Tefl in South Korea

badbuzz

cloneslad wrote: »

The garda check is already notarised as it's signed by the superintendent.

The degree copy should have been notarised by a commissioner of oaths then taken to the dept of foreign affairs.

I'm surprised the dept of foreign affairs stamped them without the commissioner of oaths having stamped it prior to it.

OK. So what would be the best course of action to take regarding the degree? Is there anyway I can get it notarized after the apostille is on it?

cloneslad

badbuzz wrote: »

OK. So what would be the best course of action to take regarding the degree? Is there anyway I can get it notarized after the apostille is on it?

I have no idea, i've never known of anyone to do it backwards.

If in doubt, just copy it again, get it notarised then get it apostilled again. You'll only lose out on the €20 you initially paid.

badbuzz

cloneslad wrote: »

I have no idea, i've never known of anyone to do it backwards.

If in doubt, just copy it again, get it notarised then get it apostilled again. You'll only lose out on the €20 you initially paid.

I have no problem doing it that way, it's just going to cost me a lot of time.

I've just passed my EPIK interview and they want my documents to be sent as soon as possible really, for my own sake. I'll have to figure something out!

cloneslad

badbuzz wrote: »

I have no problem doing it that way, it's just going to cost me a lot of time.

I've just passed my EPIK interview and they want my documents to be sent as soon as possible really, for my own sake. I'll have to figure something out!

It'll take a fday. Just photocopy your degree again, get it notarised (10-20 euro) go to dept of foreign affairs, get it stamped. Then you're done.

It's ages until mid february anyway, so don't worry about it. Also you must enter the country withing 90days of receiving your visa, so you can't get it yet anyway.

badbuzz

cloneslad wrote: »

It'll take a fday. Just photocopy your degree again, get it notarised (10-20 euro) go to dept of foreign affairs, get it stamped. Then you're done.

It's ages until mid february anyway, so don't worry about it. Also you must enter the country withing 90days of receiving your visa, so you can't get it yet anyway.

Thanks for the help/info lads...

The worrying stems from the fact that EPIK are first come, first serve, and apprently the places for the larger metropolitan cities (my top 3 choices are Seoul, Busan and Incheon, with Seoul being my major priority) fill up really quickly.

The copy of my degree that I got apostilled is a copy I received from the NUI HQ in Dublin - it has a seal that is lifted from the paper, quite official looking... A notorized & apostilled photocopy of this will definitely suffice for EPIK?

cloneslad

badbuzz wrote: »

Thanks for the help/info lads...

The worrying stems from the fact that EPIK are first come, first serve, and apprently the places for the larger metropolitan cities (my top 3 choices are Seoul, Busan and Incheon, with Seoul being my major priority) fill up really quickly.

The copy of my degree that I got apostilled is a copy I received from the NUI HQ in Dublin - it has a seal that is lifted from the paper, quite official looking... A notorized & apostilled photocopy of this will definitely suffice for EPIK?

A photocopy is all you need, they don't give a cr*p, as long as it's notarised and apostilled then that's good enough for them.

badbuzz

cloneslad wrote: »

A photocopy is all you need, they don't give a cr*p, as long as it's notarised and apostilled then that's good enough for them.

Good stuff, that's a weight off my mind. Just to confirm it with you cloneslad, the Garda Cert doesn't need to be notorized as it's already signed? The apostille stamp I have on it cites the Inspector who signed it as the party acting in the capacity of a Garda Siochana

cloneslad

badbuzz wrote: »

Good stuff, that's a weight off my mind. Just to confirm it with you cloneslad, the Garda Cert doesn't need to be notorized as it's already signed? The apostille stamp I have on it cites the Inspector who signed it as the party acting in the capacity of a Garda Siochana

Yup, just as long as it was apostilled by the dept of foreign affairs.

roosh

badbuzz wrote: »

I have no problem doing it that way, it's just going to cost me a lot of time.

I've just passed my EPIK interview and they want my documents to be sent as soon as possible really, for my own sake. I'll have to figure something out!

it might be worth taking the safe option I'm just wondering if there would be any real difference between getting it notarised before and after? The only difference I can imagine is that the foreign affairs stamp might go over the notarisation, but I'm not certain of that - anyone know?

kraggy

I didn't think you could get the apostille before the notarisation. I thought the apostille was confirmation that the notarisation was genuine?

Maybe I'm wrong. Ring the DFA.

cloneslad

kraggy wrote: »

I didn't think you could get the apostille before the notarisation. I thought the apostille was confirmation that the notarisation was genuine?

Maybe I'm wrong. Ring the DFA.

That's what I thought too. It's why I don't understand why the DFA apostilled it.

roosh

is it standard procedure to get charged for school dinners, and to make a contribution towards the cost of the tea and coffee in the staff room, and to pay for the "teachers meetings"?

