Korean Job Discussion Forums

cactusg · Joined: 22 Mar 2009

Sorry if I am repeating a topic here�

I am going to have a telephone interview later today from a school that is interested in recruiting me.

I'm not sure what to expect. What kind of questions are generally asked and has anybody got any suggestions as to the kind of questions i could be asking?

Thanks to everyone on the forum that has helped me get this far.

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

If it's a Korean doing the interviewing, expect some fairly irrelevant and perhaps personal questions. The most important thing will be that your English is clear and easy to understand, so talk a bit more slowly than you usually do and don't use any difficult words.

Fishead soup · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Location: Korea

Depending on who will be giving the interview is really inportant.
Here are three possible situations and what to expect.

A Korean who workd for the Hogwan is giving the interview. In most cases they are not checking you out but trying to sell you the position.
If they sound too desperate that is possibly a red flag as their last teacher might have done a runner.

Another possibility is the person is a recruiter in other words headhunter.
They get paid a fee per every warm body they ship to Korea. They have absolutly no vested interest in your ability to do the job. You could sound like a meth head over the phone and you'll still get the job.

The third possibility is you will be talking to a person who is a former teacher or senior teacher who has climbed up the ranks and the school now uses them to screen new candidates. In this case they will obviously ask you some questions about your intended teaching methods.

Kikomom · Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:03 pm Post subject:

Wario came away from his phone interviews saying he felt like he was interviewing them. So get your questions ready for them.

One should be to have a current FT email you, so you can ask them questions too.

See this sticky:
Sticky: Questions for teachers, Release Letter, embassy websites

mcviking · Joined: 24 Mar 2009 Location: 'Fantastic' America

In my experience ( i just finished one like 10 minutes ago) focus on any experience that you may have working with kids.

They will probably ask you to tell them about a stressful situation and how you dealt with it.

They will probably ask you what are your intentions for teaching in Korea.

Why are you interested in teaching ESL as apposed to your major and or previous career.

Hope that helps.

On a funny note, my interviewer's one criticism of me was apparently I am to articulate, go figure.