Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sundeep28]

Well, I guess all us 'Chungbuk-ians' belong to a rather exclusive club then.

[canale226]

After what seems like ages, I received my NOA and contract today as well. I'll be in Gyeongbuk - not sure how thrilled I am though about the prospect of living in a very rural village! Just sent the visa doc's out so its all good.

This whole process though has seemed rather amateur and unorganized, and has been that way from the start. Glad to have a gig, but the hoops you have to jump through and lack of information the last 6 weeks have left a bitter taste in my mouth.

[blonde researcher]

Welcome to the world of EPIK.
This late timing of NOA and lack of communication has happened for the last 3 years that I'm aware of
. I have previously posted that the notification of where you are to be placed will only happen AFTER Jan 20 AFTER all the POE have played "pick a pretty young teacher" from the selection of confirmed applicants placed on the table in front of them.
Of course the big cities such as Busan get the pick of the bunch as they have more power in the EPIK system.
Chungbuk has always been hard to get teachers into and EPIK has always sent many of the 'less than wanted' to the rural areas in this province or the Gyeongbuk province.
Once again ...welcome to EPIK..... nothing is changed .... or will change in the future.

[mc2da]

hey guys, for those of you who got placed in Gyeongbuk, when did you send in your documents??

[poppy56]

If what your saying is true then how come I had my contract and NOA long before January 20. I know many other people who did as well. I wouldn't put myself in the desirable category. I am not young and although I am not ugly I don't consider myself beautiful either. The photos I sent in were far from flattering and yet I was still placed in my first choice and it's not in some little village in the middle of nowhere.

[hydwatergirl]

My recruiter called me last night saying my NOA is on its way. I'm going to be in Chungbuk. Yay for getting a visa and packing in 3 weeks.

[GoldenPennies]

Chungbuk has three cities with a somewhat large population, one has 600k, another has 200k, and yet another with 100k. I hope I will be living in or near one of these cities. The rest of the region has less than 100k people total. If I am in a small village, it won't be the end of the world. I just hope the village has a gym of some kind.

[canale226]

Well I sent my documents to EPIK 2 December 2009, and was "hired" (read interviewed) by EPIK the week before Thanksgiving. I'm young, probably an 8/10 on the looks scale (perhaps a little generous and was still placed in Gyeongbuk, and didn't get confirmation of my hire until 22/1/2010 - my documents arrived today.

Not that this is a legitimate consideration of mine, but I've been curious this past weekend how difficult it would be to "break" my contract with EPIK if I'm placed in a small (sub 20,000 people) town in Gyeongbuk and attempt to get a job through a Hagwon in Busan, Seoul, etc... After we've received our E2's, what is to stop us from looking for our own work?

Good luck to those still waiting, hope it works out for you. Its super stressful, but if you got your paperwork in at a decent time - you'll probably have a good shot!

[GoldenPennies]

canale226, you're probably so good looking that they don't want you in a big city where you would most likely impregnate all of the local Korean women. That is assuming that you are a male, if not, disregard this completely.

[GoldenPennies]

Oh I forgot, your E2 visa is directly tied to your place of work. You are "sponsored" by EPIK. If you were to leave that job I believe you would need to resubmit all of the docs to your new employer. I doubt that EPIK would give them back to you after you quit. You might want to bring another apostille stamped criminal background check (probably impossible at this point in time, being that it takes about a month to get this). You will also need an apostille stamped copy of your degree (although the real thing could work, I'm not sure).

[blonde researcher]

If you dont accept where EPIK have placed you the odds of being able to shift schools is about 5% maximum ( if not impossible) In fact EPIK declares that if you withdraw once you have accepted you will be eliminated from all other EPIK jobs in the future. Also EPIK will not give you a letter of release to go to another job.

You will only know the name of the school and the town/city when you are at the orientation in Korea and this is only 2 days before you start at the school and after the school has already rented your apartment for you, so very difficult to say you wont go to it.

One thing you should know is that EPIK papers are all done directly in the office of education, not in immigration, so you can withdraw before you get the visa stamp put in your passport and change to a hagwon which always has papers done in immigration.
You will have to get a full new set of papers though to provide for a new job in a hagwon as EPIK will never send them back to you at this final stage of confirmation of placement.

If you are in doubt about going to the place you have been placed then dont get the visa stamp put into your passport with the NOA and contracts sent to you. Once the visa stamp is in your passport you are stuck with this job for 90 days anyway until it expires.

[canale226]

Thanks for the tips Blonde, Golden - I'm not too entirely worried about it, was merely curious how that process worked. Appreciate the advice though!

[GoldenPennies]

This thread sure did die. I guess everyone got their NOA and they're now planning their trips.

How long does everyone plan on teaching in Korea? What are your plans after teaching in Korea?

I want to teach there for two years and save enough money to travel Asia for a while.

[ThinWhiteDuke]

Hi guys. Just signed up on the site. Booked my flight the other day and am all ready to head over. I'm going to be in Incheon. Anyone else headed there?

[goodt]

my friends are coming!