Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jimskins]

I'm on my Winter vacation from my high school and thought I'd start getting documents together to apply for my first uni job (hopefully) starting in September. Some of these questions may be a little stupid but I'm just a bit rusty in the job application process.

For those interested my background briefly is: UK citizen, Law degree, MA TEFL, one year teaching at a Hagwon, two years at a high school in Korea.

The usual requirements suggest I will need a resume, criminal background check, 2 reference letters, copies of my diplomas, copies of transcripts and a health check. My questions are about the documents:

1.Criminal Background check
Do I have to get another original copy of this from the UK and can I get it notarized/apostilled in Korea? Or should I get someone to do it in the Uk for me? I have copies of the one I submitted to my high school previously.

2. Reference letters
My plan is to ask my co-teacher and the Principal to both write me reference letters. I can also get one from my former University in the UK. However in the Uk these reference letters should always be sealed. Is this the same in Korea? Am I going to have to ask for a new reference letter for every job I apply for?

3.Diplomas
If I have the original copies of my diplomas can I send photocopies with the intitial application and then take the originals to the interview, or do the originals have to be apostillied? Where can I get these apostillied in Korea as I heard the British Council doesn't offer this service anymore?

4.Transcripts
Again, the jobs seems to ask for sealed transcripts. Does this mean I need to get dozens of copies of sealed transcipts from my former universities as the ones I submit with each application cannot be reused/I won't get them back?

5.Health check
I guess I can't use the one I did a few months ago but should get one nearer the time.

As a general rule should you not send any original documents because you'll probably never see them again?

Any help would be appreciated.

[livinginkorea]

I don't know about the reference letters but about the transcripts I would advise getting loads of sealed ones because nearly every university asks for them and you never know when you would need one in the future. Also they take time to get as well. And no, you won't get them back. Likely they will be dumped if you are not picked for an interview but your resume may be kept on file.

Basically, what I did (because getting transcripts can be expensive) was scan one transcript and then send that with my application, stating that I had a sealed copy available. This way, I only ended up using one (the university that hires me after the interview and then asks for the sealed transcript for the application) rather than sending one with each application I go for. Works out cheaper that way.