Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jmone]

I spoke with a recruiter with www.globalcampusjob.com She is looking for people for the GEPIK program in the Gyeonggi Province. I have done some research about teaching in Korea and several cities in Gyeonggi, but is there anyone out there who has actually taught through the GEPIK Program? I'm looking for firsthand information regarding how well they look after their teachers, the teaching and accommodation situation. How does it compare to other teaching positions you've had if you've been in Korea for a while? Any info will help, I am trying to make this decision soon. Thanks.

[ChinaBoy]

Sorry, there are no threads about GEPIK on here

[jmone]

K i guess i won't come to Korea then, lol. Sorry, I just got on here and didn't really have the time to go searching thru a million posts. Was hoping someone could just give me a summary of how GEPIK compares to other teaching jobs in Korea. Maybe I should have just done a poll: who here who has used GEPIK recommends it and who does not? and why?

[Otherside]

I'm in my second year with GEPIK.

Basically, it's a public school job. (check the couple of hundred threads on public schools vs hagwons). GEPIK deals with Gyeonggi province, while SMOE deals with Seoul, and EPIK the rest of Korea. The programs are much of a muchness.

The answer to all your questions is "depends on the school," The big catch with all these public school jobs, is while GEPIK provides the guidelines, it's up to the actual school to implement them, and results can vary. I know GEPIK teachers who've had large 3 bedroom apartments, and GEPIK teachers who've had small 30sq metre aparts (maybe 1/3 of the size of the previous apartment, and both teachers were within a 5min walk of eachother). And then plenty in the middle. Teaching, will depend on your co-teacher, In my 2years I've had 2 co-teachers, one was amazing, the other barely shows up.

The major plus with GEPIK (and other public school jobs) is that you won't get ripped off like you may in a hagwon. You WILL get paid, you WILL get all your benefits, the school won't go bankrupt, and so forth. For those reasons alone, a public school is worth it (ESPECIALLY for a first-timer). Whether to go with GEPIK, SMOE or EPIK?. Well that depends on the location you want?

[jmone]

thanks for the advice. The recruiter I'm using seems to care and has been pretty helpful along the way. So, for the most part, I won't know many details until I get there? I'm not that picky and I am open-minded, but I would obviously prefer to put myself in the best position possible. It seems to be just luck of the draw though with this. I am still unclear as to how much say I actually have over this process. I feel like once I sign the contract and make the commitment, I will just have to cross my fingers for a positive experience.
Will I be able to contact the school to see if they've had foreign teachers and are prepared for one before I actually get placed there? Will I have any info regarding my living situation before I get there? These are all points on which my recruiter has been somewhat vague about. I can't figure out why though. Maybe they'd just prefer to have it their way and put me wherever they'd like? That is what worries me in a way, it is hard to think that someone else always has your best interests in mind. At first, everything sounded great and I was ready to jump into this prepared for anything that came my way. But the more I read, the more research I feel like I should be doing. All this information is making me skeptical and I finding myself wanting to know all sorts of little details. Should I just trust my recruiter and go with the flow?

[Otherside]

Jmone, it all depends.

When are you planning on coming?

If you are planning on coming at the end August/early September, then you'll most likely be lumped into the semester intake of teachers and then you it's a bit of a lottery. If you are planning on coming a bit sooner (say May or June) it is likely that you've been hired by a specific school, and then you'll be able to find out more information. (Location, housing arrangements, perhaps have a chat, speak to a previous foreign teacher, etc.)

For the record, if you are the first foreign teacher at a school it is not necessarily a bad thing. (I'm the first teacher at my school). If your school has had a previous teacher, they'll be subsconsciously comparing you to him/her the entire time. If that teacher was a star (or even just above average - time will inflate his achievements) you'll have a pretty big pair of shoes to fill and us a newbie it can be tough. On the other hand, if the previous teacher was a douche who was very difficult, was late for work, perhaps pulled a runner (for various reasons) etc, the school won't want to make the same mistake again and will have you on a very short leash.

Either way, try and get as much information out of your recruiter as possible, and especially get the skivvy on your schools location (try get the name of the school even and the exact location). Locations in GEPIK can vary quite a bit, from being literally just outside Seoul, to being in the heart of another major city (of more than 1mill) to being out in the sticks and more than an hour from anything remotely modern. Depending on what you want, some of these locations could be a boon or a curse.

