Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rayne]

Edit: Is it ok to tell recruiters I'm also working with other recruiters? I've emailed a lot of recruiters and none of them are even properly reading my questions.
One of them is: I do not want to go through EPIK/GEPIK/SMOE, do you have placements in public schools outside those programs?
And then they just give me a list of hagwon or tell me they'll be happy to help me apply for EPIK/GEPIK/SMOE but the deadline is coming up so I'd better hurry =________________= I don't want multiple recruiters to submit me to the programs even though I tell them. And I know I will get rejected anyways if multiple recruiters submit my application to those programs.

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I won't be applying through programs such as GEPIK because I want a specific area (near or accessible to Korea University because my boyfriend goes there). Edit: I'm planning on looking for public school positions.

Would it be appropriate to ask for apartment photos or descriptions with job offers? The only things I want are a separate bedroom and a closed shower.
My boyfriend will eventually live with me, so I'd like a decent-sized place. (Pretty sure I shouldn't tell the recruiters my boyfriend is going to live with me though...)

Another recruiter-related question:
How do I approach recruiters?? Just send them a short email saying I'd like to teach in Korea? Can someone share how they dove into this? Some recruiters have online forms but I think they're for programs like GEPIK?

What documents do I need to prepare BEFORE approaching a recruiter?
I have a list of all the documents, but it looks like some of them should be done after securing a job and some should be prepared before even approaching a recruiter (resume, for example).

Thanks for any help!

[CarolinaTHeels]

If you are going the private sector route than just ask the teacher u would be replacing to email you photos.

also you need to either have all or will be getting all your documents soon when you contact the recruiters esp if you are trying to leave quickly.

[OculisOrbis]

Yes, you can ask. A few recruiters might oblige you, but most like to do as little as possible to collect their commissions. Probably you will just irratate them by asking. (I did insist and got photos of my first place before I came here and was glad I did.)

Why dont you just have your boyfriend go and look at it?

Or he can find a place that you will like, put down the key money and you take a housing stipend.

It is VERY unlikely a hagwon in seoul will provide an apartment with a separate bedroom and an enclosed shower (I'm not sure if enclosed showers even exist here...).

Expect and prepare for a one room unless you are willing to find and sign a lease on your own.

[rayne]

[Setaro]

Contacting recruiters 7 months before you intend to go is pointless. Once you have your documents ready you'll be in Korea within the month, possibly in little over 2 weeks. The recruiter gets paid by the school once you start work, so no recruiter will be interested if you only intend to take a job in korea in 7 months time.

You do know that there's public school positions all throughout the year to replace runners/quiters, or replace people who replaced quitters and are finishing at all times of the year, don't you?

Quote:

How do I approach recruiters?? Just send them a short email saying I'd like to teach in Korea? Can someone share how they dove into this? Some recruiters have online forms but I think they're for programs like GEPIK?

OK I'll try and clear this up. The EPIK 'program' is nothing more than a goverment-owned recruiter that has a long drawn out process that takes over half a year. Once you get to Korea you're placed in whatever school they deem fit, hopefully in the general area you wanted. Bad idea.

If you contact private recruiting agencies, they have a list of specific schools that they supply NETs to. Just look on the Korean Job Board, it's filled with recruiters offering specific posts in specific cities/parts of cities, just look there for the area you want. Just find one and send the recruiter an email saying you're interested in it. Once you get to a public school, you will sign a EPIK/GEPIK contract, and which point you're no different to any other NET who went through the ridiculously long EPIK main intake process. You'll go to EPIK orientations etc etc.

Quote:

What documents do I need to prepare BEFORE approaching a recruiter? I have a list of all the documents, but it looks like some of them should be done after securing a job and some should be prepared before even approaching a recruiter (resume, for example).

The sooner you want to be in Korea, the sooner you need to get your docs. Recruiters aren't even going to put your forward for a position until you have your documents (scan them to prove you have them, then mail them to the recruiter once you've got the position). At bare minimum have your CRC done before talking to the recruiter, they won't do anything until you've proven it's clean and they aren't wasting their time with you.

Quote:

Would it be appropriate to ask for apartment photos or descriptions with job offers? The only things I want are a separate bedroom and a closed shower. My boyfriend will eventually live with me, so I'd like a decent-sized place. (Pretty sure I shouldn't tell the recruiters my boyfriend is going to live with me though...)

You can try, but many recruiters, especially for public schools, won't have access to the apartment, which are leased by the school. Your only real chance is to try and get the contact info for the previous NET and ask them.
As the above poster said, I doubt you will get an enclosed shower, I've yet to see one in Korea. You're more likely to have a bathroom with a tiled sloped floor with a shower that flows into a drain under your sink.

The chances of getting a separate bedroom entirely depend on where you're placed. If you're in a big city or a very urban area, you're probably going to get a one room apartment.

P.S Hardly anywhere in Korea is more than 4 hours away from Seoul! Busan is 4 by KTX and that's about as far away as you can be.

[WillTurnerinVanCity]

Most recruiters have it on file, but it depends on the job. Some times it is easier to get photos than others (hagwon - no problem, EPIK - forget it).

Sometimes you have a school that has an apartment for one of their teachers, and they take a picture of it, and then when they hire you, they will rent another apartment that will look different. They aren't doing that to trick you, simply that they won't rent an apartment a month in advance just so that they can provide an authentic photo of the exact place where you will live.

And then, of course, there are the schools that may willfully deceive you.

In either case...it is completely fine to request that information.

[rayne]

[Setaro]

Hmm the EPIK program doesn't fill up most schools in Korea, in fact the schools I know deal with specific recruiters, not the EPIK program at all, so those schools would not be given a NET by EPIK itself, you just get the same contract.

When I arrived in October we had an orientation in late November, there were 250 or so people who were teaching in Korea having arrived in October/November. So there's always schools available. Although I do remember reading one of the regions is now only recruiting during the Spring and Autumn Semester starts. Can't remember what region it was though. All other regions recruit all year round. And even if they stopped, they'd still need replacements for quitters.

My advice is just to keep looking at the jobs on the Korean Job Board and when you're almost ready to go get your docs ready (CRCs have a 6 month validity so don't get those too soon), then find a suitable vacancy and email the recruiter. There are always jobs available all year round. Going this way always means you avoid a lengthy waiting process that going applying directly to EPIK entails..

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

Try Korean Horizons. Alistair is good at getting off-peak public school positions. He doesn't deal with Seoul, but you could get a job in Incheon, which, if you're lucky, can be as little as 35 minutes away by train.

[rayne]