Teaching English in South Korea

[molotovwars]

I will be getting my bachelor's this May and am looking to teach English for a year or two in South Korea. I applied for the Fulbright Scholarship at the start of my senior year (to be an English Teaching Assistant), and although I got past preliminaries I was ultimately not selected. I know there is a decent demand for English teachers in South Korea and a basic google search has brought up a wide selection of websites to apply through, which work with public schools in Korea to place you in a job. I have recently fixed up my resume and tailored it to this position.

Does anyone have any information to share? Anyone here taught in South Korea or have a relative that has. If someone can help recommend which website to apply through or any advice for the process. It seems like this is the appropriate time to apply as the school year begins around September 1. I just want to make sure I find a credible program or even links to where this topic has already been discussed.

[millerjm2]

http://www.eslcafe.com/

This is the site when it comes to teaching overseas. I hear Korea is pretty demanding, however pretty much all the overseas jobs can be. I taught in China and it was an experience to say the least. From what I understand getting hired directly by a school (rather than getting hired by a company to be outsourced to a school) is the best way to go.

By the way how was Kirby?

[Cronson]

My brother teaches in Tokyo. He started out looking at Korea but then decided on Japan. If you're a gamer I say go for Tokyo. I hear you can get used Neo Geo games over there for next to nothing.

[molotovwars]

My brother teaches in Tokyo. He started out looking at Korea but then decided on Japan. If you're a gamer I say go for Tokyo. I hear you can get used Neo Geo games over there for next to nothing.

I have thought about teaching in Japan as I've studied five semesters of Japanese in college, but I've travelled to Japan before and was hoping for something new. Do you think you can ask your brother if he remembers anything he looked at for Korea?

http://www.eslcafe.com/

This is the site when it comes to teaching overseas. I hear Korea is pretty demanding, however pretty much all the overseas jobs can be. I taught in China and it was an experience to say the least. From what I understand getting hired directly by a school (rather than getting hired by a company to be outsourced to a school) is the best way to go.

By the way how was Kirby?

Yes, I recently stumbled upon eslcafe. Do you think I should just look at the job board for Korea? I quickly browsed the forum and the mentality seems to be to find the job on your own (as in there won't be any one to tell you which recruiters to use or which schools to go to). People seem to definitely have had mixed results with recruiters, but there is a lot of good advice. I will most likely be trying to call and contact the coordinators for the websites or whatever directly so my application is perhaps handled more personally and to make sure I get any information clarified. Some people have said to just go to Korea, stay in a cheap hotel and go to schools to look for jobs so you can interview in person, but that may be more geared to people who have already worked there or are familiar.

Kirby is excellent.

[millerjm2]

I do not think you should limit yourself to just Korea. Keep your options open; I got a job in Hong Kong after I left my job in China (I guess they are technically one in the same) and in addition to Hong Kong, I looked in Beijing, Korea and I believe the Philippines. Also take into account that many of those postings you may be seeing are a small percentage of who are actually teaching; don't let them scare you off.
You don't need to necessarily go to Korea to interview for a job. It may help, however you run the risk of losing a lot of money and coming away with nothing. I'm actually going to pick up a buddy of mine who is coming back from teaching in Taiwan (and who is coincidentally from Baltimore) so if you have any more questions just post them here and I'll see if he can't get around to responding to you.

[otaku]

I've heard good things about teaching in korea and would consider doing so for at least a year myself. I plan on teaching in Japan for 2 years (maybe longer if I can..) upon graduation in 3-4 years...
I still need to visit the place though hopefully for a week. Need to get a passport and some cash though first

[Droid party]

My friends old flat mate went to South Korea to teach English,he liked it so much he got married to a local and plans on never coming back.

[fingersmaloy]

I studied for awhile in Nagoya, Japan, and an American girl in my dorm was so won over by her Korean roommate (and that roommate's Korean friends) that she ended up deciding to teach English after college in Korea, not Japan. I understand she had a pretty life-changingly great experience there.

Although incidentally, she ended up moving to Japan recently.

Also one of those Korean friends was my gf for awhile. Just one of the many awesome Korean people who've touched my life. I'd say you'll probably have a good time. Especially if you can drink.

[Ack]

My brother's been to Korea and is on his second Korean girlfriend. I believe he's planning on heading over there after he graduates as well. I originally weighed the idea of doing this when I finished my bachelor's, but opted instead to get my master's degree. I have been considering it again for when I finish.

A quick note on why you might not have made it. Two of my friends recently applied to the JET program but were turned away. The reason given is that many of the teachers can choose to stay on for extra years, up to a point. Due to poor economic conditions here in the States, many teachers decided they would stay in Japan so that they would guaranteed jobs. This might be why you were unable to make the cut, so don't get discouraged and keep applying.

[Daniel Primed]

I too am interested in teaching over in Asia once I graduate. I'll be returning to my good friends and gf in Shanghai for work. I found a site recommended by my university for setting up Korean, Japanese and Chinese teaching jobs. They seem prety resonable considering that they get paid on commission by the instiutions, therefore you don't need to pay money for them to haul you overseas. If you have any luck, let me know;

http://aclipse.net/index.html