I love your blog! Hey Jen, I really like your blog. I used the info you provided and found a job teaching in Anyang, Korea. Check out my blog: http://jessicaskoreablurb.blogspot.com/
Visa Interview Hi Jenni,
It is 2:30 am, I have a phone interview with a Public School at 8am and cannot go to sleep due to a growing fear of not being prepared. In my panic, questions are popping in my head from all over the place and the one I cannot answer and am curious about (although it has nothing to do with the interview), is what usually happens at the visa interview?! Are you aware of the types of questions people are usually asked? What types of questions were you asked? I just need to be prepared :). Thanks a bunch and thanks also for all the useful information.
Liza
Allot of criminal checks are done for teaching requirements across the country. It is very necessary to get these done because it is different rules everywhere.
Korean Poly School Pohang I recently got offered a job at the Korean Poly school in Pohang has any ever taught there or know anything about it or the city?
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Hey Jen, I'm planning to go teach in Seoul (or perhaps Il-san) next year while my husband is deployed to Afghanistan. We figured it would be a great way for me to keep busy, reconnect with my culture and make some money to pay off student loans while we are apart. A couple questions for you- 1) Will it be a problem to bring my cat with me? Do they allow pets in Korean housing? 2) When should I start applying for jobs if I want to go to Korea in August when he deploys?
re:mike / marrying s. korean & degree questions Hi Mike,
A university diploma is necessary for E2 visa, however, if you marry a Korean you will be able to get a spousal visa which gives you much much greater access to well-paying private jobs, so I would go for that!
Jen
Privates, No Degrees, and Teaching Prep Hi,
I get LOTS of comments about these things so I'm just posting this for all.
Privates: They are illegal. Most recruiters know this and kind of make sure you know this as well; the jobs are advertised the same places that other jobs are on, I can't tell you the current climate but I guess from teh number of job postings highlighting that they will only take F2 or F4 visa holders that there is a certain amount of fear from recruiters about taking illegal workers. When I was last there I knew some people who worked privates and got busted; the ones who had actual legal working status in Korea with an E2 visa got a slap on the wrist and a 1,000,000 won fine; however, if you don't have legal working status you may be kicked out of the country.
No degrees: you can try to get privates without a degree, but for E2 visas you need to have a degree as part of the application process.
Teaching prep: it really depends on the particulars of thejob in question. There are tons of online teaching resource if you search for them, but you will likely need to tailor that to the needs/skills of the person or class you are teaching, so I don't think you can prepare too much before meeting them, other than to know where those resources are online. Also the English bookstores and English sections of Koren bookstores in Seoul anyway have teaching materials you can buy and most jobs have curriculums they want you to use anyhow!
Hope that is helpful.
Jen
re: visa questions Hi Ian
I don't want to steer you wrong here as I last left in 2008 and things had changed in the course of that year to make getting the visa in your home country necessary, and may have changed again since. Perhaps you should find someone on ESL Cafe to ask about it, they have a korean job forum.
Hi Ryan Sorry it took a long time since you wrote for me to respond, you may already be there in Korea now, so you may have found answers to your questions already. If not, FYI, Korean men aren't really that short, so you probably won't have problems finding pants that fit. Shopping and getting food aren't problematic, you just may stare a bit blankly the first time you go into a local grocery store trying to figure out what to buy that you know how to cook. If you are in Seoul there are E-Marts, Home Evers, Hyundai Dept Store and CostCos that can help you get more variety, in addition to the stores around Itaewon. You can find most things you need, definitely all electronics and such like that, but the things you need that you can't find are not usually obvious until you actually try looking for them, like when we started looking for newborn baby clothes. Also try the Korean Job Forum on Dave's ESL Cafe for the Buy/Sell/Trade page for anything else you need. I'm pretty sure that some pubs down in ITaewon will show American football games (Yeah Packers! -- I'm from WI ) ;-D and for playing sports there are a number of intramural kind of clubs in Seoul; just check the latest English language info magazines circulating (I can't be sure of what the names are anymore as they have been different every time we go back!)
Best of luck,
JEn
re:matthew / korean language Hi,
I'm not actually sure whether that will help or not, I suppose it depends how fluent you are. There are many jobs that look for Gyopos, assumingly for the purpose that they can speak Korean, so I suppose that if you do get some sort of qualification/certification you could apply for those jobs and let them know about your skills even though you are not Gyopo.
Bringing Family Hi Rachel,
Yes, you can apply for dependent visas to bring your family and put them on your insurance too. Will your husband be applying for a job too? The only thing is they might question the ability to provide for thewhole family on the one contract's income if the job is not very well-paid, as they might suspect that you or he will be doing privates to make up for it otherwise. But that is just a guess since I don't know many families who have gone to teach where only one of the parents was working. At any rate, our first child was born there and we have had a number of friends give birth or bring kids there so it's not a problem!