EDIT: actually, it's no big deal, I was getting confused between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands

kraggy

roosh wrote: »

is it standard procedure to get charged for school dinners, and to make a contribution towards the cost of the tea and coffee in the staff room, and to pay for the "teachers meetings"?

The dinner is taken out of your wages at the end of the month.

We don't have tea or coffee in our school. We bring in our own. They won't even turn on the A/C in my classroom unless it's about 33 degrees. So if its 30ish, I have to sweat it out while teaching. My clothes do be drenched.

Our principal is pure mean though. I know other people who can turn on the A/c as they please in their schools.

Not sure what you mean by teachers meetings.

roosh

kraggy wrote: »

The dinner is taken out of your wages at the end of the month.

We don't have tea or coffee in our school. We bring in our own. They won't even turn on the A/C in my classroom unless it's about 33 degrees. So if its 30ish, I have to sweat it out while teaching. My clothes do be drenched.

Our principal is pure mean though. I know other people who can turn on the A/c as they please in their schools.

Not sure what you mean by teachers meetings.

I think "teachers meetings" is just another way of saying piss up

roosh

I was just making a cup of tea earlier and the vice principal, out of nowere, asks me if I'm a christian. I know the koreans are pretty forward about asking this kind of stuff but it was unusual; so I had to give a brief rundown on my philosophical/spiritual position

roosh

I'm delighted to find out that my heating issue was just a false alarm! I do actually have oil left, and a lots of it too

when I checked the pipe/level indicator the other day I was expecting to see a column of brown liquid to indicate the level - as it is at home, as I could've sworn it was when it first went in, and as I would expect oil to be - but the liquid is actually clear.

roosh

is the tap water here ok to drink after boiling does anyone know?

ekevosu

roosh wrote: »

is the tap water here ok to drink after boiling does anyone know?

My water is okay here but best to ask for your location.

Also teachers meetings are staff dinners etc which are basically pissups, trips away occasionally. I pay 40k a month for it. We have our own English wing so no contributions to tea etc are asked for. Also I pay about 30k or so a month for school dinners. This is paid by me separately, not taken out of wages.

dapto1

roosh wrote: »

is the tap water here ok to drink after boiling does anyone know?

Yeah I'd check for your area. I've heard a lot about old lead pipes in certain parts of the country, but this is purely anecdotal. Boiling does nothing about heavy metals, so I'm just playing it safe and got a Brita filter. I also fill up from the water cooler in school when I can.

rich1874

Hi Guys


Just a quick question, i'm thinking of teaching in S Korea after Christmas and i strated my application with Tiger English a few weeks ago. I have received Garda clearance and just have to get my documents stamped with an apostille (garda clearace cert and degree scroll).

Recently i received an email from another company called teachersforsouthkorea(TFSK), through a grad ireland email alert. They deal specifcally with EPIK for public school teaching, so i decided to send an email asking for the application procedure. They sent me quite a substantial list of documents i must gather, included signed references and notarised college transcripts, thing which tiger english have not asked for.

So my question, why haven't Tiger English requested these documents, is this TFSK comapny more repuatable (by virute of requesting far more paperwork)? Has anyone had any experience with either of these companies and if so can you offer advice on who i should proceed with? I'm kind of looking to have all my documents ready by the end of this week and was warned by TFSK that once I begin my application process, not to remain in contact with any other recruiting agency and this could affect my chances. (The pros of staying with Tiger English are natually that i won't have to provide any of these extra documents thereby speeding up my application)

Please advise, thanks!

squeakyduck

rich1874 wrote: »

Recently i received an email from another company called teachersforsouthkorea(TFSK), through a grad ireland email alert. !

I would be very wary about using that recruiter. I worked with one of the guys there for a while and I found him to be very arrogant, pushy and even yelled at me a few times. I know a girl that is working over here after getting a job with TFSK and she found that this recruiter was the same with her.

I started with tiger english (they were absolutely crap....never keep up emailing and didn't seem to realise that I just went off for another recruiter) but I went with ATC. Was very pleased with how they got me to Korea although I did work with other recruiters via daveseslcafe.

some of my friends had good experiences with footprints.

dsane1

rich1874 wrote: »

Hi Guys


Just a quick question, i'm thinking of teaching in S Korea after Christmas and i strated my application with Tiger English a few weeks ago. I have received Garda clearance and just have to get my documents stamped with an apostille (garda clearace cert and degree scroll).

Recently i received an email from another company called teachersforsouthkorea(TFSK), through a grad ireland email alert. They deal specifcally with EPIK for public school teaching, so i decided to send an email asking for the application procedure. They sent me quite a substantial list of documents i must gather, included signed references and notarised college transcripts, thing which tiger english have not asked for.

