Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bibbitybop]

[Aussiekimchi]

completely agree!
give the job to the teacher and tell the recruiters they miss out on the commission.
All a recruiter has to ask a prospective teacher is....
"Have you submitted an application with another recruiter?"
If they do not do that, they run the risk of working for free.

Has anyone really had SMOE say they are rejected because they contacted 2 recruiters????
If so..congratulations SMOE..you get the Dink of the Day Award!

[chickyabroad]

[Ben Glickman]

Public School districts in Korea recruit teachers in a number of different way - it can be confusing. Unfortunately there is a lot of contradictory information on the internet about available positions as well. Here is a quick rundown of how the recruitment process for public schools in Korea works:

National Ministry of Education - (IPIK) - The EPIK program was reorganized a couple of years ago and is now a subset of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Their office is in Hyehwa-dong, Seoul. The EPIK office places teachers in public schools across South Korea, excluding Seoul and the province of Gyeonggi-do. They offer a standard contract except in Gangwon-do Province. Some provinces and cities recruit teachers on their own and also get applicants from the EPIK program. The EPIK program accepts applications directly and also through recruiting agencies. I believe there are 8 total recruiting agencies working with EPIK for placements in August. There is no penalty with EPIK for applying with more than one recruiter - they accept applicants on a first come, first serve basis. Specific locations are filled on a first come, first serve basis as well. Their contracts are non-negotiable. Salary is based on a metric that includes both education and verifiable teaching experience. The EPIK program is currently accepting applications for positions starting in August - they are hiring around 400 teachers. Salary range is from 1.8 to 2.5 million won with 14 working days vacation.

In addition to the National Ministry of Education, Korea is divided into 16 regional educational districts. Each major city in Korea is an autonomous educational district - a metropolitan office of education, and each province has a provincial office of Education. Located in Daejeon, for example, is the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education as well as the Cheongchongnamdo Provincial Office of Education. Some of these school districts recruit teachers independently, some rely exclusively on the EPIK program, and some use outsourced recruiters.

Here is a brief synopsis on the provincial and metropolitan offices of education:

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (S.M.O.E.) - Hiring between 200-400 teachers for August. They only accept applicants through approved recruiters listed on their website. Teachers can only apply through one recruiter or they will be rejected. At this point they are accepting applicants that have a B.Ed, TESL/TEFL certification or one year of verifiable experience. They do not work with the EPIK program and use their own contract. The salary ranges from 1.8 to 2.7 million won, with 21 working days vacation. Positions are at elementary and middle schools. Teachers are not guaranteed placement in a specific part of the city. Currently accepting applications through approved recruiters for August positions. Some companies may have already filled their allotted positions and may tell candidates that positions are no longer available. This is not true.

Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education - (GEPIK) - Hiring upwards of 400 teachers this summer. They accept applications on their own and also through recruiters. There is no rule about applying with multiple recruiters. Salary ranges from 2.0 to 2.3 million won with 14 working days vacation. Positions range from rural to suburban Seoul. Currently hiring on an ongoing basis

Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education - Currently hiring teachers on an ongong basis with increased demand for teachers in August. They use recruiters and also receive teachers from the EPIK program. Salary range is from 1.8 to 2.3 million won with 14 working days vacation.

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education - They recruit teachers using recruiting agencies, but mainly get teachers through the EPIK program. They use the EPIK contract.

Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education - They only get teachers through the EPIK program.

Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education - They only get teachers through the EPIK program although in the past they have recruited teachers on their own and may do so again in the future.

Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education - As far as I know they only recruit teachers through the EPIK program.

Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education - They are recruiting 140 applicants for August through recruiting agencies. As far as I know they aren't accepting independent applications. They use the EPIK contract

Gangwondo Provincial Office of Education - Hiring 125 teachers for August, and currently hiring 23 teachers. Currently accepting applications through recruiters. As far as I know they don't accept independent applications. They use the EPIK contract except for one important point - Gangwondo offers 5 weeks of paid vacation. They also receive teachers from the EPIK program.

Chungcheongbuk-do, Chungcheongnam-do and Gyeongsangbukdo Provincial Offices of Education - As far as I know they recruit all of their teachers through the EPIK program

Jeollabukdo and Jeollanamdo Provincial Offices of Education - They receive teachers from the EPIK program and they also use recruiting agencies.

Gyeongsangnamdo - They receive teachers from the EPIK program and also use outside recruiters. In the past teachers in Changwon had a slightly different contract from teachers elsewhere in the province. Include s some positions in suburban Busan.

Jeju-do Provincial Office of Education - They largely recruit through the EPIK program but occasionally recruit teachers through outside recruiters. They are highly selective and usually only hire qualified teachers.

To further complicate matters, independent public schools, ward offices (gu's) and provincial counties also sometimes recruit teachers on their own if they have the budget. If they recruit teachers on their own, they can use their own contract.

I hope this helps.

[Figure8]

It does help.

Ben, you wrote, "At this point they are accepting applicants that have a B.Ed, TESL/TEFL certification or one year of verifiable experience."

This is in stone at this point? It is your observation that they are not allowing anyone with just a B.A. in English and no teaching experience, let's say?

