Tefl in South Korea

squeakyduck

inverted_world wrote: »

OK Recruiting,

I used these before. They were quite helpful!

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

Teachers for south korea admin@teachersforsouthkorea.com I dealt with an Irish guy, David.

I dealt with teacher for South Korea and I've met people that have got horrible jobs with this recruitment agency. I dealt with a guy named mark and he was an absolute diick to me on several occasions. He gave me wrong information, spun me lies and when I got confused and scared about going he even yelled at me on the phone. Beware of teachers for south Korea. Others might have had a more positive outlook on this recruitment agency but just be careful.

I used ATC from the beginning and they actually got me my job. They were fantastic. I used Patrick! I've heard good things about Clara too!

vicecreamsundae

oh yikes, Squeaky Duck, that's awful! I'm going to stop recommending them.


I just received my visa number today, so need to contact the embassy. In the email from my recruiter was also the following:


5. Tax Redemption

Korean tax office demands that teachers (except Canadians) do not to pay the Korean income tax and to receive this benefit one must submit tax redemption from the IRS in your country. I will paste a link to the American application form 8802. It was an option in the past but at the moment Gepik requires it.

You can apply for it and have it sent to your school's address after coming to Korea because it takes a long time or you can try to obtain it before departing for Korea.

anyone know anything about this or what form I need?!
thanks!

RonMexico

Hi guys just wondering if any of you could tell me what kind of salary I could reasonably expect with the following qualifications:

B.A. English & Philosophy
PhD English Literature
CELT

Cheers for any feedback.

cloneslad

RonMexico wrote: »

Hi guys just wondering if any of you could tell me what kind of salary I could reasonably expect with the following qualifications:

B.A. English & Philosophy
PhD English Literature
CELT

Cheers for any feedback.

Hagwon = about the same as everyone else. 2.1-2.5. You would get more if you were over there and were available for an interview.


Public School = it goes in increments based on qualifications. You'd prob max out at 2.5 -2.6 though, and you would need teaching experience in Korea to reach that. Not 100% sure on that though.

University = With those qualifications you could command a decent salary with great holidays. The only thing is, they'd prefer you to be there for an interview, so you'd probably only be able to get a low level uni who'd be willing to hire you from here. Unis offer a wide variety of salaries, so it would be impossible to hazard a guess

inverted_world

Thanks, guys.

vicecreamsundae, I don't mind working for either public schoold or good hogwons. There seem to be pros and cons to both!

I have applied to the recommended recruiters. Hopefully they will be able to help!

I posted my CV on work n' play, and got emails and phone calls almost immediately. I feel like I'm being a pain when if I turn down suggested jobs. I've been sent a few very far out, and one or two that sound dodgy. Is there a trick to it?


This staying up late to talk to recruiters is pretty tiring!

squeakyduck

inverted_world wrote: »

Is there a trick to it?


This staying up late to talk to recruiters is pretty tiring!

Always get someone else to run their eye over contracts that are presented to you. My brother helped me with that and got me out of some potentially sticky situations!

Always talk with current teachers at the school on skype if possible. I found people would talk up the school via email but on skype you can hear hesitation or anger in their voice.

kraggy

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

oh yikes, Squeaky Duck, that's awful! I'm going to stop recommending them.


I just received my visa number today, so need to contact the embassy. In the email from my recruiter was also the following:


5. Tax Redemption

Korean tax office demands that teachers (except Canadians) do not to pay the Korean income tax and to receive this benefit one must submit tax redemption from the IRS in your country. I will paste a link to the American application form 8802. It was an option in the past but at the moment Gepik requires it.

You can apply for it and have it sent to your school's address after coming to Korea because it takes a long time or you can try to obtain it before departing for Korea.

anyone know anything about this or what form I need?!
thanks!

As far as I know, us Irish don't get the tax or pension back. People from other countries do.

However we can transfer our pension contributions to Ireland whenever we return home though I'm not sure how this is done.

kraggy

dsane1 wrote: »

Hi all, I've been in korea almost a year now in a hagwon. My school handles all my bills. Today my director said she needs all my receipts (from everything ive bought all year) and my bank card statements. I have saved no receipts from anything. She said this was to work out how much tax I have to pay. Is this normal?

cloneslad wrote: »

It's not to see how much tax you owe, it's to see how much tax you can claim back. You can get tax back cards to use in the shop for anything you pay cash for, and if you use your cash card, then you can just supply the statments from your bank for that.

