Korean Job Discussion Forums

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Hi everybody! Been lurking here for months and now I'm finally taking the plunge. The wealth of information on here has been incredibly helpful. But a few questions and some mild requests for help anyway! Still the early days yet so no hair pulling or contract breaking questions.

If you have more than one degree is there any reason to get the other one apostilled and notarized? Or just do your BA/BS?

Started the FBI CBC.

So just a bit of waiting now. Address juggling because I don't technically live anywhere right now, just kind of bouncing around with all my stuff in storage until I get a job. I was originally aiming to teach adults (got my CELTA in July) but it seems a bit difficult to find a job doing that? EPIK/GEPIK/SMOE is all ages kids and seems like most of the hagwons are the same thing. Is there some secret section of the internet where teaching adults jobs are listed? Almost every recruiter post on here or any of the other sites I've seen are exactly the same.

I thought I could maybe find something law (other degree is a JD) related but really I'm just quite happy to have the opportunity to teach. New country and saving enough money to make payments on student loans.

So basically once the CBC is done its just researching schools. There are so many blacklists out there are there any "whitelists"? I know talk to two native english people that work/have worked there if possible but you never really know who you are talking to. Though I suppose if a place wont even try to pretend to find someone for you to talk to that's a big warning sign.

I suppose that's all I've got right now. Thanks in advance for any info.

[RMNC]

I would just get your B.A. notarized, unless your other degree is a Master's, of course. Most places seem to not have a policy or really care if you have more than one degree (like a minor or something).

Adult jobs are harder to find simply because they're a smaller section of the market. It just takes time, multiple recruiters and the ability to wait it out and reject a lot of contracts that aren't what you want.

I'm not aware of any "whitelist", but generally speaking I'd say the best policy is "no news is good news". Blacklists really don't have that much say anyways, it's important to always contact current and/or recently departed teachers to get a heads-up one what's going on with a particular school. Don't let them try to give you an e-mail because it might be a fake-out, demand to always talk to a NET on the phone, it's pretty easy to tell if they're telling the truth or if it's just a Korean guy pretending to be an NET. Yes, that has happened to me after an interview.

Go to actual recruiter sites and sign up with as many as you can handle, don't worry about remembering names and agencies, just make your pool of potential contracts as big as possible, and when you get one that looks promising, post it in the contract review thread before you sign anything.

That's all I can think of for now, let us know if you have more questions.

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Thanks for the quick reply RMNC. My other degree is a law degree. Depending on the job here (US) it sometimes counts as the equivalent of a masters, but seeing as it will have little bearing on teaching ability I think I'll just save myself some money for now. Doesn't seem like it would really be much of an asset for getting a hagwon job, maybe a lucky shot on a university slot but those seem to be few and far between. Heck sometimes it's a bit of a hindrance to getting a job!

I've got plenty of time to wait it out. At least for now. Ideally I'd like to be over there in March or April. Won't have the CBC back until mid Feb unless I really get lucky so March is what I'm aiming for at this point.

In regards to recruiters I have no problem signing up with tons of them but is it easier/more lucrative/less stressful to use more of the larger ones (Footprints, Park, ESLStarter, etc.) or just hit up every one I see on the jobs boards here on Daves? My assumption is just do both and draw from as many pools of jobs as possible but if I have to interact with them I thought it might be easier or possibly more professional with some of the larger ones? Though from the posts here everybody has had good and bad experiences with everyone!