[Ben Glickman]

Definitely not set in stone. At this point, the S.M.O.E. is considering teachers that meat minimum Level G requirements (2.0 million won per month) - which is one of the following:

"Must have one of the following qualifications:
- A valid teacher certification for either elementary or secondary level schools.
- A Bachelor�s degree in Education.
- A Bachelor�s degree in English, English Education, English Literature, or Linguistics.
- A TESOL/TEFL or an English teaching certificate comprised of a minimum of 100 course hours.
- A Master's degree.
- A Bachelor's degree with at least ONE (1) full year of English teaching experience at accredited institutions."

However there is definitely an element of supply and demand. The SMOE is hiring more teachers this year than ever before and if they find that they cannot get enough applicants later in the summer that do not meet at least one of these criteria they will consider applicants that do not meet the above criteria. Teachers that don't have at least one of the following should not be deterred from applying, but the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will consider applicants that meet Level G requirements first. The last criteria - one full year of experience - it must be 12 months with the same employer, with a record of employment or letter of reference that contains dates. Experience at different schools that adds up to one year is not counted. Hagwon experience is counted as long as a teacher has at least one full year of experience with a letter of reference.

[Ezra555]

I think I'm in the same boat as Figure8. I have some experience (I work at an American version of English Channel -- but with more reading than just pronunciation), but nothing exactly in a classroom.

I want to take the KEI, but I don't want to (and really can't afford) to put 250$ towards a course that may not really help me.

With Worknplay down, I'm starting to get really frustrated with my SMOE prospects. I already sent them my resume (with no reply) and now am completely in the dark about what to do. Go with another recruiter at the risk of being rejected for breaking the "one only" recruiter rule?

[TBirdMG]

Ezra,

If you think WNP won't respond after you've approached them, you have a couple of options:

1) Have you already sent them a completed SMOE application with photo? If not, then it should be very easy to contact another recruiter and start the process again. A recruiter can't do anything without a completed SMOE application.

2) Even if you have submitted a completed SMOE app, you can still contact SMOE direct (emaill addy on their website) and explain the situation. SMOE will do one of 2 things: contact the recruiter and rectify the issue, or allow you to "migrate" the application to another recruiter.

Don't worry. It's still early in the process. There's time, but don't waste it.

[Ezra555]

Thanks for the speedy reply!

I've only submitted a resume (with a picture within the word doc.) and even then, I've only emailed it to gloria (the WNP contact listed on the ETIS website). I'm guessing I could go with another recruiter.

Begging the question, which one? I favored WNP b/c of what I read here on Dave's, but I'm sure -- in the end - theyre all alike. I went for size.

I'm supposed to get a call for Korvia today as far as privates. The full extent of my frustration is:

1) The May 31st deadline for SMOE staring at me.
2) Getting the call from the recruiter - what to ask? All I know is that I want to be located in or near (within 20-30 minutes) of central Seoul (Gangnam) and that I want the emails of the incumbent teachers for each job they offer me.
3) I want to be an attractive candidate, but I dont have the money to take the KEI 100hour without being POSITIVE I will end up in Korea.

Some venting here, for which I apologize. I should have done all this a month ago!

[JYP]

Isn't it Julie from worknplay for SMOE? My friend contacted her not Gloria.
At lease you may try to contact Julie whether she knows you or not if you really want SMOE

[Bibbitybop]

Ezra, SMOE won't guarantee you a location, at least not if you are coming from another country. Gangnam also sucks ass. It's better to be 20-30 minutes from City Hall, the true center of Seoul.

[Ezra555]

I'm thinking about footprints now. I haven't had time yet to actually look through their website, but hopefully this sunday...

BB-thank you, once again, for your reality check of advice. I guess I should just roll with it and see what happens, but being half a world away - all i have is google earth and online travel guides. That and the back-and-forth arguing here on Daves (don't stop, I feel it's a statement in itself). Oh, and this map, which has been pretty much useless...is it accurate?

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Map_Seoul_districts_de.png

[Bibbitybop]

That map is accurate, but it is useless.

What matters in Seoul is the environment you want to be in. For example, Gangnam is the business center of Seoul. It is expensive, all the buildings are newer and it is congested 24/7.

Jongno-gu is the old-school Seoul with the palaces, old buildings, cultural things like museums and theaters.

Itaewon is the foreign center with mixed races, foreign goods, foreign restaurants and more English-speakers.

Hongdae (Hongik Uni)/Sinchon/Ewha Uni area is the university, party, club area and nightlife center.

Many people are not placed in these areas, some are, but a lot of SMOE people are either in the Co-op Residence at Dongdaemun Stadium station (research this place, you may want to have a firm "no" when they tell you that's your home for the next year) or people live 20-45 minutes from the city center. There are people who live in Jongno, Hongdae, Itaewon, but the majority of them have found their own place to live.

[ilovebdt]

[Ben Glickman]

The system for hiring teachers for public schools can definitely be confusing - with different school districts using different criteria- some such as the S.M.O.E. only hiring through recruiters, and others such as GEPIK using recruiters and accepting applications on their own, and public schools hiring through provincial governments and also through the EPIK program. A couple of posts above this one, I tried to give a general overview of how the system works. This summer public school districts across the country, from Gangwondo to Busan, are hiring teachers in unprecedented numbers. There is also a new program where the National Ministry of Education is bringing in university students who are taking time off to work as teaching assistants for six months. (the TaLK program). It is a fluid market.
If you have specific questions about native English speakers in public school systems in South Korea, I'd be happy to try to answer them.