I'd imagine your boss is trying to claim money back, rather than get you to pay more.

@dsane

As Cloneslad said, but I'll tell you more. The office here in my school wanted to see how much I spent with my debit card and how much I spent on medical expenses to gauge whether or not I could get tax back. Not to see if I owed more tax. There's a reward system here to get people spending to help the economy so you get some tax back if you spent over a certain amount on general purchases (e.g Tesco or even in the pub if you pay for your pint with a debit card, it all adds up).

What's freaky is, the whole financial and tax system is linked. My co-teacher went on the internet and brought up a statement on screen which said:

a. how much I spent with my debit card throughout the year
b. how much I spent in particular on medicine from pharmacies
c. and there were other categories, I think something like investments etc

Unbelievable. But brilliant. Because it's all done to see if you've spent enough to get tax back. Also, it proved that the day I took off sick and said that I had to go the doctor and pharmacy was genuine as the proof was right there on screen with the dates, cost of the medicine etc

Imagine a system like that in Ireland? It would probably cost hundreds of millions, take years to implement and be crap.

But it encourages people to spend thus creating employment.

vicecreamsundae

that is really interesting, Kraggy!

Does anyone know what the public school medical insurance covers, and how it's used? Would it cover regular OTC medicines, like painkillers and/or the pill?
And what about a woman's annual paptest for example? Anyone know if you pay upfront and then get reimbursed later or if you have a card which gives you a discounted price? Probably dumb questions but I've never really had my own medical insurance before and not sure how it works.


Inverted World, yeah I was getting calls at 1am and then again at 7am, was really annoying. On top of that I'm one of those weirdos who hates talking on the phone (not friends, but for formal/official things) so it really stressed me haha. Don't be afraid to turn down jobs -I was like that too, afraid of seeming too fussy. But I think they tend to offer the less desirable jobs first (it seemed this way for me anyway) and after being stubborn about what areas I did and didn't want to be in for a week or so, they started mentioning more suitable ones.

kraggy

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

that is really interesting, Kraggy!

Does anyone know what the public school medical insurance covers, and how it's used? Would it cover regular OTC medicines, like painkillers and/or the pill?
And what about a woman's annual paptest for example? Anyone know if you pay upfront and then get reimbursed later or if you have a card which gives you a discounted price? Probably dumb questions but I've never really had my own medical insurance before and not sure how it works.


Inverted World, yeah I was getting calls at 1am and then again at 7am, was really annoying. On top of that I'm one of those weirdos who hates talking on the phone (not friends, but for formal/official things) so it really stressed me haha. Don't be afraid to turn down jobs -I was like that too, afraid of seeming too fussy. But I think they tend to offer the less desirable jobs first (it seemed this way for me anyway) and after being stubborn about what areas I did and didn't want to be in for a week or so, they started mentioning more suitable ones.

I'm not sure about the wimmins tests, but the health insurance you pay each month covers for very basic things. e.g. if you need specialised treatment or operations, it won't cover that.

However, to give you an example of normal costs, because I had insurance, my visit to the gp cost 4 euro and the month's worth of tablets cost about 2.50.

So it's nothing compared to home.

vicecreamsundae

I went to the korean embassy in dublin today (usual story of the list of docs I was told I'd need being totally different to what I actually needed, but luckily I just brought EVERYTHING). I was told to collect it on Tuesday afternoon, which is the 21st. I'm due to begin on the 1st of March.

My recruiter had said to let them know when the embassy said I can collect my visa so they can book my flights, but I'm nervous about booking a flight before receiving my visa. what do people think, is this common enough practice? (GEPIK school, if that makes any difference)

I'm hoping they let me book a flight for the 26th or so, would really appreciate a few days of getting to know the school and having chance to look at the curriculum so I can actually plan a lesson before being thrown in front of a class. but I'm guessing that it probably suits them better the later I arrive because otherwise they'd need to put me up somewhere (if the current teacher hasn't left yet. I have no idea if she has). I guess I'll just ask if I can come early and see.

cloneslad

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

I went to the korean embassy in dublin today (usual story of the list of docs I was told I'd need being totally different to what I actually needed, but luckily I just brought EVERYTHING). I was told to collect it on Tuesday afternoon, which is the 21st. I'm due to begin on the 1st of March.

