Tefl in South Korea

coxy14 · 12-06-2012 1:43am

squeakyduck wrote: »

You'll be waiting on your arc for the bones of a month. I managed to open a bank account with my director after getting here but I couldn't use internet banking or anything until I gave them my ARC.

For a quick moving country it takes a ridiculous amount of time to make the fecking card. My bank card was made in 20 seconds flat. My arc was renewed in 10seconds. I really don't know what they do in immigration!

It's really weird, I went to immigration on a Thursday to get my ARC sorted...after we filled out the forms, got fingerprinted etc, my co-teach brought me to another room in the building and told me to pay the lady 1,000WON and I'd have my ARC number (not the card just the number) With that I've had no trouble opening a bank account or signing up for the internet (got it done the very next day) Have mentioned it to other teachers here but no-one seems to have come across this way of doing things!!

Andy!! · 12-06-2012 2:02am

Ah, the old paper handshake eh?

Must see if I can get away with that. Thanks for the tip.

cloneslad · 12-06-2012 12:51pm

a bribe of about 65cent? I think it took me 2 days to get my card. When I opened my bank account I got the debit card there and then, and it worked straight away

Andy!! · 12-06-2012 10:59pm

Visa acquired, boarding passes printed, flying tomorrow at 1:30

Thanks to everyone who helped

Getting the aul butterflies in the tummy now but it's time to start a new chapter.

Odd question. I bought a load of anti-persperant in bulk a while back in preparation for this move. I've just realized, it might not be a great idea to do that, considering they are compressed gases? I've googled it, and actually most search results seem to indicate that it's fine. Boarding pass has the usual warnings though, which include gases. Have people here brought cans of deoderant and shaving cream over?

I heard the rainy season is about to start over there... out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Do_Lers · 14-06-2012 12:08pm

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone on here has used a reliable travel agent in Seoul? I need to book lots of flights and dont have a credit card. Also on a tight buget so, reliable and backpacker friendly!

Thanks,
D

Galway1987 · 18-06-2012 7:01am

Hey,

An Irish friend of mine wants to come to visit me in Seoul next month for a few weeks from Phuket, Thailand. I rang Korean immigration and the officer I talked to was not 100% sure of the answer and it sounded like she just wanted me off the phone. I said I'd ask here to see if anyone knows.

My questions were: Would my Irish friend need a visa of any sort to enter Seoul for a few weeks, she answered "No, because he's Irish". I asked would he need a return flight booked back to Thailand, she answered "No, because he's Irish".

Is she right? I never trust Korean answers because from past experience, they differ from official to official.
Thanks!

cloneslad · 18-06-2012 1:30pm

we get a 90 day visa, to stay and do tourist-y things. Not to work.

They should have a flight back out of there, or a boat ticket to Japan or something, just in case immigration thinks they'll stay. Also, if they have proof that they won't stay, that should be fine too.

the airline may insist on them having a ticket out of there, because they'll get charged for their return ticket. If this is said to your friend, then they can just ask for a waiver form, which stated that they'll pay for the flight themselves, should they not be allows into the country.

The beetle ferry company (busan to fukuoka) allows you to pre-book tickets without paying for them until 2 weeks prior to departure date. your friend could pre-book one of these for 5-6 weeks from their date of arrival, and then cancel it, without having to pay, once they get through immigration.

SolarFlash · 22-06-2012 3:27pm

Hey is anyone applying for jobs in Korea now? I sent my CV to a load of recruitment agencies but getting no replies I thought in Korea last year so a little worried I might be on some blacklist or maybe the job market is bad at the moment.

Andy!! · 23-06-2012 3:30am

I would give it 2 or 3 days before starting to worry. How was your teaching performance last year? Not to be sarcy but spelling 'taught' as 'thought' really is pretty shocking though.

SolarFlash · 23-06-2012 10:55am

Andy!! wrote: »

I would give it 2 or 3 days before starting to worry. How was your teaching performance last year? Not to be sarcy but spelling 'taught' as 'thought' really is pretty shocking though.

lol, I was fairly rubbish at it to be honest so I can't say I'm too surprised. Screw it, was a crap job anyway. :rolleyes:

Lord Bafford · 24-06-2012 8:51am

SolarFlash wrote: »

lol, I was fairly rubbish at it to be honest so I can't say I'm too surprised. Screw it, was a crap job anyway. :rolleyes:

If you're a Dub you'll really struggle to find work in Korea.

Andy!! · 24-06-2012 11:28pm

Lord Bafford wrote: »

If you're a Dub you'll really struggle to find work in Korea.

What? I had at least 15 recruiters down my throat looking to offer positions not two months ago. I ended up getting a position near enough to Seoul too, in a great school. I've been in Dublin since 1993. It definitely ain't location that's holding people back.

