Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ccikulin]

I am graduating from my University this May with a B.A. in English and a Certificate in TESOL and I have about a year of teaching experience. I've been doing a lot of research and reading the forums here and I've decided that I want to teach in a public school rather than a hogwan, but I also want to start this summer as early as mid-june.

Does anyone know if it's possible to get hired by SMOE during the summer? Has anyone here had any experience getting hired in the middle of summer for a public school job?
Where is the best place to look? most recruiters don't offer much in the way of public schools.

I'll really appreciate any help and advice you can give me.

[Bibbitybop]

Go to the SMOE ETIS website. Instructions are there, as are a list of recruiters you can apply through.

It is possible to get hired in the middle of the summer, but if you are a first timer in Korea, that may be difficult. For anyone, it certainly isn't the norm. If you get accepted, you'll be able to start at the end of August, still the summertime.

[ccikulin]

Thanks for the info, I'll check the place out.

I am going to be a first timer, but I'm not totally green. I have experience teaching at my university, my fiance is Korean, I've been to Korea for 6 months a couple years ago, and I speak Korean, so I'm hoping some of these things will give me enough of an edge to land a decent position if one is available.

Peace

[SeoulShakin]

Speaking Korean isn't a necessity. They don't want you to speak Korean in the classroom AT ALL so it won't really be considered an asset to you.

[ccikulin]

True, but it definitely helps to get along with co-teachers and in my experience, Korean people get pretty surprised and more friendly when they hear a westerner speaking Korean. So, I think it helps to be able to speak a little bit of Korean during interviews.

[SeoulShakin]

While that may be true, in my experience with SMOE interview, and with working in a public school in SMOE, it's your English they are interested in. During the interview, they want you to speak English so they can listen to how you speak, any inflections you may have, and difficult accents you may have, etc. In the school, I found a lot of the teachers were only interested in speaking English with me, as they wanted to practice their own skills. I only had one teacher (well, my vice-principal) who said I should speak Korean, and the principal said to him "no, she is an English teacher, and is here to have an English presence in the school".

You might have a different experience, but with most people I know, they never use Korean in their public school.