Korean Job Discussion Forums

[GOTJ87]

Hi everyone,

I'm shortly going to have a shot at getting a teaching job in Europe, but if it doesn't work out, I'm looking into Korea as a contingency plan.

So if it did come down to that, I'd be beginning the Korea process (document gathering, job searching) in mid January. Is this a feasible time to be applying? I have read that public school positions can become available in March, is this the case?

Also, how much is a normal amount of money to bring to Korea (to tide you over until the first paycheck)? Are airfares paid by the school, or do they reimburse you?

By the way I'm British, 23, and I will have a CELTA by this time. I also have a BA and MA (History) - would the MA count for anything in the jobhunt?

Thanks for your help!

[winterfall]

1. Mid year public school spots are harder to find. Your best bet is to wait till Mayish to get in on the massive recruiting drive over the summer to start in August.

2. I don't recommend coming over and sitting around waiting. Your gonna burn through ALOT of cash. And you need a non-tourist visa to open a bank account and get a cell phone.

You can come in on a 30 or was it 90 day tourist visa? But you need a return ticket. And once you get the contract, you'll need to do a visa run to Japan (Don't ask me what that means, I've never done it). There's no way for you to switch over while in country.

Your school may cover a one way ticket to Korea up to 1.3 million won. (If I got the exchange rate right. That's about $1000 US). But you won't get that till your first paycheck. (I say may cause there's rumors that they're not willing to do it anymore. I haven't confirmed that, though I have confirmed that your first week's orientation training is now unpaid. A big change from last year.)

To help you get started in ps. You'll get a very, very small starting allowance, 300,000 Won to hold you over till your first paycheck. You start the 25th, and you won't get paid to the 24th.

If you dig around this forum, there's actually a few threads talking about bringing at least $2,000 US to help cover everything your first month. Showing up without a definite job offer is gonna double it.

3. MA, even if it's irrelevant helps. You won't get a high end university gig with an unrelated Masters. But, to Koreans it just looks nice.

Having a CELTA means a lot to everyone else in the rest of the world. Here it's the same thing as an online cert. Unless you've got at least a few years of post CELTA experience

[GOTJ87]

Thanks for the info.

So there are rumours that paid flights may be a thing of the past? Very interesting.

That's a shame about the timing, I was hoping that I could apply straight away if things don't work in Europe.