Applying to teach in Korea

Lately, a number of people have been asking about how to go about applying to teach in Korea and what to expect. Here are a few questions people have asked along the way. If you have any others please feel free to comment below or email me privately. 

Q: I would like to know how to apply to teach in Korea?

"Basically, there are two routes for teaching in Korea. A Hagwon (private academy) or government post. The pay is relatively the same. However, because Hagwons are after school, the hours tend to be in the afternoon and evening (ie 2pm-10pm). Whereas public school job are typically more 9-5.

I have a government post and work at an actual school (high school) - my hours are 8:20- 4pm with an hour lunch break to do whatever I need etc. Many of the teachers think that government posts are better because they are required by law to uphold the contract that you sign at the beginning of your year. For example, you never have to worry about being paid late or a discrepancy in your contract. There are many very good and reputable Hagwons but there are also some bad ones that change/add hours and dont pay on time.

I personally would suggest that you go for a government post if possible (EPIK, GRPIK, GOE, SMOE). Although I do have a number of friends who really love their Hagwon jobs as well. My sister has recently taken a Hagwon job and loved it -I think it is just the luck of the draw. If you do not like the uncertainty of where you will be placed a hagwon job may be a better option for you.

Q: Who did you apply with?

The people I went through are a South African company called 'Teach Korea' (Golden Key). They are a couple named Cliff and Yunok who live in Cape Town. They only do public school recruiting and therefore do not charge anything to place you. I would always suggest this to people who are considering the move, as you do not loose out on money if you decided to change your mind. Here is their site: Golden Key 

I went through something called the EPIK programme (English Program in Korea). In a nutshell, they have both an August and a February intake. This means they have giant orientations with about 500 new teachers at a university campus to show you how to be a teacher and how to speak a little Korean etc. It's a good way to ease into things because they fetch you from the airport, pay for you to stay in college dorms and feed interesting Korean food you for 10 days. The fly over is a culture shock - even for the most adventurous traveler- having this kind of help is fantastic in the early days of your adventure.  They also did cool things like take the teachers to visit temples and teach Taekwondo. Considering we got a whole 10 days for free it was pretty amazing. For me it was a great way to meet other new English teachers.
*A warning the EPIK application is very long and tedious... but stick with it, it's worth it in the end.*"

Here is a link to the EPIK page:  EPIK

Q:In terms of the application..how early should it be in?

"My opinion is that you should be starting the process of getting your information together about 6-8 months before you plan to leave. Believe me - it is a long process of getting various documentation apostiled and sent all the way to Korea. For instance, you are required to have a criminal background check (Police Clearance Certificate in SA) before you are eligible to even be considered for a job. In South Africa this can take up to 3 months to process and return.

Q: What sort of things do they look for?

"EPIK looks for a number of things, like a university degree (a teaching degree is not a requirement), some basic teaching or child care experience. When I first applied, I used my volunteer and aupairing experience as a basis for the questions they asked. 

The second thing you will need is a TESOL/TEFL course. I did mine in Cape Town. I was quite pricy but it is a highly regarded one that has 120 hour of in class teaching.(The in class teaching is something that they look for when narrowing down their applicants). However, if you are applying to a hagwon, an online TESOL/TEFL is totally fine. 

        Here's where I did it:  TESOL (Claremont, Cape Town)

For your application - you must have    Application form
                                                               Reference letters (x2) hand signed, with an offical letterhead
                                                               Studio Portrait Passport size photo in colour (x2)
                                                               Passport scan
                                                               Background checks (Police Clearance)
                                                              Sealed and stamped transcripts  from your uni (x2)
                                                              Notarized an Apostiled degree certificate

If you are in SA you will also need a letter from your junior school, high school and university saying that all schooling was conducted in English.

The paperwork is a nightmare to organise but it is totally worth the extra work. Ask your recruiter - they should have a template application and reference letters for you."

Q: What is the average pay and is your housing and transport included?

"I am at the bottom of the pay scale as a newbie teacher and my salary works out at roughly $2300 /R 26 - 28 000 a month (not too bad right? Depending on the strength of the Rand and the area you teach in). I can easily send home half my paycheck a month which is great for saving. For every year that you decide to renew, your salary goes up according to a pay scale. You are also entitled to a 13th paycheck for completing your contract.

Housing is included, as well as the cost of the flight to and from Korea.  However, the housing will most likely be a 'one-room' apartment, meaning your kitchen and bed are in the same room. I honestly have never really had much of a problem with it - especially as there is a culture of eating out in Korea.

The school covers half of your medical care (Their medical system is amazing I paid about 4000 won/ $4 / R45 rand for a specialist doctors visit and two types of antibiotics).

The only thing that you really have to pay for is your utility bills and general entertainment.
Finally full school lunches (more than you would eat at dinner) are included at a hugely subsidized monthly price. Basically, you only have to cover dinner and breakfast. Although the lunches are a little interesting at times ( bean sprout soup and boiled fish broth).

 There is no transportation fee. However, if you are placed in a very rural area or at 2 or more schools you will be given an additional 100 000 won per school (about R1300) for the inconvenience."

Q: What age group do you teach and how is their daily plan?

"I ended up teaching high school boys. I didn't know that was what I would get until I arrived over here. This is part of the deal with the EPIK program - you do not know where you will end up and what age group you will be teaching until you arrive.

Most new teachers will probably end up teaching elementary school. This is about the ages of  6 to 12. Teaching High school has actually worked out quite well for my personal situation.

My main focus is to teach them conversation as they already have a Korean English teacher to teach them grammar and spelling etc. I have varying levels of students. Some of my boys cannot spell their names in English while others can have political debates in class. The nice thing is that they stream the classes so that you can teach the different levels separately.  Basically, I see each class once a week. At the moment I am teaching 16 hours a week and the rest of the time is left for planning and marking etc (it's pretty relaxed). A big plus to teaching in Korea is that you are supposed to always have a co-teacher in the class with you... this is a teacher who can translate between Korean and English for the classes understanding. They also help a lot with discipline etc."

*Although a teacher is assigned to you - they often never come to class*

Q: What are the children and the parents like, are they easy to communicate with?

"In all honesty, Korea is not very English friendly this why they employ us. In the bigger cities you can get around but in the smaller cities most people cannot speak English.. This is why cities like mine tend to have a very tight-knit foreigner community. Ie an expats bar. It is still easy to get around the country and the government has made quite a few adjustments for foreigners. I.e. there is a foreigner helpline you can phone and the person on the line can translate directly for you. Having said that.. I am useless at Korean and I get by just fine. Plus, because Korea is so small I can get into a big city in about an hour and a half."

Q: Did you find it difficult to make friends?

"Leaving for Korea - this was one of my biggest concerns. What if I was in the middle of no where and I  would end up having no one to spend time with? I was placed in a pretty small city with about 30 other foreigners around and I can in all confidence say I have yet to feel very lonely. Because there is such a large language barrier I find that expats tend to stick together. I found, whether this is a good or a bad thing, that I have made more expat friends than I have Korean ones. For me, one of the huge selling points of joining the EPIK program is that I have formed bonds with people from all over the world. For instance, England, Ireland, USA, Aus etc."

Q: What happens if you don't get offered a job right away?

"This has happend to a number of my friends. It is important to remember that there is quite a bit of competition for jobs in Korea. Remember - you have people from 7 different countries applying for these jobs - that is quite a large scope of people. My opinion is try, try and try again with different recruiters and jobs- the perfect one will come along!"