Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bloopity Bloop]

Basically, I was recruited by a small recruiter that happened to post on my university's jobsite. I had no knowledge about ESL in Korea (i.e., SMOE, EPIK, GEPIK, Hagwons, etc.) and she basically threw me into EPIK.

I told my recruiter I wanted Seoul, but she just told me it wasn't possible with EPIK. After doing some research on Dave's, I found out about SMOE. I brought this up with my recruiter and she said, "Oh yes, we deal with them too."

I got into EPIK a few days ago (POE choices: Busan, Incheon, and Daegu) and am now waiting on an SMOE interview. I want to go to Seoul having been there once for approximately 3 weeks. While I understand I'll be teaching, not traveling with SMOE, I would still love to return.

Would Busan, Incheon, or Daegu really be that much of a disappointment if I'm set on Seoul? It just seems like most of Dave's users are in Seoul as well--and there are plenty of things there to keep a teacher busy. I KNOW there is life in Korea outside of Seoul, I'm just not sure what it is. I was kind of excited to check out all the cool cafes in Insadong, Itaewon bars, knife noodles in Dongdaemun, etc.

Anyone wanna speak up for their POE?

[Draz]

[Sector7G]

[PigeonFart]

Incheon is attached to Seoul so would be the better option in my opinion. However, Incheon is a big place so you could end up being 30 km from Seoul, or just 15 km from Seoul....thats a big difference when you're in a taxi home from Hongdae at 6am.

So North East Incheon would be best (closer to Hondae and Itaewon), and South West Incheon would be the worst. That being said, Bupyeong in the middle of Incheon would be quite allright cos its a lively place and still close to Seoul.

Lots of people on this forum say that Incheon is shite, well i lived there and in Seoul so i can compare the two. Incheon wasn't that bad at all so i think you should consider it.

Busan would be better than Incheon if you compare them as seperate entities, but Incheon being attached to Seoul makes it the overall winner.

Good luck with your decision either way.

[the oak llama]

EPIK has 100 Seoul positions for september. It's a new thing.

OP if you haven't sent the hard copy of your application in yet, you can change your location preferences.

Just be sure to stick a post it on the front of the application noting the changes you made from your initial, electronic copy of the app.

[Robot_Teacher]

You might also consider telling recruiters, "anything within walking reach of a subway station connecting Seoul," if looking to take a job ASAP. And then research the offers geographically online using the subway map and Googling. Despite being outside Seoul proper, I seen it takes like only 1 to 2 hours max to travel to the farthest reaches and that's still an easy weekend trip if not a week day evening trip in order to go to Central Seoul or Itaewon.

[Bloopity Bloop]

Sector7G: Yeah, the KTX was a big thing my EPIK interviewer kept bringing up during our interview. It almost seemed like she was trying to sell me on the position.

PigeonFart: Thanks! That's great information. Helps me weigh all these choices more easily.

the oak llama: Yeah, well, during my EPIK interview, the interviewer brought up their new Seoul positions--just to torture me? --and immediately after told me I wasn't qualified because I'm a level 3 GET. Thanks for the info about placement, though. I've been thinking about switching some around.

Robot_Teacher: Yeah, I was wondering whether taking semi-frequent trips to Seoul would be feasible. Thanks for the info.

I guess I'll just get my EPIK documents together while waiting for that SMOE interview. Thanks for the help.

[the oak llama]

oh ok...

I hadn't heard the level 3 part of it.

[D.D.]

I bet they will try to offer you a position in some place that you have never heard of before. Bait and switch tactics are quite common.

[Bloopity Bloop]

[alphakennyone]

Go for Seoul...A lot of teachers are unhappy enough there, so you need to see it for yourself. Just think, if you don't like wherever you are placed (or you end up not liking Korea in general), you'll always be hitting yourself and thinking "If only I lived in Seoul!!!"...whether or not Seoul is better.

[cruisemonkey]

[Sector7G]

I agree with cruisemonkey and alphakennyone. If you have your heart set on Seoul, then refuse to accept anything else. I'm assuming you are shooting for August/September, right? It should be no problem.

I was only responding to your specific question earlier:
Would Busan, Incheon, or Daegu really be that much of a disappointment if I'm set on Seoul?

[Bloopity Bloop]

alphakennyone: Yeah, that's what I keep thinking about. If worse comes to worse and I don't get into SMOE (I applied a bit late), I'll just have to try and enter Korea (through EPIK) without any preconceptions. I've lived abroad in China for 7 months or so... so perhaps Korea won't be so bad for me.

Oh yeah, I updated the CRC thread if you're still trying to figure out how to get one. Fastest to slowest: local, state, national; Most convenient to least: state, local, national.

cruisemonkey: Yeah, I should read that thing...

About my recruiter, her English isn't the greatest and she can't answer the majority of my questions... although from what I can understand, she does seem to be promising a lot. As I get deeper into the app process, however, negatives keep popping up that I wasn't made aware of before.

Wish I had done extensive research into ESL prior to jumping into EPIK. Had a spot at a finance firm.

[cruisemonkey]

OP,
'EPIK' is many things to many people. It is the agency through which the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology funds all foreign, English teachers in public schools. No matter what the acronym (SMOE, GEPIK, BMOE etc.) unless one is at a totally (funded) private school, the money flows through EPIK.

There are literally thousands upon thousands of EPIK permutations depending on who's fingers' are in the pie. Applying for a PS job from outside of K-land is a total 'crap shoot'... and even within, the dice can roll the wrong way when your principlal/v.p./co-teacher/handler is transferred.

Advice - Incheon is one of the armpits of K-land... it's a good place to put troops ashore (even the Chinese didn't expect that) and build an airport. The 'quality of life' is approximately 2 on a scale of 1-10 (one being the lowest).