My recruiter had said to let them know when the embassy said I can collect my visa so they can book my flights, but I'm nervous about booking a flight before receiving my visa. what do people think, is this common enough practice? (GEPIK school, if that makes any difference)

I'm hoping they let me book a flight for the 26th or so, would really appreciate a few days of getting to know the school and having chance to look at the curriculum so I can actually plan a lesson before being thrown in front of a class. but I'm guessing that it probably suits them better the later I arrive because otherwise they'd need to put me up somewhere (if the current teacher hasn't left yet. I have no idea if she has). I guess I'll just ask if I can come early and see.

Get them to book a flight for a thursday, that way you'll arrive on the friday and will most likely not have to go to work, even if you do, you'll then have the weekend off to get some sleep.

Never ever book a sat/sun/mon flight, unless you definitely won't have to work during the week.

cloneslad

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

Does anyone know what the public school medical insurance covers, and how it's used? Would it cover regular OTC medicines, like painkillers and/or the pill?
And what about a woman's annual paptest for example? Anyone know if you pay upfront and then get reimbursed later or if you have a card which gives you a discounted price? Probably dumb questions but I've never really had my own medical insurance before and not sure how it works.

it covers visiting a g.p up to a percentage, for example, I went to a knee specialist, had an x-ray, got some tablets, had physio that day and then went back down to the specialist again to discuss the x-ray. This cost me 12,000won, (about 7-8 euro).

However, I had to have an MRI on the same knee, it cost me 350,000 (about 240-250euro), It wasn't covered by the insurance, but if it had have found something requiring surgery, then it would have covered a percentage of the surgery.

I was lucky though, because my boss gave me a 500,000won bonus that month when he heard I had to pay so much for the mri, so I actually made money on it. I think he was happy with me for never complaining and always being happy in work, also, I never missed any days over the injury, it was only annoying me when I was running, so I just had to stop doing that for over a year.

Anyway, as said by Kraggy, there's some stuff it covers, some stuff it doesn't. Can't imagine it covers a pap test, but then, I can't imagine they are too expensive to get done there either. Also, if it finds something, I'm sure you'd prefer to be treated at home anyway.

cloneslad

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

oh yikes, Squeaky Duck, that's awful! I'm going to stop recommending them.


I just received my visa number today, so need to contact the embassy. In the email from my recruiter was also the following:


5. Tax Redemption

Korean tax office demands that teachers (except Canadians) do not to pay the Korean income tax and to receive this benefit one must submit tax redemption from the IRS in your country. I will paste a link to the American application form 8802. It was an option in the past but at the moment Gepik requires it.

You can apply for it and have it sent to your school's address after coming to Korea because it takes a long time or you can try to obtain it before departing for Korea.

anyone know anything about this or what form I need?!
thanks!

In the public school system, you are entitled to be paid tax free for two years, however, it's important to remember that you must pay tax somewhere. If you don't pay it there, you are supposed to pay it in Ireland (as far as I know).

I've also never heard of them saying you have to 'not pay tax' in Korea. This is usually a public school thing and is optional. I would have thought the tax office in Ireland would never find out about you not paying tax, so it might be worth it, however, if you have to approach them for a form, they'll find out.

Tax in Korea is less than 2%, if I had a choice I would pay Korean tax rather than Irish tax.

dsane1

Thanks all for the replies. That has cleared things up hugely for me. Shame my director never told me about this until now coz Ive spent a lot over the past year (but in cash) and just threw away my receipts:rolleyes:

inverted_world

squeakyduck wrote: »

I used ATC from the beginning and they actually got me my job. They were fantastic. I used Patrick! I've heard good things about Clara too!

Hey squeakyduck, I spoke to Patrick today. He seems very nice, and he said he is confident that he can find me a GEPIK position in Anyang, Bucheon, or Ilsan for mid-March. He suggested that I send him my documents to speed up the process, but I don't know if I'd be comfortable with that.
I have some time to think about it, though, since I need some time to get reference letters. A public school in Anyang would be nice, though!

vicecreamsundae: what was the public school hiring process like? Did you interview with the school? Did you get to speak with another NET?