I've been noticing the price of electronics here, especially computers, and wow, are they super high! :eek: I'm probably going to buy a laptop online now. If I do this though, are they going to charge lots of customs and import charges? Is there a way to avoid this? Have a family member buy it in the states and ship it as a gift or something? Otherwise, how do we go about paying those charges? Do they hold the package until you pay by credit card or something?

JJayoo · 25-06-2012 6:20pm

Interesting thread, so much information I'm only on page 12 and already my eyes are beginning to burn. Just wondering if anyone who has gone through the entire process could be so kind as to bullet point their journey. I'm just not sure where to start

I will continue to dissect this thread but would be your bestest world if you could help me out:)

Yours in confusion

JJayoo

cloneslad · 25-06-2012 7:36pm

don't start on page 1, all that information is out of date.

do this:

contact recruiters
send them your CV
tailor it so it applies to teaching
get your documents together*
Get offered a job
review the contract, contact current and old teachers about the school, make sure the city / town is to your liking.
send your documents to Korea
get a visa number
call embassy with your visa number and arrange an appointment
hand in your passport / contract / passport photos, maybe have an interview.
book your flights.
get your visa a few days later
go to korea
eat Kimchi, swear never to eat kimchi again....a few months later, fall in love with kimchi.

*you'll need these documents:

-photocopy of your degree - these needs to be signed by a commissoner of oaths and apostilled by the dept of foreign affairs

-Criminal background check - This is free and comes from the local superintendent. This is not a working with children check that you pay approx €6 for an comes from Thurles. Just tell the garda that you need it for a visa for Korea. You then bring this to the dept of foreign affairs and get it stamped too.

-medical form - google Korean E2 medical form and you should get this. Just fill it out and send it off with your other documents.

- copy of your passport

-passport pictures

- signed contract

- Transcripts of your degree results - These are technically not needed by immigration any more, but schools and recruiters keep asking for them. They should be in a stamped, sealed envelope.

I just got mine for all 4 years. Photocopied each of them about 5-6 times, put 1 of each year into an envelope and had them stamped and sealed. I kept a couple spare, in case I needed them again.

Do not send your documents to a recruiter until you've accepted a job. If they ask for them, just scan them in (or take a pic of them) and e-mail them to the recruiter.

Use as many recruiters as possible. (though not for public school jobs, you can only apply to the public sector once per bulk hiring period.

Don't listen to a recruiter who tells you that you'll never get Busan / Seoul etc. You can get it, you may have to wait slightly longer, but Irish people are not 'out of demand' or 'unwanted'. They just want to place you quickly and get their fee for it.

Come back here and look for help.

I am going to paste a recruiting information post in my next post. It's taken directly from a facebook group I'm in. Use it or make of it what you want.

cloneslad · 25-06-2012 7:39pm

Hello Everyone,

I have grouped all of the recruiting information I recieved from fellow teachers and have posted it below so that this information can be easily referred back to. Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

group member's name - Geovisions.org is a great starting point. They are well-organized and have many many programs to choose from. A bit pricey for some programs with them but they did a good job for me.

group member's name - hey, I used teachers for south korea (TFSK) this time around and they were great. They have a load of jobs for China as well under teachers for asia. The guy i dealt with was called David. They're Irish run but you deal with a local recruiter as well. https://www.facebook.com/teachersforsk http://www.teachersforasia.com/welcome-to-teachers-for-asia/

group member's name - eslcafe.com

group member's name - i would say be careful of a lot of the korean recruiters on Daves esl as they often offer ****ty jobs and only care about money and not you!! thats just from personal experience... a lot of them post jobs and then say that those jobs are gone and offer other ones but you'll see the original jobs posted again a week later!!

group member's name - I used koreaglobalconnections and they were really good

group member's name - no worries group member's name. you're right, BUT i did find my sweet job on daves esl. its also a good resource for information on how to get here and what not

group member's name - Canadian connection is also a great recruitment company. I am yet to meet someone who is not satisfied with the job they landed. http://www.canconx.com/

Canadian Connection :: Educational Consultants
www.canconx.com

group member's name - I went through a recruiter named Dan Henrickson. His email iswww.teacheslkorea.com and he has a Facebook page for it too: Teach ESL Korea. He is SUPER helpful and a really nice guy, will make sure you end up in a nice area of Korea, not just anywhere there is a job open.

Teach ESL Korea :: Welcome
www.teacheslkorea.com

group member's name - www.opportunitykorea.com - ask for Bonnie....couldn't recommend it and her high enough
OK with OK Recruiting
www.opportunitykorea.com

group member's name - , I also usedwww.teacheslkorea.com. I haven't arrived in Geoje yet (I arrive late June) but they have been helpful and supportive. They also have a facebook group here:https://www.facebook.com/groups/2295650908/

Teach ESL Korea :: Welcome
www.teacheslkorea.com

group member's name - http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/
I used them. They were great. They still send me monthly new updates. Wow!
Teach Abroad - English Teaching Jobs Worldwide - Apply Today!
www.footprintsrecruiting.com

group member's name - www.planetesl.com was a good one for me. my school used them quite a bit and were always pleased.

