Korean Job Discussion Forums

brettkm123 · Joined: 10 May 2011 Location: British Columbia, Canada

Just wondering if any of you are still waiting for a notice of appointment for the September 2011 term? I got all my documents in (a little on the late side) in June, and they were confirmed and all received and in order July 4th.

Just getting a tad nervous as August is just around the corner and the schedueled leaving time is around the 18-20th, unless of course I get a later contract.

Any others in this position? I've put in my 2 week notice at my current job just in case, and since it's a crappy job anyway if I don't get hired by EPIK i'll find a new one..but there's a fair bit of other loose ends to tie with less and less time and no confirmed position! ahhhh!! Shocked

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

Hurry up and wait.

12-21 days prior to your scheduled /expected arrival date is common.

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shostahoosier · Joined: 14 Apr 2009

TeaTime · Joined: 12 Jan 2011

Pretty much the exact same position myself, except my docs arrived July 8th. Everyone in the internet seems to have gotten their NOA already and there are so few spots left, and then there was that GEPIK news. It's really hard to decide whether to risk your apartment/furniture/job on what seems like a longshot at this point, doesn't it?

Though the other replies felt (somewhat) reassuring.

cincynate · Joined: 07 Jul 2009 Location: Jeju-do, South Korea

Even if something goes south with EPIK, there is still plenty of Hakwon jobs. Don't worry about it. Korea likes to leave everything to the last minute. If they told you you have a spot, you likely do. Epik is the one leg of the government that hasn't f'd anyone yet (or at least I haven't heard of any). You know the GEPIK news, and SMOE f'd 100 teachers at the last minute. It's something you should be prepared for, but don't worry about it. You'll get here somehow

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

schwa · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Yap

I got my NOA (as I recall it was called a blue paper back then?) 24 hours before my flight. Locked out of the apartment I'd given up, I sat on the porch waiting for the courier. Caught a ferry to Vancouver that afternoon, begged the consulate the next morning for on the spot processing, then proceeded to the airport. Exciting.

brettkm123 · Joined: 10 May 2011 Location: British Columbia, Canada

Yeah, the recruiter I'm using and people on forums seem confident that it's nothing to worry about, but it does seem a little crazy to up and move your life halfway around the world with a moment's notice so I'm going about everything as if I was for sure.

As of July 14th there was ~200 positions left with EPIK/SMOE and as of July 22nd it was down to 116, and since I applied for EPIK an MOE is out of the question at this point, there's just 3 POEs left with spots, which I'm cool with but still some confirmation would be nice haha!

(Gangwon, Chungbuk, and Gyeongbuk) are the remaining ones I believe