Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Anachanda2005]

Hello everyone-

My husband and I are looking to go to South Korea in June or July 2013. We both have a BS in Elementary Education and one year of teaching experience in the United States at the elementary level. We also have most of our documents ready to go.

We have contacted a few recruiters and have had a variety of responses. We have looked around and Jeju Island seems like a nice location.

Do they charge the same taxes on the island as on the mainland?
What is the average pay for this location?
Could you recommend a couple of good schools in the area?
Is there a particular recruiter I should use for this area?
What are our chances of teaching core subjects versus just teaching English?

Any and all advice is helpful. We have been reading this forum for about a year and we have finally decided to go ahead and move forward.

Thanks again!

[Charlie Bourque]

[Anachanda2005]

Thank you for your response. Can anyone add to this?

[PRagic]

Do they charge the same taxes on the island as on the mainland?

Yes

What is the average pay for this location?

Pretty much the same as everywhere else. Kindly check the FAQs. You can go the public school route or take your chances with a hagwon (institute).

Could you recommend a couple of good schools in the area?

Virtually nobody on a board like this will recommend great places to work. They will either be working there themselves, or will recommend the positions quietly to people they know in person. You'll need to get job offers and then directly contact people currently working there to get their input. Don't forget that there are literally thousands of institutes here in Korea. If you ask for opinions about one institute, odds are you aren't going to get much input of value. Ask people working there NOW in person.

Is there a particular recruiter I should use for this area?

Use every and any recruiter available until you find the job YOU want. If a recruiter tells you that you have to 'be loyal' and only go through them, that's horse pucky. Also remember that the recruiters work for the employers, not you. They get paid for putting a warm body in a teaching slot. Don't succumb to pressure to sign, and don't expect a load of loyalty or after sales service after you do.

You should also pepper every resume board, including Dave's, with your CV. A good idea is to create a separate e-mail account to handle replies as you'll probably be getting a lot of garbage along with a few potential gems.

What are our chances of teaching core subjects versus just teaching English?

Slim to none, unless you can find positions for yourself and the better half at an international school. On Jeju? Not likely.

[cincynate]

There is a huge international school in Jeju that just recently opened. It is KIS (korea international school).. You would be able to teach any subject there. Other than that, you're pretty much limited to English on Jeju.