So my question, why haven't Tiger English requested these documents, is this TFSK comapny more repuatable (by virute of requesting far more paperwork)? Has anyone had any experience with either of these companies and if so can you offer advice on who i should proceed with? I'm kind of looking to have all my documents ready by the end of this week and was warned by TFSK that once I begin my application process, not to remain in contact with any other recruiting agency and this could affect my chances. (The pros of staying with Tiger English are natually that i won't have to provide any of these extra documents thereby speeding up my application)

Please advise, thanks!

I used Tiger English as my recruiter, however I'm in a private school. I'm here 8 months. The only documents I needed were the Garda cert and degree scroll. Tiger English said to get my transcripts in a stamped sealed envelope from the college but that they may not be required. As it turned out they were not needed so a waste of €30. I've no idea if there is a difference in the requirements for public school though.

kraggy

roosh wrote: »

I was just making a cup of tea earlier and the vice principal, out of nowere, asks me if I'm a christian. I know the koreans are pretty forward about asking this kind of stuff but it was unusual; so I had to give a brief rundown on my philosophical/spiritual position

My head of department asked me shortly after I started if I had any religion or not.

I politely said no. I'm lucky I did, because if I had lied and said that yeah, sometimes I go to church, I would have been caught by the balls and got roped into coming to school early to pray with some of the teachers.

As that's what a former Native English teacher in my school did.

Imagine getting up early to come to school to pray with your co-teachers...

So just be honest (if you're not religious) and say politely that you don't have any religion. They have no right to give you a hard time over it.

This country is waaaaaaay more Christian than I thought. According to statistics on the net, there are more Buddhists and only 25% are Christian. That's bull. The vast majority of this country are devout Christian from what I can see.

roosh

kraggy wrote: »

My head of department asked me shortly after I started if I had any religion or not.

I politely said no. I'm lucky I did, because if I had lied and said that yeah, sometimes I go to church, I would have been caught by the balls and got roped into coming to school early to pray with some of the teachers.

As that's what a former Native English teacher in my school did.

Imagine getting up early to come to school to pray with your co-teachers...

So just be honest (if you're not religious) and say politely that you don't have any religion. They have no right to give you a hard time over it.

This country is waaaaaaay more Christian than I thought. According to statistics on the net, there are more Buddhists and only 25% are Christian. That's bull. The vast majority of this country are devout Christian from what I can see.

early morning prayers?? fook that.

I just told them I was raised as a christian but that I had developed an interest in Buddhism, and that I wouldn't call myself either.

roosh

rich1874 wrote: »

Hi Guys


Just a quick question, i'm thinking of teaching in S Korea after Christmas and i strated my application with Tiger English a few weeks ago. I have received Garda clearance and just have to get my documents stamped with an apostille (garda clearace cert and degree scroll).

Recently i received an email from another company called teachersforsouthkorea(TFSK), through a grad ireland email alert. They deal specifcally with EPIK for public school teaching, so i decided to send an email asking for the application procedure. They sent me quite a substantial list of documents i must gather, included signed references and notarised college transcripts, thing which tiger english have not asked for.

So my question, why haven't Tiger English requested these documents, is this TFSK comapny more repuatable (by virute of requesting far more paperwork)? Has anyone had any experience with either of these companies and if so can you offer advice on who i should proceed with? I'm kind of looking to have all my documents ready by the end of this week and was warned by TFSK that once I begin my application process, not to remain in contact with any other recruiting agency and this could affect my chances. (The pros of staying with Tiger English are natually that i won't have to provide any of these extra documents thereby speeding up my application)

Please advise, thanks!

Hey rich, have you looked into the differences between teaching in a private school and teaching in a public school? I opted for a public school bcos to my understanding the hours were preferable - start at 9 and finish at 5.

There is the possibility of being asked to teach extra classes outside of those hours but if they go over your standard 22 teaching periods a week you get overtime.

From what I can gather, public schools have better holidays too. I'm contracted to get 3 weeks in January and 2 weeks in the summer, plus public hols; I've been told that private school teachers only get public holidays - someone here might be able to confirm or deny that.

The recruitment agency I used was called reach to teach and they were pretty good. At times it seemed like they were a little slow with communication but I think that may just be because the EPIK application process can be a bit drawn out, straight forward but drawn out - just bcos of the extra documents, but that's really no major hassle.

When I contacted reach to teach there was only about 2 weeks until the EPIK deadline, but they helped me get everything sorted. I didn't hear anything from them when I got to korea and thought they were done bcos I was placed, but I got an email the other day with a link to a facebook page where they update info about events they organise for teachers in Korea - I forgot that they had mentioned that on the website.

Anyway, it might be worth figuring out whether you want to go public or private, and then deciding if the hassle of getting the extra documents will be worth it.

