Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Wovaki]

Hello!

I want to teach English in Busan and I'm trying to get everything in order. I want to be ready for the Fall 2014 intake. I'm not particular about whether I teach with EPIK in a public school or at a private school, but when I talked to recruiters about it, they seemed to be hesitant about applying to both at the same time.

Is there any reason I shouldn't apply to both at the same time? I'm afraid if I only apply to EPIK and I am denied, then it will be too late to find a private school job. There's also the problem that EPIK doesn't guarantee placement in your preferred location. As I said, I'm not picky about the job. I just want to get my foot in the door, since Busan is so competitive.

Thanks!

Rob

[Zalithian]

Apply to EPIK through one recruiter and hagwons through another. The recruiter doesn't want to look bad if you decline EPIK after getting a job with them. They won't know if you apply through hagwons via a different recruiter though.

[Wovaki]

[young_clinton]

I don't see how applying to EPIK directly or applying through a recruiter makes any difference. But why only apply only to EPIK for a public school teaching job? You should use non-EPIK recruiters for public school jobs all over Korea. You might try Korea Horizons. EPIK is a major crapshoot and you shouldn't sit around wasting money on it.

[Zalithian]

It's better to apply to EPIK directly. You'll get interviewed faster and be able to submit your documents earlier. I don't know if there's any real benefit to having a recruiter. I heard sometimes they might be able to give you a choice between a couple places but nothing guaranteed. This way you can definitely just use a recruiter for hagwons. You could do that anyway, but you'd be better off with different recruiters in that case.

[mayorhaggar]

The main good thing about applying to EPIK through a recruiter is having someone else reviewing your application to make sure everything is correct, and giving you advice about what to put in your application and what to say at the interview. But definitely it will slow down the process and you will learn about your placement quite a bit later than if you applied directly on your own.

[Zalithian]

EPIK tells you how to fix your application during the interview anyway, so unless you're really bad at following directions - having a recruiter isn't really even beneficial for that. You can just as easily google EPIK interview questions too. I feel like it's totally pointless to have a recruiter for EPIK. They're really more like recruiters in the first place. Why add another?

[Wovaki]

[Zalithian]

Just don't apply to public schools that use EPIK. That would include quite a few schools in Gyeonggi but outside of Seoul (I don't know which ones) and Incheon. I guess that means you could simply apply to EPIK and GEPIK at the same time. From what I've read, that's acceptable.

For the application - yes it's annoying, but it's not difficult. If you can follow instructions you shouldn't need any help with it. Just don't put anything really stupid like you tried to kill yourself, or you have HIV, and you should be okay. In my opinion the recruiter can only slow you down. The only way I would consider using one is if they offered me a nice free phone when I arrived in Korea. I heard Korvia or some other recruiter does something like that, but I'm not sure.

I don't think EPIK helps you with the application before you submit it, but that's just my guess. I didn't ask. My recruiter said "Everyone makes mistakes on their initial application" so making a few minor mistakes won't be a problem. I had to fix some things on mine like including a more complete work experience, and making my GPA proper like 3.2/4.0 instead of the 3.2 I initially put in. I was told what to fix during the interview.

You should have a good chance to mention your teaching experience during the interview.

[Wovaki]

[Zalithian]

I think getting a public school job in Busan even more difficult than Seoul. I doubt they hire directly, but I wouldn't know.

Oops, I meant coordinator, sorry. Just a typo because we were talking about recruiters. I applied directly through EPIK without any issues. Everyone who applied directly got their interview way before people with recruiters. We are talking several weeks here.

[Wovaki]

Thanks for the clarification Zalithian!

I will definitely consider applying directly then.