I was just wondering; if I am going for a GEPIK position with ATC, does that mean that I can't work with another public school recruiter? I am supposed to talk to someone from Korvia tonight. When I applied to ATC, I didn't even know that they dealt with public schools.

kraggy

inverted_world wrote: »

Hey squeakyduck, I spoke to Patrick today. He seems very nice, and he said he is confident that he can find me a GEPIK position in Anyang, Bucheon, or Ilsan for mid-March. He suggested that I send him my documents to speed up the process, but I don't know if I'd be comfortable with that.
I have some time to think about it, though, since I need some time to get reference letters. A public school in Anyang would be nice, though!

vicecreamsundae: what was the public school hiring process like? Did you interview with the school? Did you get to speak with another NET?

I was just wondering; if I am going for a GEPIK position with ATC, does that mean that I can't work with another public school recruiter? I am supposed to talk to someone from Korvia tonight. When I applied to ATC, I didn't even know that they dealt with public schools.

You can SPEAK to as many recruiters as you like regarding public jobs, but you can only ask ONE recruiter to formally apply on your behalf for a job or to a particular organisation such as Gepik, SMOE or Epik.

squeakyduck

inverted_world wrote: »

Hey squeakyduck, I spoke to Patrick today. He seems very nice, and he said he is confident that he can find me a GEPIK position in Anyang, Bucheon, or Ilsan for mid-March. He suggested that I send him my documents to speed up the process, but I don't know if I'd be comfortable with that.
I have some time to think about it, though, since I need some time to get reference letters. A public school in Anyang would be nice, though!

Do you have all your docs together? When I was first talking to him he got me to scan all my documents. I wasn't even comfortable sending my documents even after they had gone by SDS.

Patrick won't screw you over I promise hand on my heart! Just give it a good think over before you decide anything!

inverted_world

I have everything apart from reference letters, but they won't be difficult to get. I'll email my references and try to pick them up on Monday.
I trust him, but I don't want to risk sending my documents and then finding the perfect job elsewhere, even if he did promise to forward them! He has very positive things to say about Irish teachers, which is encouraging!

I had my first proper interviews earlier tonight. Both hogwons. One was over 20 minutes, one was less than 5. :rolleyes:

squeakyduck

inverted_world wrote: »

He has very positive things to say about Irish teachers, which is encouraging!

4 Irish teachers in my school, myself included. ATC recruited all of us! All very happy campers. I took a recommendation for ATC from this forum actually and I've never looked back!

vicecreamsundae

Thanks for all that info Cloneslad!!

Inverted World, for me the public school process was pretty simple, and was pretty similar to applying for a hagwon job. I had a short 5-10 minute interview with the school, and then got the offer. My recruiter sent me the GEPIK contract and application and I sent them everything.
I didn't get to speak to a NET. My recruiter said they always arranged this for hagwons but not public schools, but i'm not worried and i didn't find anything negative about it online.


I'm due to pick my visa up on Tuesday. My recruiters would like me to book my flight ASAP, and it would be nice to know the actual date and what my luggage allowances are. Do people think it would be safe to book my flight, or should I wait until Tuesday when I have the visa in my hand??

inverted_world

vicecreamsundae wrote: »

Thanks for all that info Cloneslad!!

Inverted World, for me the public school process was pretty simple, and was pretty similar to applying for a hagwon job. I had a short 5-10 minute interview with the school, and then got the offer. My recruiter sent me the GEPIK contract and application and I sent them everything.
I didn't get to speak to a NET. My recruiter said they always arranged this for hagwons but not public schools, but i'm not worried and i didn't find anything negative about it online.


I'm due to pick my visa up on Tuesday. My recruiters would like me to book my flight ASAP, and it would be nice to know the actual date and what my luggage allowances are. Do people think it would be safe to book my flight, or should I wait until Tuesday when I have the visa in my hand??

Great! Thank you! I was a little worried about the lack of info. One school just wants a video introduction instead of an interview!
I'm leaning towards public schools now. The hagwons I've interviewed with have looong hours. I'd probably be too exhausted to go exploring in Seoul!