Brimmy

rich1874 wrote: »

Hi Guys


Just a quick question, i'm thinking of teaching in S Korea after Christmas and i strated my application with Tiger English a few weeks ago. I have received Garda clearance and just have to get my documents stamped with an apostille (garda clearace cert and degree scroll).

Recently i received an email from another company called teachersforsouthkorea(TFSK), through a grad ireland email alert. They deal specifcally with EPIK for public school teaching, so i decided to send an email asking for the application procedure. They sent me quite a substantial list of documents i must gather, included signed references and notarised college transcripts, thing which tiger english have not asked for.

So my question, why haven't Tiger English requested these documents, is this TFSK comapny more repuatable (by virute of requesting far more paperwork)? Has anyone had any experience with either of these companies and if so can you offer advice on who i should proceed with? I'm kind of looking to have all my documents ready by the end of this week and was warned by TFSK that once I begin my application process, not to remain in contact with any other recruiting agency and this could affect my chances. (The pros of staying with Tiger English are natually that i won't have to provide any of these extra documents thereby speeding up my application)

Please advise, thanks!

For EPIK you need need all those documents. If you want to come with EPIK though I suggest that you apply directly rather than using a recruiter, it will speed up your process (the interviews have been happening for a few weeks already) and it cuts out a load of crap. The two main recruiters for EPIK as well are fluent English speakers and even though I didn't use them my friends who are here have all said they were absolutely fantastic, helpful and extremely quick in getting back to you about any problems/queries.

Brimmy

roosh wrote: »

From what I can gather, public schools have better holidays too. I'm contracted to get 3 weeks in January and 2 weeks in the summer, plus public hols;


When I contacted reach to teach there was only about 2 weeks until the EPIK deadline, but they helped me get everything sorted. I didn't hear anything from them when I got to korea and thought they were done bcos I was placed, but I got an email the other day with a link to a facebook page where they update info about events they organise for teachers in Korea - I forgot that they had mentioned that on the website.

Anyway, it might be worth figuring out whether you want to go public or private, and then deciding if the hassle of getting the extra documents will be worth it.

You can't be contracted for 3 weeks in January with EPIK. It's 8 and 10 working days unless they've changed it from this semester but no one I met so far from the August intake has mentioned it. Whether you take them in the Winter/Summer is your own/schools choice. You probably have your 8 days in the summer (when there's a bank holiday so you can make it 9 if you want) and 10 in winter + Chinese New Year which can be another full week off. If you renew with EPIK as well you get another bonus 2 weeks off at the end of your contract/before the next one begins which you can take in one big block with your holidays to get a full month off. Most schools will let you carry these 2 weeks to the next semester as well so you can take the 4 weeks off in the Summer (if you renew in Winter or vice versa) but that's your schools own choice.

JFitzgerald

kraggy wrote: »

My head of department asked me shortly after I started if I had any religion or not.

I politely said no. I'm lucky I did, because if I had lied and said that yeah, sometimes I go to church, I would have been caught by the balls and got roped into coming to school early to pray with some of the teachers.

As that's what a former Native English teacher in my school did.

Imagine getting up early to come to school to pray with your co-teachers...

So just be honest (if you're not religious) and say politely that you don't have any religion. They have no right to give you a hard time over it.

This country is waaaaaaay more Christian than I thought. According to statistics on the net, there are more Buddhists and only 25% are Christian. That's bull. The vast majority of this country are devout Christian from what I can see.

Yep, I got asked about my religion on the first day by one of the teachers too. I just said that although i was born Catholic, i don't do religion. i almost got roped into a korean language class that's held with some church group on saturday mornings. although i'd like to learn korean, i didn't fall for that one. i dont want any **** like that eating into my weekends.

kraggy

@Squeaky

I saw your pic in Ladies Lounge at Boys Noize. How did you hear about that gig? My girlfriend and I would have gone had we known about it. Aaargh!

I've checked theyeogiyo.com for gigs and everything regularly for the last few weeks and there was no mention of that.

Balls.

roosh

Brimmy wrote: »

You can't be contracted for 3 weeks in January with EPIK. It's 8 and 10 working days unless they've changed it from this semester but no one I met so far from the August intake has mentioned it. Whether you take them in the Winter/Summer is your own/schools choice. You probably have your 8 days in the summer (when there's a bank holiday so you can make it 9 if you want) and 10 in winter + Chinese New Year which can be another full week off. If you renew with EPIK as well you get another bonus 2 weeks off at the end of your contract/before the next one begins which you can take in one big block with your holidays to get a full month off. Most schools will let you carry these 2 weeks to the next semester as well so you can take the 4 weeks off in the Summer (if you renew in Winter or vice versa) but that's your schools own choice.

Apologies, I should have specified that it's 21 Calendar Days in Winter and 14 Calendar days in Summer.