Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cappy00]

I'm aiming to have an English teaching job starting in September and I've applied through GEPIK. My recruiter is setting me up with an interview next week with a HS. I'm fresh out of college with a BA in English but I've never taught a class in my life and the idea that I'm supposed to help students a few years younger than me grasp a foreign language has finally hit me. Don't get me wrong, I want to do this and I want to do a good job.

I just don't know what to say in this interview. I don't know anything about lesson planning, I've never taught anyone before let alone high school kids. My recruiter says the focus at this school is TOEFL. Based on a quick google I see that the TOEFL is a test. How can I use this info to my advantage? How forthcoming should I be about my lack of experience in this interview? Am I barking up the wrong tree here? Halp!

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to take the time to help me out.

[whalewhalewhale]

Perhaps you should get your TEFL/CELTA certification before you get a job. They teach you how to plan lessons, conduct a classroom, English Grammar, and can generally help you find a reputable job.

Don't be in such a rush to get a job. Make sure you are ready, prepared, and comfortable.

[Troglodyte]

If you are an English major, you can point out that you have a lot of experience with reading and writing in English. You have spend more time learning about grammar than the average native speaker. It should be enough regarding qualifications.

They'll also be interested in hearing some other things about you.
-You like to eat new foods. You've been to a few Korean restaurants in your city (or maybe you have some Korean friends and you ate at their house). You love it. --> flattery gets you a long way here
-You've lived away from home for several years. --> you can take care of yourself and won't have to rely on the school to do everything for you.
-You've learned a couple foreign languages. You picked them up quite quickly. --> you will be able to adapt to Korea, pick up some basics of the language and get by on your own eventually
-You coached a kids baseball team (or something similar) --> you're good with kids
-You play the guitar/harmonica/other or you paint/draw --> you have a fun skill
-You've traveled outside the country before. --> you aren't going to get culture shock and run away
Otherwise, just ask really positive and cheery. They like that.


If you haven't already, make sure that you have all your documents ready to go. This is a deal breaker for many schools. They'll hire in this order
1. people in Korea with documents
2. people in Korea who they are very sure can get documents soon
3. people outside Korea who have documents ready
4. maybe people outside Korea who can get the documents soon.

Although 2 and 3 might be interchangeable, if someone higher on that scale comes along, they'll likely drop you and hire the other person.

You should note that most schools don't hire so far in advance.

Are you sure that it's a high school? I don't think that they usually focus on TOEFL. That sound more like a hogwon (private language school or cram school). Maybe they just focus on high school students.

One last piece of advice. Before the interview(s) make sure that you send the school or recruiter some photos of you doing fun activities with a group of kids and one portrait photo of you in which you are smiling and good looking (feel free to photoshop it if necessary - Koreans always do).

Unless this job is a sure things (and i presume it isn't) then you should be dealing with more than one recruiter. Ideally you should contact schools that are hiring directly. With recruiters, the key is to apply at as many as possible. They don't work for you. They work for them schools, and they only work as much as to get their finder's fee. A lot of them are cold blooded reptiles and they'll lie to you. It's very common for them to offer the same job to several applicants and keep them all on the line until the school chooses one. Then they give some BS excuse why the school withdrew it's offer.

[overdrive2023x]

What recruiter are you going through?

I remember my GEPIK interviews. It honestly depends on the school and area. I interviewed with schools in Ilsan (A definitely higher affluent area than other Gyeonggi cities) and the school required their NET to do a lot more things.

Then I interviewed with a school in a different area, and they were just happy to have the opportunity to have a NET. It was quite funny, because in that interview, the interview actually turned into me interviewing the co-teacher.

You'll get a feel from the co-teacher how things will be at that school. If you they tell you what they expect, and it seems like something you'd do poor at or be completely uncomfortable with, pass the school on, and try for another school.

[cappy00]

@whalewhalewhale Thanks for the advice, I'll take that into note. I don't know if I want to invest quite that much money that CELTA requires but I've also had a hard time finding any legit TEFL courses in my area with classroom practice hours.

@Troglodyte Thanks for the interview tips! I think you've helped talk me down from the ledge somewhat. The only other questions I'm not sure how I'll be able to answer will be the ones having to do with classroom management. What is a good way to keep unruly students in line? Or to keep their attention? I'm guessing on the ones about conflicts with your co-teacher I need to say that I'll be discreet and address any problems after class?

As far as whether its really a high school or not, I checked out the website and it "looks" like a HS. Also I thought GEPIK was PS only?

@overdrive
I'm going through Korvia. You say Ilsan is more affluent, do you have any knowledge of Yongin? Also, just in case I haven't already thought of it, what would be some key questions to ask the co-teacher?

[Troglodyte]

[cedarseoul]

[isitts]

[Troglodyte]

If it's your first time here, you might want to push for a city along the Seoul subway line. It makes it easy to get into Seoul and then back home afterwards. Otherwise going to Seoul requires more planning to make sure you don't miss your bus.

Here's a simple map of the subway system.
http://www.nsubway.co.kr/korea/seoul/seoulsubwaymapen.htm

Here's one to calculate the travel times.
http://www.smrt.co.kr/program/cyberStation/main2.jsp?lang=e

If you go with that, then make sure that the recruiter/school is honest about how close you'll be to the nearest subway station. Get them to show you the school AND the nearest station on a map. Otherwise they'll try to feed you something like "Oh. There's a subway station very near. Only about 15 minutes away." but in reality it's 20km away.

Check also the travel distance. If it's along one of the numbered lines, then it shouldn't be too bad, but the Seoul subway system has incorporated several old train lines, so some of the "subway" lines go pretty far. (Chuncheon is about 2 hours outside Seoul but still on a subway line.) Still, even those remote places are not too bad if there are frequent trains to Seoul.

Busan might be another option, but in that case make sure that the job is actually in Busan and not just "near" Busan or "a suburb of Busan".

[cappy00]

Thanks for all the excellent advice guys! I looked up on google maps the location of the school and the nearest subway station and it looks like they're about 5 minutes walking distance apart. Starting from that station and making a few transfers along the way, it looks like it only take about 1 hr and 15 min to get to Seoul which doesn't seem that bad at all to me. I know I shouldn't be jumping at the first offer I get but it so far it seems like a good fit for me. I'll have to see what more I can find out from the person who interviews me.