Teach English in Korea - English Teaching Jobs in Korea
www.planetesl.com

JJayoo · 25-06-2012 10:00pm

Thanks sooooooooooooooooooooooo much Cloneslad

PES4 · 26-06-2012 3:15am

Lord Bafford wrote: »

If you're a Dub you'll really struggle to find work in Korea.

Ridiculous thing to write on a public forum. Complete bull****.

I'm from an area of Dublin that would be considered very working class and thus in my day-to-day I have quite a thick accent. However, through patient practice I have been able to tailor my accent to be more neutral and acceptable to foreign language students.

Plus I got a public school job first time around due to a successful interview. I've been told that's a difficult enough task, Dublin or not.

Also, Cloneslad is a decent auld sort. Trawling his posts made my process in getting here all the more easy. Top marks mate.

squeakyduck · 26-06-2012 7:06am

Cloneslad and Spatial planning(sp?!) were very helpful for me when I was going over.

A_Sober_Paddy · 28-06-2012 10:22pm

Hey all, just a quick general tefl question, is are courses easy, hard or what? Just to give you some background, I've a 2.1 business degree, in which i did not do much work to get.

I'm kinda looking for something different to do so decided to take a look at tefl on the advice of someone over in AH.

Are jobs easy/hard to get?
How do you choice which course to do?

Cheers

Andy!! · 29-06-2012 4:16am

They can be challenging, mostly because of the time they take up, and how interested they are. They can be pretty dull affairs, especially the mostly online ones.

As for which one to go for, just do any 'reputable' one. My recommendation to you would be to keep an eye on citideals; they frequently come up there for much cheaper than you would pay normally.

There are plenty of jobs here. Even more if you're not picky with where you'd like to be placed.

Andy!! · 29-06-2012 3:05pm

Here comes rainy season, yaaayyyyyyyy.....

camoramo · 03-07-2012 10:46pm

Hey,

I've been reading through this for a while but now I have to actually post!
I've been looking for a job in Korea for over a month now and at the start it all seemed optimistic, but I need a mid August/ early September start date so that threw things off. (I booked my flights for a holiday to Korea a few months ago so need to start then).
I just missed EPIK's closing date so I applied to Footprints. Then they told me the only public school jobs they had were for CPOE in September and that I would have to wait a few weeks for an interview so I said I'd wait. A couple of weeks later I looked on their website and it said positions filled even though they didn't tell me!
The recruiter suggested I speak to their private school coordinator so I did and she literally said to me "we only have jobs for North Americans at the moment."
I can't believe they can actually say this - it is also written on ATC's website that Americans are preferred over skilled people of other nationalities. http://www.atcrecruiting.com/wiki_view.php?kind=1&pNum=132
So I applied to ATC who got me an interview for a job I really wanted and I just got rejected. This is all very disheartening as I have a degree in English, 120 hour TEFL, teaching experience, a neutral accent and all my visa documents ready to go.
Can anyone suggest where I can get an ASAP job or an agency that recruits Irish people?

Thanks

squeakyduck · 04-07-2012 2:17am

camoramo wrote: »

I need a mid August/ early September start date so that threw things off. (I booked my flights for a holiday to Korea a few months ago so need to start then).
So I applied to ATC who got me an interview for a job I really wanted and I just got rejected. This is all very disheartening as I have a degree in English, 120 hour TEFL, teaching experience, a neutral accent and all my visa documents ready to go.
Can anyone suggest where I can get an ASAP job or an agency that recruits Irish people?
Thanks

Give yourself some time man! I would not make a snappy decision when it comes to a job in Korea. You have to research it and research it well. I have so many friends in really crappy hagwon jobs because they wanted to get over here snappy, and they are being screwed every step of the way. Struggling to get paid proper wages, schools closing down without their knowledge, school pocketing money ment for the teachers pension etc....

My first bit of advice is to work with several recruiters at one time. ATC is my recruiting agency(Patrick is very helpful) and footprints is another one that I've heard good things about. Stay away from teachersforSouthKorea (I think they are scam artists.

One of the lads did a big post on helpful recruiters in the past few pages so read that and start emailing your CV!

Do you have your documents ready to send if you get a good job with good conditions?

Why not go to Korea for your holiday and maybe get to know some of the places that you may want to work at? There are a few amazing cities here!