I hope to fly with Emirates. They have a 30kg + 7kg allowance, which seems to be the most generous.

cloneslad

inverted_world wrote: »

Great! Thank you! I was a little worried about the lack of info. One school just wants a video introduction instead of an interview!
I'm leaning towards public schools now. The hagwons I've interviewed with have looong hours. I'd probably be too exhausted to go exploring in Seoul!

I hope to fly with Emirates. They have a 30kg + 7kg allowance, which seems to be the most generous.

You'll find some hagwons with good hours too, though as a first timer, they'll try get you to take one of the long working ones with lower pay. Remember, you'll get less money in public than in a hagwon when you're a first timer.

Also, I flew Emirates the last time I went out to Korea, well worth it. The luggage limit is great.

inverted_world

So I was just offered a job in a public elementary school in Anyang.

I did a load of research on the area over the weekend, and it seems pretty nice. And it's really close to Seoul, too!

squeakyduck

congrats!

El Neilo

Hey lads almost finished a tefl cert now and seriously looking at south korea.

Undecided between public schools and hogwons though. For first timer hogwons look better.

Are there any recruiters to avoid, heard tiger english were good but something up with their website.

SpatialPlanning

El Neilo wrote: »

Hey lads almost finished a tefl cert now and seriously looking at south korea.

Undecided between public schools and hogwons though. For first timer hogwons look better.

Are there any recruiters to avoid, heard tiger english were good but something up with their website.

Hagwons vs Public Schools

8-10 holidays vs 18 days holidays (more if you re-sign)

Potential payment difficulties vs always paid on time

You can research your school before you arrive vs could get landed anywhere

good or bad working hours vs 8.30 - 4.30 m-f

TEFL Cert useless vs TEFL Cert bumps you up a pay grade



In my opinion, public schools are a safer bet. You will be paid on time, you know your hours, job security, longer holidays. But you may have a bad co-teacher who can make your year difficult. Also, you won't find out exactly where you will be until you arrive. Luck of the draw really!

In terms of hagwons, do your research. Your holidays will be considerably shorter but your working hours might be more favourable. You can probably start off on more money. You get to question current teachers to find out the deal with the school.



A good hagwon job is probably a better bet but they are hard to find unless you either do a lot of research or else are here already to scout it out. Applying from home can be a bit of a crap shoot. Take your time when choosing and don't accept the first job you get offered.

Public schools are definitely a crap shoot. The majority of people I know are very happy in theirs and the work load is usually pretty light. I am in my second year in a public school. Co-teacher not ideal but she's OK. I have a massive work load compared to most public school teachers but my school/class sizes are much smaller.




Recruiters - I'd recommend ATC. I wouldn't waste my time with Tiger English.

Choccie Lover

Hey. Has anyone flown with Emirates recently (Seoul-Dublin)? Just wondering if I can carry on a laptop in addition to the 7kg of cabin luggage. Their website only mentions the 7kg cabin luggage allowance. Cheers.

cloneslad

Choccie Lover wrote: »

Hey. Has anyone flown with Emirates recently (Seoul-Dublin)? Just wondering if I can carry on a laptop in addition to the 7kg of cabin luggage. Their website only mentions the 7kg cabin luggage allowance. Cheers.

yeah, you can. I flew the opposite direction 2 years ago.

babyfratelli_x

Hey guys great thread. Ive been doing plenty of research but still have one or two questions and was hopin maybe that one or two of you might be able to help me?

Ive pretty much made my mind up that I want to go in September.
Is it too early yet to be gathering documents etc or should I just go ahead and do it.

Also I have pretty much decided that I want to try and get a job in Incheon. It seems to be a nice compromise between Seoul and something a bit smaller/less polluted etc. Any thoughts?

I have also pretty much decided to try and get a public school job. However can you apply directly to these? Do you have to go through recruiter or do you have to actually go through EPIK? Dont really like the idea of EPIK as you dont know where youre going and also they seem to offer slightly less than other jobs Ive seen advertised.

Also I am pretty sure that I will be going alone. Chances are (or so Ive read) that I may be the only ESL teacher in a public school. No house mates etc so am a bit worried about how to make friends? Im very social and chatty but literally wouldnt know how to go about it at all? Just turn up to random ex pat bars by myself?!

Anyway I have enough rambling done, so if anyone could shed a bit of light on any of my queries it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!