Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mogbert]

I'm expecting an interview with EPIK this week. What type of questions can I expect? How long should it last? Thanks.

[flint]

[sojourner1]

I was expecting to be asked why I want to go teach English in Korea, but was only asked if I had all my documents in order.

[Stormy]

I was asked several questions about whether I was confident writing lesson plans, which is ironic considering I've never actually been to ask to submit any.
Other than that it was the general 'how do you think you'd cope in a Korean classroom', 'what are your strengths & weaknesses'....the standard questions from any job interview.
I was interviewed by a Canadian woman too btw, wasn't expecting that!

[SirFink]

Mine took about 20 minutes. The woman who interviewed me spoke great English. I don't remember specifics, just stuff like "how will you handle a class that has students of varying English-speaking levels? How will you handle homesickness and culture shock?"

She was a bit "well, we've had many applicants this year and there are only so many jobs" as if I really had to try and impress her to get the job. Riiiight. There are probably 2 openings for every applicant. You could mumble and drool your way through it and still be offered a contract. Two weeks vacation and 1.8 mil/month. Shining!

[Hotpants]

You should at least be prepared for the 3 questions:

Why do you want to teach in Korea?
Describe a typical lesson / Describe your teaching style
How would you manage large classes (and with it any misbehavior)?

You also need to avoid commenting on how the phone interviewer has just called you up in the middle of the night when you and everyone else in the house were fast asleep!

[EzeWong]

I just had mine literally 3 hours ago...

I had Jean, Lovely Girl, I believe she is Candian?

Anyways, the questions I had were regarding

1) How well can you cope with the culture
2) What makes you an asset to teach english
3) Why did you choose Korea
4) What are your future plans after you teach
5) What questions do you have for Epik

I can see how some of these questions can be traps, but answer them confidently. I think I did really well. I let her know I felt, that I am a real asset. I don't think it was real hard at all. Just be prepared, do some research. I had Rowan as my recruiter and he's helped a lot so far... so if you have a recruiter utilize him/her fully.

[crusher_of_heads]

I was asked by a recruiter if I could make lesson plans.

What would I do with a disruptive student?

[TBirdMG]

Was roughly 15 minutes, and went essentially like this:

I had taught in Korea several years ago, and so the interviewer, who spoke decent English, went through the following:

1) What did you like about Korea when you were here the first time?
2) What did you like about teaching in Korea?
3) What happens if you are asked to teach alone without a Korean co-teacher? Can you handle that?
4) If you teach with a Korean teacher, how do you feel about your role in the classroom?
5) Why did you ask for City X on your application?
6) Do you like Korean food? What is your favorite Korean food? (no joke...)
7) How do you feel about teaching elementary students?
Do you have any questions for EPIK?

That was it. I said no elementary students. Period. I am just too old for that. And no rural assignments. There was some pushback, and the interviewer claimed that EPIK could make no promises about the assignment...and that was that. I was told to contact the recruiter I went through to "address those things," which is the Korean way of passing the buck and avoiding any sort of transparency. We shall see what happens....