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ccikulin
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Location: Sunae-dong, Bundang
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 Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:30 pm Post subject: Considering a PS position. What should I be asking? |
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I had a 40 minute phone interview with a recruiter from Eastgate esl network about a public school position this summer. They seem a lot more thorough and professional than most of the other recruiters I talked to. Anyway, I have also been offered a few other positions from a few different recruiters (one at an Elementary school which I turned down because I don't want to teach kids that young) Anyway, I am definitely taking a public school position as soon as the right one comes up, but I am wondering if I could get some advice on what I should be asking about the school and who I should be talking to.
Some of you guys have had a lot of experience in the public school sector, so if you were getting a job at a new school, who would you talk to and what would you ask them?
I really appreciate any advice you guys can give me. I plan on staying in Korea for a long time and I really want to make this first year a good start. Thanks. |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Which organization are you looking at? SMOE, EPIK, GEPIK? |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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Good on you...middle and school students are much easier to teach.  |
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Colorado
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Location: Public School with too much time on my hands.
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Unfortunately, what your recruiter tells you and what you will get are usually two different things. Just be aware of that. |
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No_hite_pls
Joined: 05 Mar 2007
Location: Don't hate me because I'm right
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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Public schools are great, and with new E-2 regs. there are now no real differences
in paper work needed between public and private schools.
About questions to ask;
Has the school had a NT before?
How many classes will I teach per week?
Will I be teaching at one or more schools, I teach at two schools (some teachers teach at even more)?
How many vacation days will there be?
Will there be an orientation week (they are great, you get to meet other foreigners in your area and learn about Korea)?
How much is the overtime pay?
Will I have to do camps, and will they be paid? (the recruiter probably will not know the answer to this question)
Is there a rural allowance?
I asked for middle or high school, I got a middle school.
Ask to talk to other teachers teaching in the same program.
Do you know where the school will be? |
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ccikulin
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Location: Sunae-dong, Bundang
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| spliff wrote: |
| Good on you...middle and school students are much easier to teach. |
Hell Yeah!
I taught some younger kids (6 and 7yrs old) when I was in Korea with my girlfriend (korean) a couple years back, and I dreaded those classes every time. So hard to keep their focus on the lesson, even when I broke the class up with games. I felt like a babysitter sometimes.
I have to teach some ESL classes at my university as part of the coursework I have to do to get my TESOL certificate and they are just awesome. We have so much fun in class and I never have problems with discipline. 3 of the students play poker with me every Friday too which is always cool. Middle school and high school students probably aren't as much fun as these guys, but I know the older they are the easier they are to relate to and get along with (usually) for me anyway. |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Usually foreign teachers only teach grades 4 -6 in Korean elementary schools, 10 - 13 year olds. |
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ccikulin
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Location: Sunae-dong, Bundang
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Colorado wrote: |
| Unfortunately, what your recruiter tells you and what you will get are usually two different things. Just be aware of that. |
Yeah, thanks to the forums here I know a lot about this. I've been talking to a lot of recruiters lately since I started posting my resume all over the place. I usually have about 4 or 5 calls a week from these people and I am really getting used to filtering out the BS. The thing that really impressed me about this recruiter was how thorough she was though. Most recruiters try to just avoid topics they don't want to talk about and when you start asking them questions you get a lot of vague and unclear answers. She covered everything. She also seemed really concerned about getting a lot of information about me. She really wanted to make sure I was prepared to adapt to Korea. Anyway, thanks for the heads up. If it wasn't for reading a lot of the threads on this forum I think I might have ended up being a sucker and taking a really bogus job. |
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ccikulin
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Location: Sunae-dong, Bundang
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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| spliff wrote: |
| Usually foreign teachers only teach grades 4 -6 in Korean elementary schools, 10 - 13 year olds. |
That's not actually too bad. But again, I definitely prefer the older age groups. I am being pretty picky about location because I want to be near my girlfriend. She's working at an office in COEX. So I would probably take an elementary school position if it was really close to Samseong. |
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ccikulin
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Location: Sunae-dong, Bundang
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Bibbitybop wrote: |
| Which organization are you looking at? SMOE, EPIK, GEPIK? |
Hmm, good question. I'm not exactly sure. I will be employed and payed by the government though, not the school. I remember talking about this, I just can't remember exactly what she said. |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Knowing which organization you will work for will help people give you advice about the job. What area of Korea and what organization? |
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expat2001
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:20 pm Post subject: Re: Considering a PS position. What should I be asking? |
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| ccikulin wrote: |
I had a 40 minute phone interview with a recruiter from Eastgate esl network about a public school position this summer. They seem a lot more thorough and professional than most of the other recruiters I talked to. Anyway, I have also been offered a few other positions from a few different recruiters (one at an Elementary school which I turned down because I don't want to teach kids that young) Anyway, I am definitely taking a public school position as soon as the right one comes up, but I am wondering if I could get some advice on what I should be asking about the school and who I should be talking to.
Some of you guys have had a lot of experience in the public school sector, so if you were getting a job at a new school, who would you talk to and what would you ask them?
I really appreciate any advice you guys can give me. I plan on staying in Korea for a long time and I really want to make this first year a good start. Thanks. |
Ask to speak with the korean teachers and make sure you can understand them.My co teachers are nice , but everyday is an event in miscommunication.
Maybe even ask hte teachers about their teaching theories. One of my co teachers want me to spend most of the class chanting. |
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ccikulin
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Location: Sunae-dong, Bundang
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Bibbitybop wrote: |
| Knowing which organization you will work for will help people give you advice about the job. What area of Korea and what organization? |
I told the recruiter that I want to work in Seoul or Gyonggi-do only if it's near Bundang or around Southeast Seoul because my girlfriend works in Samseong. So it will either be Seoul or Gyonggi-do. I'm gonna ask next time I talk to the recruiter exactly who I will be working for.
I was thinking about going through SMOE, but you have no idea where within Seoul they will place you, and I also heard that you can't deny a position or you will be disqualified from the program.
Do you guys know if this is also true for Gyonggi-do?
I'm going this route because I want to know what school I am going to be working at before I sign a contract.
If I didn't have a Korean girlfriend I probably wouldn't care as much, but she is working full time and I need to be close by so I can see her when she gets off early enough to hang out. |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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With SMOE, you don't know where you will be placed, but it is in SMOE. I know people in Korea have negotiated with them about location, but coming from overseas won't give you that option.
You need to be clear with the recruiter if you want to work for SMOE. Go to SMOE's ETIS website and make sure they are one of SMOE's official recruiters. Don't apply to SMOE through more than one recruiter. They have a batshit insane policy that applying through more than one will disqualify you. |
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ccikulin
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Location: Sunae-dong, Bundang
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Bibbitybop wrote: |
With SMOE, you don't know where you will be placed, but it is in SMOE. I know people in Korea have negotiated with them about location, but coming from overseas won't give you that option.
You need to be clear with the recruiter if you want to work for SMOE. Go to SMOE's ETIS website and make sure they are one of SMOE's official recruiters. Don't apply to SMOE through more than one recruiter. They have a batshit insane policy that applying through more than one will disqualify you. |
Thanks. I haven't applied to them through more than one, so I should be ok. I'm gonna check out their website. |
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