Korean Job Discussion Forums

[creeper1]

I left GEPIK in November but today I received an email from my ex-coteacher saying funding was back, would I like to come over and start from the beginning of March?

Also I saw one of the facebook ESL recruiters with a shout out along the lines of " Urgent - teachers needed to fill positions in Gyeonggi do (area around Seoul). Females preferred, must have all documents ready"

So I guess GEPIK is back (maybe it never went away) with fresh funding and ready to hire.


I guess it is good news.

So are things looking up?

[jrwhite82]

They said they would be back in force. Albeit a bit streamlined. And they never went away fully.

I have a funny feeling that many schools are going to be without teachers this year or people will start late. They started recruiting for province funded schools at the end of December. It didn't get into full swing until the last week or two from what I've observed. Teachers will not be able to get their documents in order fast enough to fill these positions. Especially with the increase in qualifications required, there will be a smaller pool of applicants.

[ThingsComeAround]

"Females preferred" ?

[yfb]

I would hardly consider this a return of GEPIK.

[iggyb]

The elections at the end of this year will determine the future of these programs. Next spring will be the time to watch for.

[Smithington]

Back with more bureaucratic red tape than ever. (Sometimes I think Gepik is run by the Korean immigration department. Either way, neither organizations sems to have a single computer with a 'save' button on it.)

Oh, you also now need to have a TEOFL Certificate.

Gepik is back.

[Chris.Quigley]

Do you have to have a 100 hour TEFL? (If any of this is actually true).

[ThingsComeAround]

Yeah. They dropped it on the books as a requirement, when it used to give a pay bump. I'm curious what happened to TaLK

[Smithington]

Yup. You now need to have a TEFL certificate (120 hours or more) to get hired back with Gepik. Doesn't matter how many years you worked with them before, you now need this certificate. By the way, it takes up to six months to complete a TEFL online course, so good luck with being offered a job this time round. Your past service means nothing. Since contracts were not renewed last time round, we are all now considered 'new incoming' teachers and so must have this certificate.

Thanks Gepik. Any more last minute demands?

[jrwhite82]

By "up to six months" you mean between one week and 6 months right?

[Modernist]

Six months? What company are you using? I had a pretty damn thorough course with about 10 long essays per lesson, 20 lessons total, including several extremely boring and surprisingly difficult advanced grammar lessons, and I finished it in maybe a month. And I wasn't burning the midnight oil either [though I did get a 'high proficient' pass at the end, whatever that's worth].

GEPIK asking for TEFL is not out of line. It's not that difficult or expensive to get one. If it leads to weeding out some of the true lazy schlubs claiming to be 'teachers', it's better for everyone.

[diver]

[ThingsComeAround]

IMHO. they should also require a 100 hr TESL/TEFL or CELTA from Korean English teachers!

[jennad]

[iggyb]

Requiring just an online TESOL certificate will do nothing to improve the quality of education in Korea. Nothing.

In fact, for different reasons, requiring a real TESOL degree would do next to nothing to improve education - at least in elementary schools where the FT does not have full control of the class.