Korean Job Discussion Forums

greyhound · Joined: 10 Jun 2016

I thought you needed a degree and CELTA to be able to get a teaching job in Korea. There's someone on here who doesn't have a CELTA and he's teaching in Korea. How can he even get a job offer? A CELTA is one month of extremely tiring, hard work looking at our language, the ways to teach it effectively and how to plan lessons. The person doesn't even believe in doing any games with students or teaching them vocabulary. He doesn't seem to understand you can teach students how to pronounce vocabulary properly, how to form different vocabulary words from the words they've got, to help them memorise the vocab, how to use the vocabulary in context etc etc etc.

I'm flabbergasted that such a person is purporting to be a teacher to students who pay for who they believe is going to be a proper qualified teacher in their class. The mind boggles why such "teachers" exist anyway. Why do they have to "road hog" our profession? Can't they become a painter and decorator or plasterer instead? Rolling Eyes

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

A lack of research on your part doesn't equate.

To obtain work as a teacher of foreign languages (E2 visa) in Korea the criteria are:

A TEFL certification is only necessary if you want to work in a public school.

A CELTA (Cambridge branded TESOL cert) has never been a requirement here or anywhere else in Asia.

.

greyhound · Joined: 10 Jun 2016

Hey Tom thanks for clarifying the specifications for teaching in Asia. I never realised. All the ads I have ever seen seem to always ask for CELTA/TEFL certification as well as a degree. That's why I assumed you needed one I think.

I bet you can't get into a university without at least a CELTA though.

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

edwardcatflap · Joined: 22 Mar 2009

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

Here's a position as an ESL program coordinator at a US state university. The pay? about 24K/year.

https://chroniclevitae.com/jobs/0000321860-01

I'm sure there are such jobs that pay more, but is it any wonder that professional instructors want to work at Korean universities, especially universities without term limits and decent employment conditions?

At current exchange rates, a 3 million a month K university gig equates to about 32.7K a year. Yes, taxes and deductions (health and pension) are taken out, and, yes, many universities don't provide housing or a stipend anymore, but, come on, you don't think you'll be paying taxes or that you'll have deductions on a US salary?

Here, however, IF you can land one of the better jobs, you won't work Fridays, you'll teach about 12-15 hours a week, and you'll get about 4 months of paid vacation a year.

Run a search on the Chronicle for ESL jobs. There are quite a few for qualified specialists, but the pay doesn't seem to be too great.

So if you can hang here, and if you don't have pressing family concerns (education for the kids or medical concerns), Korean university jobs can provide a decent wage with some flexibility. Not all K university jobs, but there are some.

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

Guess it's not that bad if the cost of living is that reasonable. And I've often said there are opportunities to transition back to N. America for those with the qualifications.

The biggest difference would be the time off. As a program manager back there, you won't get that. My point was merely that K university ESL teaching gigs aren't that bad. To the contrary, some are pretty good.

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

A lot of these jobs, because they are teaching intensive, want a minimum number of years experience, preferably teaching at a university. So at least in that respect, K university jobs can help you get somewhere.

I know a couple of guys who now manage programs back in N. America. They seem pretty happy. Both moved because they had families and didn't want to send their kids to K schools.