facts: This is the South Korean public school recruiter for the schooling for the Gyeongsang province (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Gyeongsang_Province) They seem to offer the same stability and regulated school system as EPIK but don’t have as strict education requirements, Like EPIK they also have a whole bunch of recruiters who you are recommended to go though and do the same prep with you to make sure you get in. Like EPIK You get a standard set of holidays as well as the local SK public holidays and so far according to my research the best pay between the two. (It would be advisable to note here that your pay is dependent on experience, education and location- The more rural you go the better you will be paid which is not all that bad if you think Korea is actually a small country and nothing is more than 20minutes away from where ever you are).
Personal experience: I honestly think this is the best way to go. The process is exactly the same as EPIK except they don’t ask for as many documents and the education requirements are looser. Also upon research I think the Gyeongsang province is one of the most beautiful in Korea which makes only finding out where you are going to be placed so close to the time so much easier. The only reason why I didn’t go GOE is because I was pressed for time and wanted to be closer to my friend and going through a private recruiter meant that he basically got us a school within 20min from each other in the same week. If you are patient and do everything in time there should be no reason they cannot place you close to someone you’re going with or even at the same school.
Contact information: Hands Korea recruiting (Brian) briank.hsk@hotmail.com . To read about the benefits here is a website link: http://www.korvia.com/goe-gyeongnam-office-of-education/
Private:
Facts: You can apply directly at any hagwon (Korean word for private school), or through many different agencies. There are tons of websites out there advertising jobs for hagwons. One popular one is: http://www.eslcafe.com/ The reality though is that it could either be very good or very bad. The reason being because just like any other private organisation these schools are depend on funding directly from parents so if the school is doing poorly, risk of closing down could become a reality, I have also heard stories about people not being paid on time or at all. There are various other differences in terms of holiday allowance, sick leave etc. All these could be very favourable or negatively outrageous!
Personal experience: This is the one that we went with in the end. Through our third party representative Dan we got in contact with Thomas. I can’t stress here enough about how much different the package can be and how you will only really know what you’re getting when you arrive here. For example myself and my friend both received very similar contracts just with minor differences such as our accommodation layout and school times. In reality I am now teaching at an English kindergarten from Monday to Thursdays from 08h00 until 16h00 and at a private after school academy on Fridays for 16h00 until 21h00. At the kindergarten I am with two different classes throughout the week which consist of 2-4 year olds, my lessons are only 30minutes long of which I have 4 throughout each day. Very very basic stuff, the rest of the time I am helping between teacher, parent correspondence and looking after children. On Fridays though I teach 10-15 year olds where it’s all about making English fun- so more conversational English and games- here I have five different classes. I must say though I enjoy what I have been given and although completely not what I expected my only fear is not being challenged enough throughout the year! My friend and other English teachers I have met so far have completely different experiences ranging in times, age groups, how many classes they have throughout the day and week, the importance and expectancy of lesson plan handing in and I have even met someone who teaches at 3 different schools. Apartments also differ, in what is provided, cleanliness and size etc.
Contact information: TJ Elite (Thomas) tjr.korea@gmail.com
General opinion: If you’re willing to take the gamble I could recommend private school too quite closely to GOE but do your research and personally I would still choose GOE for the first year and if you stay a second you can shop around and meet other teachers who can recommend jobs to you. I have met so many teachers so far and they have mostly been private and although our packages are very different they all seem content.
Other useful information:
TEFL certificate: They basically accept any TEFL certificate however it is better to have the ones with in class experience. I did a basic groupon TEFL certificate and then also did a course through ACLE in Italy which by the way was one of the best experiences of my Life and I would definitely recommend that above all else if you’re thinking of doing this. Only down side is the course is only available In the European summer time but a heads up. I did the course from mid June to mid August, was home for 10 days which was just enough to do the second part of the Korean VISA and then left for Korea to start teaching. ACLE also pays you for your teaching experience. So if I was conservative with my spending I would have managed to break even or even make money however I was not! J
Documents: This may be a bit fussy as it was a while back but you are required to have an apostilled Degree and notarised copy of degree, 2 reference letters (It doesn’t have to be your current employer- it can be a past one but the references should be dated I think oldest two months), a medical statement which they provide for you to fill out, apostilled police clearance, application form, declaration form, certified copy of passport, TEFL certificate and ya I think that’s it. For EPIK and I think even GOE you need 3 sealed envelopes from your university of your transcripts.
Document Angel (For South Africans only): You can only apostille your documents in Pretoria. We went through a middle man so to speak: Noma- contact info below. We got our police clearance and our degree and sent the originals and certified copies to Noma though the pick n pay postal service (Apparently they are the most reliable and this is who she recommended). She handled it for us for a fee and then send everything back. Then you must post this information along with all other documents such as signed contract and application form to your school (Aggie will advise as well as your recruiter will advise what exact documents you need). Once they receive it and hand it in to the visa people in Korea and its approved they will send you a number which you will then send to the Korean consulate in Pretoria along with your passport and another filled in Visa application form. Once again here I sent it straight to Noma who then handled the process for me. She send it back 5days later all approved and stamped in.
Contact information: Noma noma@docs4expats.com
Flight: Our company paid and booked our flight as soon as we had our visas stamped in so all you have to do is show up at the airport.
This is all of course very biased information as it was all my personal experience It did however take a good few months to piece together all the bits and bobs for example figuring out what an apostilled document was, better yet a notarised apostilled document and then finding out that the only Korean consulate is in Pretoria and the only place you can get your docs apostilled was in Pretoria. So I really hope this information is helpful.
Some personal experience info: I am living and working on Geoje Island, it’s beautiful and there seem to be a lot you can do here but the biggest plus is that its expat heaven and only an hour away from Busan which is an awesome City! Two of the biggest shipping companies in the world are here and there are a lot of English people so all the signage is in English which was very helpful. I can definitely say this is not the case for the rest of Korea, I met someone who is the only English person in his town and goes weeks without seeing English people. I’m sure the cities are different though. Best bit of advice I can offer though is downloading a Korean maps app as google maps doesn’t recognise the addresses in Korea. Only down side to the island so far is apparently it’s more expensive than other parts of Korea but not by any drastic amount that will affect my saving plan.
Got any Questions? Ask away…