Andy!! · 04-07-2012 2:40am

camoramo wrote: »

Hey,

I've been reading through this for a while but now I have to actually post!
I've been looking for a job in Korea for over a month now and at the start it all seemed optimistic, but I need a mid August/ early September start date so that threw things off. (I booked my flights for a holiday to Korea a few months ago so need to start then).
I just missed EPIK's closing date so I applied to Footprints. Then they told me the only public school jobs they had were for CPOE in September and that I would have to wait a few weeks for an interview so I said I'd wait. A couple of weeks later I looked on their website and it said positions filled even though they didn't tell me!
The recruiter suggested I speak to their private school coordinator so I did and she literally said to me "we only have jobs for North Americans at the moment."
I can't believe they can actually say this - it is also written on ATC's website that Americans are preferred over skilled people of other nationalities. http://www.atcrecruiting.com/wiki_view.php?kind=1&pNum=132
So I applied to ATC who got me an interview for a job I really wanted and I just got rejected. This is all very disheartening as I have a degree in English, 120 hour TEFL, teaching experience, a neutral accent and all my visa documents ready to go.
Can anyone suggest where I can get an ASAP job or an agency that recruits Irish people?

Thanks

You're putting the horse before the cart man! Only when it looks like you might have a job should you start gathering documents (except the garda certificate of character, best get that ahead of time). And normally recruiters pay for the flights once the job is offered! Where are you supposed to be landing? How do you know that is anywhere near where you'll be situated?

For the actual job, start applying for every job going on Daves ESL. http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/

There's several new positions put up there every weekday. That's how I got my gig in a Hagwon, and it's a really good Hagwon too, so it's possible to get a job private school gig through Dave's ESL. Good luck. Any other questions just ask

camoramo · 04-07-2012 10:13am

Well from reading different sites I thought it would take ages to get the documents so started straight away. I was really suprised that I actually got my garda clearance posted to my house within 1 working day! And then I got my sealed transcripts within a week and the notary and apostille in a day.
I will be arriving in Incheon airport on the 1st of August with my family.
My brother is living in Daejeon and my sister-in-law is Korean so they are bringing us to different cities, they are also a great help when it comes to telling me what schools/areas are good and bad but it's good to get as many opinions as possible! I have looked at Daves ESL etc too but how do you know which jobs on Dave's are legit though?
I started applying to a few more agencies last night so hopefully that will hedge my bets. It's actually Patrick from ATC who has been helping me too.

cassi · 04-07-2012 10:54am

camoramo wrote: »

Well from reading different sites I thought it would take ages to get the documents so started straight away. I was really suprised that I actually got my garda clearance posted to my house within 1 working day! And then I got my sealed transcripts within a week and the notary and apostille in a day.
I will be arriving in Incheon airport on the 1st of August with my family.
My brother is living in Daejeon and my sister-in-law is Korean so they are bringing us to different cities, they are also a great help when it comes to telling me what schools/areas are good and bad but it's good to get as many opinions as possible! I have looked at Daves ESL etc too but how do you know which jobs on Dave's are legit though?
I started applying to a few more agencies last night so hopefully that will hedge my bets. It's actually Patrick from ATC who has been helping me too.

Nothing wrong with getting your document ready, things can move pretty fast once you've been offered something! Have a look at the post a page or so back that cloneslad put u with a list of good recruiters. Enjoy your holiday am suss the country out but I wouldn't be dead set on getting something before then. Also don't let any recruiter tell you there are no jobs for irish people or you won't get a Job in such a place, cause its just not true.

Good luck with the job search

squeakyduck · 04-07-2012 11:39am

I can look out for places in Daejeon too, if you want man... I've just started working down here in a hagwon. I'll ask around!

camoramo · 04-07-2012 6:16pm

squeakyduck wrote: »

I can look out for places in Daejeon too, if you want man... I've just started working down here in a hagwon. I'll ask around!

My username must be manly, I'm actually a girl ha! But that would be great thanks!
I was pushed to stay on while I was already over there but since the recruiter would be paying for the flight it might not be a bad idea to come home and go back when I get a decent job!

camoramo · 04-07-2012 8:29pm

Just another question, how long was the whole visa process for everyone after you got your visa number?

formerrunner25 · 04-07-2012 10:10pm

Hi,
I'm currently looking for a job in South Korea. I have had 2 interviews already in one week. I am working with Bonnie from Ok Recruiting. She is very good.
The 1st interview I was successful with, however, the school asked me to speak with a North American accent and I was unsure about this so I started to research about it. Eventually I decided to accept it and then the school informed me they had given the job to someone else because I took so long to decide. It only took me 2 days ha.
The interview I had today was difficult and I dont feel it went to well.
I just have one quick question can anybody tell me. I only finished my degree in May and Dont graduate until october so wont have my official diploma until then. Will this be a problem or can you get your official final year results apostillated?

Tefl in South Korea

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