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Working in Korea
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If you're considering coming to South Korea (or coming back
for a 2nd or 3rd year) to teach English you've probably
already done a bit of Internet research. Here follows a concise
list with very important pointers you should keep in mind
when coming to the land of morning Calm:
1. Choose your school type - EPIK vs. Hagwons
Initially most foreigners coming to South Korea taught English in private
educational academy's called Hagwon's. These are not public schools, but privately owned
businesses found on every corner of every street in Korea. Apart from attending regular
school almost all Korean children have after school classes at a couple of different
Hagwons, one of which always include an English Hagwon. The pro's of working at a
Hagwon is small classes and flexible hours. The biggest bad of the Hagwon system is that
you are left to the mercy of your boss. Some Hagwon owners are less than desirable
employers, profit driven and sometimes even corrupt. Hagwon owners usually advertise
their open positions on ESL job forums across the Internet. Check out http://www.eslcafe.
com/jobs/korea/
English Program in Korea (EPIK) is the government run English program that recruits
foreigners with a Bachelor level qualification to teach English in Korea's public schools.
Through EPIK you will teach regular school hours at a government funded school. EPIK has
found a lot of favour with foreigners due to the safety of the system: Since you are working
in a government run setup there is little to no chance of your contract not being followed
through. A negative of the EPIK system is that you end up teaching big classes of up to 40
students. Also, without a teaching qualification or a TEFL/TESOL certificate, you would
likely get paid less than you would at a Hagwon. Check out http://www.epik.org.kr/
2. Considering whether using a recruiting agent is necessary
Agents who recruit for Korea charge a lot of money for doing one thing: Being the link
between you and your potential employer. Now there's enough
information online to find out just about everything you need to
know about the application process (check out the links page),
and if you can contact a recruiting school directly you can
probably avoid paying an agent half a months salary to take a
couple of phone calls. That being said if you want to follow the
safe route or feel completely overwhelmed at the thought of
finding your own employment, using an experienced agent with
a good track record can be a great help. Also note that official recruiters with the EPIK
program should never charge a fee to potential employers.
3. Talk to an English teacher at your potential school
This step is important and most of the horror stories you find online about teaching English
in Korea could have been avoided if this had been done. No-one will be able to give you
better insight about a potential workplace than a fellow foreign English teacher. During your
application process when you communicate with a future boss, insist to speak to the current
foreign teacher and if that's impossible, strongly consider a different school. A fellow
American/Canadian/Australian/South African who's worked in Korea for the last 11 months
will be able to give you a pretty clear and uninhibited view of the school you're considering
working for. Also check out the 'Hagwon Blacklist' to see if your school might be listed.
3. Read your contract very carefully
The wonderful thing about teaching in Korea is the great benefits which come included.
Read your contract very carefully and ensure it includes the following:
for a 2nd or 3rd year) to teach English you've probably
already done a bit of Internet research. Here follows a concise
list with very important pointers you should keep in mind
when coming to the land of morning Calm:
1. Choose your school type - EPIK vs. Hagwons
Initially most foreigners coming to South Korea taught English in private
educational academy's called Hagwon's. These are not public schools, but privately owned
businesses found on every corner of every street in Korea. Apart from attending regular
school almost all Korean children have after school classes at a couple of different
Hagwons, one of which always include an English Hagwon. The pro's of working at a
Hagwon is small classes and flexible hours. The biggest bad of the Hagwon system is that
you are left to the mercy of your boss. Some Hagwon owners are less than desirable
employers, profit driven and sometimes even corrupt. Hagwon owners usually advertise
their open positions on ESL job forums across the Internet. Check out http://www.eslcafe.
com/jobs/korea/
English Program in Korea (EPIK) is the government run English program that recruits
foreigners with a Bachelor level qualification to teach English in Korea's public schools.
Through EPIK you will teach regular school hours at a government funded school. EPIK has
found a lot of favour with foreigners due to the safety of the system: Since you are working
in a government run setup there is little to no chance of your contract not being followed
through. A negative of the EPIK system is that you end up teaching big classes of up to 40
students. Also, without a teaching qualification or a TEFL/TESOL certificate, you would
likely get paid less than you would at a Hagwon. Check out http://www.epik.org.kr/
2. Considering whether using a recruiting agent is necessary
Agents who recruit for Korea charge a lot of money for doing one thing: Being the link
between you and your potential employer. Now there's enough
information online to find out just about everything you need to
know about the application process (check out the links page),
and if you can contact a recruiting school directly you can
probably avoid paying an agent half a months salary to take a
couple of phone calls. That being said if you want to follow the
safe route or feel completely overwhelmed at the thought of
finding your own employment, using an experienced agent with
a good track record can be a great help. Also note that official recruiters with the EPIK
program should never charge a fee to potential employers.
3. Talk to an English teacher at your potential school
This step is important and most of the horror stories you find online about teaching English
in Korea could have been avoided if this had been done. No-one will be able to give you
better insight about a potential workplace than a fellow foreign English teacher. During your
application process when you communicate with a future boss, insist to speak to the current
foreign teacher and if that's impossible, strongly consider a different school. A fellow
American/Canadian/Australian/South African who's worked in Korea for the last 11 months
will be able to give you a pretty clear and uninhibited view of the school you're considering
working for. Also check out the 'Hagwon Blacklist' to see if your school might be listed.
3. Read your contract very carefully
The wonderful thing about teaching in Korea is the great benefits which come included.
Read your contract very carefully and ensure it includes the following:
- Free fully furnished housing close to your school
- Free return airplane tickets from your country of origin (this is usually prepaid with the
return ticket only paid after completion of your contract) - Medical insurance (half of which should be paid by the employer)
- A couple of days paid holiday (usually 10 excluding weekend and public holidays)
- A Salary of no less than 2 Million Won (Some schools still offer under 2 million, but
there's enough, that offer above this figure, to avoid those few)