[jmone]

The recruiter said the two intake times are May and September and I was shooting for May. But there have been some issues with my lease and other things that need to clear up. So I told her that I might not be able to get all the documents together in time for May. She said that it is not a problem and I could get a job in June or July or wait until September. So I am hoping to get everything together for the May window... I have also been trying to research the different cities in Gyeonggi. I was able to find some info on Suwon and Ilsan and they sound pretty cool. I'm a younger guy (23), so I'd want to live in a city where I could go out on the weekends and have some fun stuff to do around me. Where do you live? How's your school and living situation etc? Did you go in with a small amount of info? Or did you know specifically what you were looking for?

[Otherside]

[jmone]

Nice, Suwon was probably gonna be my top choice, we'll have to meet up if/when I ever get over there! Sorry to hear about your bad hagwon experience. Public school does seem to be the way to go for a newbie like me. I'm really just in it for the experience. Hopefully I'll have some good times with the kids and teach them something valuable. I like to teach and you can send me anywhere in the world and I probably will enjoy it and have a good time. I'm pretty open-minded in that sense. I think the thing that gets me most is that this is a 1year contract. That's kind of a long time.... I find myself concerned about little details that would usually not bother me. Just want to make sure to keep the headaches to a minimum I suppose.

I'd love to live in a city where I can also have a good time outside of my job. Is there good nightlife at all in Suwon? Foreigner population? What do you do in your spare time? Once I get some more info (hopefully specific to my location and school) I hope you don't mind answering a few questions if you can. Thanks otherside, talkto you soon.

[bundangbabo]

[Otherside]

Nightlife is fair. There is quite a big expat population in Suwon (pretty much what you'd expect given its size). There are 2 primary expat bars and the full assortment of "Korean" Nightlife (which depending on the person, can get a little old fast, worth it for a laugh, or very occasionally a solid good time).

Suwon, like most of Gyeonggi is close to Seoul. This has its pro's and con's, pro's being that you'll be within an hour of the best nightlife in Korea, con's being that because you are so close to Seoul, the nightlife is more limited than what would be the case if it was not so close to Seoul.

What BundangBabo says is fair. Bundang, has a different vibe to Suwon, and as a younger teacher (like you, 23) I'd say Suwon is a better call. Again, it'll vary depending on the person.

Regarding the teaching etc, read up on many of the threads here. There's a lot of information, and as everyone's experience is different, reading as much as possible will give you a better overall picture than just the opinions of 1 or 2 posters.

On a personal level, Of 20 friends of mine who've worked with GEPIK, 2 have had a negative experience (1 guy's school was pretty crap, but then again he was a total douche...interesting story, maybe i'll share sometime ), about 10 an average experience, and the remainder positive.

[jmone]

Yeah, I have been doing more research and learning a lot. I definitely wouldn't want to live in a rural area. I live in Los Angeles right now and don't think I could survive rural for too long. I thought at first that I would want to teach elementary, but I realized that they would probably be such a handful and take so much energy. So I'm leaning towards middle or high school. But I do love little kids... Tough decision. I'm super indecisive sometimes.
I don't know anyone in Korea... I would be coming there solo and probably a bit wide-eyed. How do these cities differ? When I asked my recruiter about the different cities, she said
"Speaking of the cities in Gyeonggi, I can tell you as long as your school is located in a city area, life will be convenient enough for you. Most of the cities are just look quite similar. You know, they just look like a city, shopping malls, supermarkets, covenient stores, streets and tall buidlings."

Lol, are all the cities in gyeonggi exactly the same or something? I would have to imagine there is at least some diversity in this apparently super homogeneous society .. I guess it's one of those things it would help a lot if I'd been to Korea before.

[AussieGav]

I worked in a hagwon for two and half years and have been with GEPIK for the past 6 months all in the same city. Hands down I would say GEPIK is better for a number of reasons, Otherside mentioned most of them I think. Hagwon workers definatly get more money in general butthere is always a chance of not being paid.

I would definatly recomend a large(ish) city if not Seoul and maybe make sure it is on the subway line if you are looking for night life etc. I would steer clear of rural places imo 100k is not enough. Most satelite cities around Seoul are ok.

As bundang babo said, do some research it is worth the effort. Good luck.

[ChinaBoy]

yeah, look in the "Job Related Discussion".. you'll find lots of them that say GEPIK in the title

some people like it, some people hate it, same as everywhere, I guess..

don't be afraid of elementary.. in my judgment, they're easier to edutain that the others..