Korean Job Discussion Forums

[KR1]

I didn't make it into Epik for Fall 2011. I am wondering if there are any other reputable/ legitamate hiring companies for Teaching English in PUBLIC schools in South Korea? I am also looking into Taiwan, any advice on good hiring companies or public schools? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

[vw08]

I didn't make it into EPIK either, but I worked with two recruiters, Footprints and Korean Horizons, to apply for other non-EPIK public school programs. There is a thread on the board right now discussing good/bad recruiter experiences. It should give you an idea of who is good to work with and who is not. I would also recommend having your recruiter or a second recruiter go over your EPIK application to see if there are any errors that might have led to your rejection. I had a second recruiter go over mine and he found a clerical error that might have played a role in my rejection. We corrected it and moved forward. Many MOEs use the same EPIK application for their own recruiting with their district's header, so if there is something wrong with your application/information you offer/the way you wrote something and you keep sending it out, you may get rejected again because of a small issue.

I know that may people state that recruiters are in it for the money and not to help you, but they also want to present viable candidates. They only get paid if you get accepted, so the good ones will help you put together the best application possible so that you have the best chance of being accepted.

There are plenty of other opportunities out there. Individual MOEs and schools will be hiring teachers for the fall throughout the summer. I would recommend working with multiple recruiters to figure out what programs or schools might be a good fit for you. Different recruiters offer different opportunities, so register with several firms! It took a little time and perseverance, but I was offered and have accepted a position with the Ulsan MOE for the fall.

I also taught for a year in Taiwan, so if you have questions about Taiwan or applying for other public school programs, PM me.

Best of Luck!

[myenglishisno]

Korvia is supposed to be a pretty good recruiting agency.

Don't you have to have a teaching license to teach in Taiwan if you want to teach kids older than kindergarten? At least that's what I heard...

[pikadoopoo]

[Izyb]

I might be in this club soon. How long does it take to hear back after an interview? It's been eight days, grr!

[pikadoopoo]

@vw08
I see. That's a lot of great info!

I'm pretty relieved that I didn't list the places I was in for only a few months. I've done a lot of moving myself, so I had listed all of the places I lived in initially... But my parents gave me some good advice and told me that might seem a bit sketchy. It's funny, because I was thinking listing all those places would make me seem like a ~ traveler ~ and show that I'm fine with relocating, etc.

Thanks again! You've been extremely helpful and I really appreciate it!

[young_clinton]

EPIK doesn't hire for all the schools, thank God. Who in there right mind would want it to? Anyhow there are many public school districts that hire directly or thru recruiters. Don't rely on only one recruiter, there is a good chance you'll be refused for a public school job by one recruiter and another recruiter will find a school that will accept you. Also if EPIK rejected you, it's likely GEPIK will do the same, don't spend too much time on GEPIK either. Just start contacting recruiters for public school postions.

[Silly-leaf]

Submitted my EPIK application on May 28th. Recruiter emailed me June 3rd. I have a Skype interview with an EPIK person on the 9th.

Please keep these facts in mind:
I have a lot of volunteer experience teaching kids from 3-15 to swim (I've technically been an assistant swim instructor since I was 15, I'm 23 now) . I also volunteered at a conversation cafe teaching English to new Canadians for 2 years and I volunteered with Immigrant Settlement Services so have experience dealing with people from a wide variety of cultures. I also was a TA for a grade nine English class. I might not have the certifications but my application showed my experience.

More likely the reason I have an interview is because I also applied with Gangwon-do as my first choice province and said I would not mind a later start date.

[KR1]

Thanks so much for the replies. I submitted my Epik application on Sunday May 29th at 4pm. I submitted everything they asked for in the way they asked for it (ie JPEG...). I had awesome letters of recommendation too. I thoroughly examined my app before I submitted it. So I don't know why they rejected me.
I am wondering if they look at the Health section first, where they ask if you have and communicable diseases, and if you do they automatically reject you??? I have herpes and so I was honest on the app and said I have that but I said that it doesn't affect my daily life or ability to teach at all. I am a very healthy, active, exercise daily, in shape person who takes no medicines and rarely rarely if ever has to go to the doctor. But then again maybe they are just getting full too like someone said earlier, i was one of the last to get my app in according to the list EPIK sent me to monitor my application. Thanks again for the info above.. I went straight through EPIK to apply this time, no recruiters were involved, so maybe that will be my next try.

[gogoma]

[rayne]

Does anyone know the ratio of schools that apply through EPIK/SMOE/GEPIK to the ones that just go through other recruiter agencies?
Or any guesses of the ratio?

[young_clinton]

[young_clinton]

[WillTurnerinVanCity]

[WillTurnerinVanCity]

One more thing - your recruiter should not be telling you to omit medical information.

We're all adults, and make our own decisions. You should be informed of the consequences of not disclosing medical issues. Telling a teacher to not put down a health condition puts the teacher at risk.

Further, it doesn't even make sense for the recruiter to do that. If a recruiter advises a teacher to not disclose health information, and it is found out when they arrive, the teacher can be sent home. If the teacher is sent home, the recruiter gets no money for that teacher, and also damages their reputation with - in many cases - their biggest client.

It doesn't make sense to do it ethically, or financially, and it just shouldn't be done.