Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Wovaki]

Hi everyone!

I'm interested in teaching English in South Korea, and I want to teach in Busan, specifically. I'd like to explain my situation and hope I can get some opinions from you who have experience with this sort of thing.

I'm currently in my last year of university. I will finish my classes in December 2013, but my convocation isn't until June, 2014. That means I can't get my degree parchment until June. But I want to start working in the March intake. I'm fine with either public or private school jobs, the important thing is that it is in Busan.

So, my questions:

Question 1
Is there a way I can get a job with a letter from my registrar and then send my original diploma once I receive it in June? I talked with my registrar and he said he will write me a letter stating that I have graduated and that I'm simply waiting on the parchment. He even offered to have his letter notarized to prove that it is legitimate.

I have gotten differing opinions on this question, so I want a more concrete answer, possibly from someone who has had experience with this.

I have a friend who taught at a private school in Seoul, and she got her job with just a letter from her university stating that she has graduated. She didn't actually get her diploma until after she was already in Korea, and even then she never actually had to give it to anyone. She said they seemed to just forget about it. Note, this was two years ago that she got the job, but I don't believe regulations have changed since then.

Question 2
I heard that Busan has stricter requirements and requires teachers to have at least a 100-hour TESOL course, and 60 hours from that course must be in-class.

When I asked my friend about that, she said she never heard about that before. I should also mention that she now works for a TESOL certification school in Canada since she came back from Korea.

So, do I need to worry about certification like that to work in Busan?

I don't have my certification yet, but the certification I am looking at taking is a week-long intensive course that provides 120 hours of training. 60 of those hours are online, and the rest of the 60 hours are broken down like this:

35 hours of in-class instructor-led lecture and teacher training
5 hours of out-of-class creative lesson planning, presentation preparation, readings, and exercises during the week of the course
20 hours of readings to be completed as well as after the course at student's convenience

The TESOL school is here: http://www.globaltesol.com/page/foundation

Do you think that would meet the requirements and help me to get a job in Busan?

Question 3
How hard is it to find employment outside of the two main intake dates in March in September? If I have to wait until June to get my diploma, I'd like to start working as soon as possible!

Thanks and sorry for the long post! I'm looking forward to becoming a more active participant here!

Rob

[Malislamusrex]

Question 1.
A degree is a E2 visa requirement. I'm surprised your friend was able to get an E2 visa without the diploma.

Question 2.
The in class experience is a minimum for teaching at a public school in Busan. You don't need that experience to teach at a hakwon.

[Wovaki]

[Malislamusrex]

I'm not sure about the classroom time requirement. I'm sure if you go to the EPIK website it will be on there. But if you aren't keen on EPIK you don't really need any qualifications accept for a degree.

I guess the question you have to ask yourself is, why would you go to such expense to get these qualifications to teach for a year or 2 when you can go to China and do exactly the same thing without any qualifications?

[Weigookin74]