Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ebrown]

This seemed quite useful for the Spring applicants, so I thought I'd start one up for the Fall applicants. Help and useful advice from people who've done this before is always appreciated!

Applications start being accepted on Thursday. How are you applying? Direct? Recruiter? What provinces do you want? What's your experience/background look like? Let's put together a pool of information as the application process starts and try to help each other not get too anxious about things.

I'm applying directly through EPIK because the idea of a middleman kind of irks me, but I'm also pretty nervous about screwing something up myself. Triple checked application already and I'm picking up my rec letters for scanning on Thursday morning. Hoping to go to Jeju. I've got a BA in English Linguistics and not much else.

[Andro]

Hey there,

I'm applying through a recruiter to EPIK Seoul. I'm coming in completely entry-level with a B.A. in English Literature. I just finished the lengthy EPIK application tonight and I'm currently working on my lesson plan for the EPIK Seoul attachment. Hopefully that goes as smooth as the full EPIK application.

I made the mistake of reading some horror stories about SMOE housing (co-ops). So, I'm going to try to get that straightened out with my recruiter as soon as possible. While I'm trying to be easygoing about this process, I lived through dorm style living in college and I know that I'm a little too old to go through that again. Any advice on making sure I can get into a studio or just away from the co-ops would be appreciated.

[exit_everything]

edit.

[sheppast]

Hello, I'm Sam.

I'm applying through ESL Starter and hoping for a Busan placement as well. I have had all my documents together for a few weeks now, so I'm praying for the whole process to be fairly swift, one way or the other, once applications open.

I am English and currently living in London. I have a BA in Sociology and an MA in European Studies, again with no formal teaching experience.

Has anyone begun preparations for a potential interview? I've been reading quite widely on Korean history and culture over the last few weeks, and have just begun making some initital forays into the Hangeul alphabet.

Good luck to you all!

[BlackBeandom28]

howdy

Applying to EPIK through Reach to Teach Recruiting. They've been really up front so far and answered any questions almost the next day.

I'm looking to head to Jeju as well this Fall but can't really gage my chances at this point. Not really sure how likely it is that I get anything in my top five choices as the application asks but we'll find out. Does anybody have any experience with this? Even heard anything promising?

Getting all my papers in order and looking turn in on April 1. Graduating this Spring with a BA in Elementary Ed. Good luck to everybody.

[drewbudd]

I thought about making one of these threads. Should be interesting to see how it goes for everyone.

I'll introduce myself. I'm Andrew. I'm applying through Footprints and things have gone well with them so far. They have my application and two reference letters already. I got an e-mail from them about an hour ago saying they will be calling me to go over a few things (I'm wondering what that means). Next up is the wait for an interview. I have read a small book about Korea culture and I will probably reread it before my interview.

I'm applying for Busan, but I checked EPIK's website today and it looks like they updated the number of positions available. Not sure how reliable these numbers really are, but Busan only has 75 so the competition might be a bit stiff. Things might be especially difficult for me since I might experience delays because of my May graduation.

Positions Available (according to epik.go.kr)
Provinces
Chungbuk-40
Chungnam-0
Gangwon-127
Gyeongbuk-80
Gyeongnam-11
Gyeonggi-20
Jeju-48
Jeonbuk-3
Jeonnam-1

Cities
Busan-75
Daegu-130
Daejeon-60
Gwangju-20
Incheon-20
Seoul-300
Ulsan-45

Total-980

[JD_Tiberius]

Hey

I'm applying through ESL Planet. I pretty much have all my documents ready now, i just need to put the finishing touches on the application. Its typical though, just as applications are about to be accepted I got a temporary job here in the UK that I had been after for a while which will tide me over until august and give me some savings to take with me to Korea. Had double the paperwork I had planned for haha, but coping. Hopefully I will get my application emailed off tomorrow after work

I'm really hoping to get into Daegu this year. Seems like it would be a neato place to be.

Oh Yeah, I'm a MA(UK undergraduate version) Philosophy grad.

[Ebrown]

I should probably also mention that I'm not actually graduated yet, that goes down in a month. I've seen a few threads on this board about applying before graduation, so I'll try to document the process as well as I can for future reference. Other than my final transcripts/diploma I have a letter from my college stating that I'm set to graduate, which I figured would be useful. My CBC is set to come sometime this week, and I'm fairly sure I have all my other documents.

I'm getting nervous about applying directly instead of with a recruiter...I wonder if it will be faster or slower to get a reply? Gahhhh anxiety.

BlackBean--I have a friend who's in Busan right now, and she said that putting Jeju on your top five is a straight ticket to the island. She seems to think that not many people are willing to teach on the island since it's a hassle to travel around the rest of the country. I'm not super sure on how correct that is, but I'm hopeful it will help me get placed there.

[gunners girl]

Hi everyone,

I'm from London, UK. I've put Busan as my first choice. I ummed and ahhed over the whole thing for ages because I kept changing my mind about what kind of place I wanted to end up. I like cities but I also thought it might be quite interesting to live somewhere rural - Jeju was definitely one of my choices at one stage but I ended up putting all cities down for my top 5.

I'm going through a recruiter too. Emailed my application late last night - I just got fed up at looking through it and just thought I should send it off. Haven't heard anything from my recruiter about receiving it though...
Most of my documents are sorted. Got stuff notarised today, which I found more exciting than I should have done. Apostilling still needs to happen.

My main worry is the frankly appaling marks which show up on my transcripts. Suppose I'll have to wait and see what happens. I've got a BA in Classics and a CELTA. Also some experience teaching Latin and Ancient Greek. But despite all of this, I'm sure all EPIK are gonna care about are the transcripts. Grrr.

I've read bits about Korean history, a lot about Kimchi but will probs have to do more reading before the interview.

Good luck with finishing off your applications! Wonder when we'll hear about interviews....

[drewbudd]

[beNNN]

Hey all,

I'm from Cornwall, UK, I've also put Busan as my first choice with Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju and Ulsan following behind. Those choices are based about half on research and half on recommendations from a couple guys I know living in Korea.

I remember reading on these forums somewhere that recruiters can be a bit of a hassle, so I'm applying direct. Spend the last couple of days sorting all my docs out, sent off my degree copy and crb for apostille yesterday, e-mailed my uni for 2 transcripts and just finished the ITTT online course. The only experience I have is 4 months of volunteering at my local primary school, which will probably be barely noteworthy.

I learnt the korean alphabet which was pretty simple, but constructing sentences is another matter!

I will have some crap marks on my transcripts too, I pulled it together in my final year and came out with a 2.1 though, studied genetics.

From what I've read they can get back to you about the interviews quite quickly, within a week sometimes!?

I'm just hoping for a quick, smooth process (possibly famous last words).

[Andro]

So, no one is applying to EPIK Seoul? What gives?

[beNNN]

For me it's the mandatory 1 year teaching experience you need

[Andro]

You just have to qualify for the G salary level for SMOE to get into EPIK Seoul. I think that is equivalent to Level 2 salary level for EPIK. Teaching experience is not necessary if you have ESL training or an English/education related degree.

[Ebrown]

beNNN - sweet, we can freak out together if/when the recruiter people start getting jobs before us.

Andro - I considered SMOE for half a second, and then I realized that if I lived anywhere near Seoul I would save absolutely no money. Also, the housing crisis and random layoffs are kind of freaky.