Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jstein27]

Hi there, folks

I'll get straight to the point. I taught in EPIK for a year and successfully finished my contract. Upon leaving my principal furnished me with a recommendation letter. I left for a hagwon (what was i thinking?). After the honey moon phase the working conditions... sucked at the hagwon, so I gave 2 months notice, trained my replacement teacher and parted amicably with my director, who would give a good reference if need be. I feel like she respected me enough to give a recommendation letter for not doing a midnight run and waiting a whole two months for the new teacher.


I want to get back into EPIK and I do not want to report that I broke a contract with a hagwon. Would it show up at the immigration office? Yes, I want to omit that little history because I feel like it would hinder me from getting a job. I know, life aint fair, but it's not fair that I successfully finish with epik and get a recommendation letter, but they refuse to hire me because i didn't finish a contract at a shoddy school.

why was the school bad? we needed one more foreign teacher and she refused to hire one. Instead. we had more classes and she kept filling them up with more students. the students were disrespectful and the bad classes outweighed the good.

anyway, what do you think? no big deal if I say that i did not break a contract?

[young_clinton]

If you mention that you didn't complete a contract at a Hagwon you can kiss your EPIK job goodbye. Simply don't put that job on the application.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[jstein27]

[TheUrbanMyth]

Well it was six months...so I put it on my resume. (A gap of six months might have raised some eyebrows).

At the EPIK interview they asked why I left and I told them why (because I found out the hakwon wasn't paying pension/insurance).

The next week I received an acceptance letter and this was in 2010...when they weren't exactly hurting for applicants.

2 months on the other hand isn't that big a gap. I'd leave it off and if they notice it and ask why, just tell them the truth...they can call Immigration and get it anyway.

[LPKSA]

I worked for a hagwon in 2005-6, pulled a midnight run after enough shenanigans after 5 1/2 months, then came back once the visa expired. Worked a second hagwon for a year and 3 months, then was fired after questioning why my boss had been pocketing my pension for the duration of my time there... So, ended up landing a job in a public school, but it wasn't GEPIK or EPIK. It was in Seoul, though, and they were awesome, no problems whatsoever, and they let me find my own apartment for which they paid the key money and monthly rent of up to 500,000 won. I think that if you wow them in the interview, they'll work with you, especially if they are in a bind and you are already in the country. Why not look into an after school program? They're not all that bad. One thing I found is to always be honest in the interview and acknowledge where you fouled up and how it has made you a better teacher. If you didn't foul up anywhere, be yourself and you never know. I hope that helps.