hi, i'm from singapore. Read your blog and would like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind. I'm really interested in teaching in Korea. My i ask how did you get your job in Korea? Is there a need for me to be fluent in the korea language?
First, if you want, you can back track through my blog to read more detaied posts on how I got here. Check out the "pre-korea" labels on the right side.
Second, as an addendum to the information above, you can also see my old blog, which had some other things about EPIK interviews at the like: Mirth_Korea
Third, I should mention that there are many ways to land a job teaching English in Korea. You need to decide first, whether you want to teach PUBLIC school or PRIVATE school--in general terms. This matters because if you teach in Public school, you'll need to apply with EPIK/GEPIK (English Program in Korea--the gov't based organization that places and supports all native english teachers in S. Korea). This is a long and often arduous process with a lot of red tape and paperwork.
On the other hand, you can take the Private school route--and by private school, I mean Hagwon/English Academy. That is not to say that all private schools are hagwons, or that EPIK only places in public school, because I am an EPIK teacher currently teaching at a private school, but in general terms, we say EPIK=Public and Hagwon=Private.
Hagwons are easier to find work at, requiring maybe a fraction of what you would need to provide for EPIK. I'm not exactly sure what the process is like for obtaining a job at a hagwon--if you can do it from abroad or if you need to come here first to do it--but visas for South Korea are only good for 90 days (tourist visa). Hagwons are academies, that is, students attend their regular school, and THEN go to Hagwons for extra lessons. They play for these lessons at hagwons--that is to say, Hagwons are businesses.
There are a lot of differences between Hagwons and Public school. Both will usually put you up and pay for your apartment, but the hours you work and the amount you teach differ with each system. Furthermore, vacation/sick days often seem to be the biggest issue. By contract, EPIK teachers get 21 days of vacation leave, usually scheduled during school holidays, but we can take sick days if needed. For some reason, it seems that at Hagwons you vacation days are scheduled for you, and its harder to take sick leave.
Also, another issue is job stability at hagwons. Because they are businesses, your job depends upon how many students are attending the hagwon. If there are no students, you lose you job, you visa gets revoked, and all sorts of messy business occurs.
In any case, like I said earlier, there are several ways in which you can apply with the EPIK program. The most common ways are:
-directly, through EPIK website
-indirectly, through a recruiter.
I should mention that no, there is no reqirement for knowing Korean language in order to be successfully hired as a Guest English Teacher (GET)/ Native English Teacher (NET) in Korea. Any Korean language you know will be a benefit for your everyday convenience, but it is not required at all for placement.
All you need is university degree. If you are TEFL certified that can bump you up on the pay scale. The university degree doesn't matter what subject it is from, but if you did english or english education, you may be eligible to teach in Seoul or get a pay increase. If you've got a master's degree you can opt to teach at university--not with EPIK though.
You can peep the payscale & degree requirements here:
Other things you will need:
- University transcripts
- Letters of Recomendation
- Copies of your degrees
- Criminal Record Check
- passport photos
Some Tips:
- Get your application in early--EPIK is already accepting appliations for the Summer 2011 intake of teachers!!!! Deadline is June 1st!
- This means doing everything ASAP
- Make copies of everything
- Keep in contact with your recruiter, if you are using one, so you're always in the loop
- Ask questions if you don't understand something, better safe than sorry.
Hope that helps. Any other questions feel free to ask!
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