Jen
Visa questions Hey your blog is pretty informative and the tips on going to Korea before getting a job were particularly relevant to me. I was hoping you could answer a few questions I had about the visa process. What visa did you have when you first arrived in Korea? I am planning on visiting my brother who teaches in Suwon, and I was hoping to get a feel for the country before I decided to teach there. Do you think this is feasible? Would I be able to land a job once in Korea and then get the visa from a neighboring country like Japan? I plan to enter Korea without any visa at all, I'm American and I think I am allowed to be there for 90 days without a visa. I would really appreciate any advice you may have for someone in my position. Thanks a lot.
Ian
Stone houses I am interested in a traditional stone house in Turkey. Please give me some more information about these houses and if it is possible to buy one. Thank you
First off I would like to say this is a great BLOG! I am so happy to have come across this blog of yours. I envy you so much for the fact that you had the chance to teach in Korea! It has been a dream of mine to teach there. I would like to know how I can get a job without having a degree. I know you must have answered this question a million times and perhaps said it in your blog, but there's a lot of writing and for some reason, I am not getting the answer I am looking for... I know it's illegal, but I would like to give it a shot anyway, lol ! What exactly do they do to you if they found out you were working illegally? Do you know??
Can you bring children? Hi Jen,
First off, let me say that your blog is fantastic! It is very well-written and extremely informative. My name is Rachel and I am currently wrapping up my BA in Psychology. I am interested in teaching abroad, but I am married with two young sons (3 years and 1 month). Are job opportunities like this only offered to single people, or would I be allowed to bring my family along? Thanks for your time:)
will you be my bff? :)
Super helpful! thank you so much for the time and effort you put into this.
Your bolg makes it obvious your students are lucky to have you.
Your writing is as informative as it is interesting/entertaining. Thank you for the pics too.
my son grads HS next yr, and I see it as a window of opportunity to go adventuring.
If you need a pen pal in Palm Beach FL for the next yr, I volunteer.
(I have a BS in geography fm UF and a MS in Varying Exceptionalities fm NOVA SE
I spent 8 yrs as a navy pilot and 10 yrs teaching at risk students)
Thank you again. Be good to yourself.
Cheers,
Shears
Knowledge of Korean Language Hi, I've been looking for good information on teaching English in Korea, and yours is some of the best and most straightforward that I've found so far on the web. I've wanted to work in Korea, either teaching English or in some other capacity, since I was stationed there with the service from 2004 to 2005. In about a year I'm to earn a BA from a well-known university system majoring in English (minoring in Linguistics), and I've also studied the Korean language rather heavily since 2005. I was wondering if results for a Korean language test such as TOPIK or KLPT, showing at least basic communicative proficiency in Korean, are of any help to people who are seeking work in Korea -- whether they wish to teach English or do something else. P.S. -- I'm not a Gyopo, but for whatever it's worth, I've been told that I speak the language better than most Gyopos.
concerned, nervous, excited...all First off, thank you, Jen, well done, very well written and informative. It was REAL, which made a world of difference.
In late March of 2010 my girlfriend quit her job her and wanted a change, she found something in Korea teaching and being the adventurer that she is, decided to go, even though we both were sad about the whole thing.
Well, later, I am graduated and have all my things and because of the lack of finding a job here (and I miss her too much) We talked and I decided I wanted to come join her in Korea! Well, it has been a long process already but it looks as if I am going to be accepted and leave later this summer.
I have been reading about it, and learning the language, talking to a couple friends that have been there before and to my GF who is there right now (for the last 2.5 months). So I am not completely clueless of this whole thing. I had concerns and questions and etc
First, I haven't heard anything negative from my girlfriend personally, but I was told that they were going to fire a couple people, and that made me nervous because I read somewhere that some places will tend to try and fire people toward the end to avoid paying the 'fulfilled contract month payment'! Others would cut wages or place you in a dumpy apartment, etc. also, are there problems with the public and doing normal things like shopping and getting food? Just those types of concerns, I am super nervous.
A REAL question is for SARAH who wrote this:"" August 9th 2009 - Sarah: specific questions ""
I was wondering about things like appliances, what I NEED to bring, what i should leave, what i need to pack for the whole time, IE i hear deodorant and american sized clothes are key. I'm not a big guy but I'm sure to a Korean I may be kinda big...sad. haha
But another major question is "HOW AM I GOING TO WATCH MY BELOVED AMERICAN FOOTBALL! Go Packers!!!"
For the most part I can watch things online, But i hope to buy a new computer before I go, because the one I have now is getting older.
anyway, just a person concerned and kinda scared about this whole thing, I hope to leave for Korea by mid JULY this year, so SOON!
I hope I can hear ANY info from anyone that may help me and put me at ease....PS: I hope I can still play tennis, basketball, and disc golf (I talked to a few guys about it and there are some temp courses and I plan to expand the sport in Korea and maybe build some and make a club)
Anyway
THANK YOU!,
ryan
"As long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.... If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." -- Henry David Thoreau (Walden)
So I did it, escaped the conformity of the corporate ratrace while I still had my youth and sanity, to see the world with my own two eyes and embrace all its beauty and ugliness. Central America to Europe to Southeast Asia in 2005; 2006 will find me ex... full info
mary jane
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kazura.... promise... yakee...
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