Okay so I promised I’d write this post a long time ago and a few people
have asked me about it so here it is.
The Process!
I naively was shocked at the amount of
paperwork that was required to move to Korea. Every stage was terrifying
and every hurdle made me want to hide under the covers just incase it didn’t work out.
Moving to Korea is obviously not for everyone
but I love it here. I love everything about it and I have already made friends I’ll have for life in just 4 months. The summers
here are hot, the people are kind and lovely and although every element may not
be to your taste it is the perfect opportunity to expand your outlook and see
the world.
I am currently looking at what holiday to
book for my winter holiday when I haven’t been on my summer or autumn holiday yet. It’s a fantastic lifestyle and worth the little bit
of paper hassle.
Right so, the steps to move here.
This is going to be told from a British
perspective. I’m told it is almost
identical to most countries apart from where you need to send things to but
PLEASE go and find the relevant info from someone in your country. (This also
goes for British people, please go to a relevant source since the process can
change year to year)
Stage 1
The decision. So you’ve decided, you are ready to hit the road, pack up
your things and travel the globe. This is the most important step so
congratulations.
Stage 2
The recruiter – if there are two of you travelling and you aren’t married you might struggle to find a recruiter
but it is definitely not impossible. It’s just about timing. I signed up with Footprints and Gone2Korea to
see what both companies told me the options were.
Gone2Korea had a great reputation but they
informed me that my degree as a Computer Animator wasn’t good enough to teach abroad. This was a huge punch to the stomach
(especially since my degree involves a lot of story and dissertation writing.)
Footprints didn’t have a problem with my degree at all and scheduled an interview.
The interview was an extremely basic set of
questions over the phone and they said they were happy to move forward with me.
Two things happened at this stage. Lee, got an interview with Gone2Korea and
Footprints organized a interview with Lee but it was in the past! That’s right the interview email they sent Lee arrived
two days after the event. We tried to explain this but they never got back to
us and refused to work with Lee. This was a horrible situation and we understood
why they thought he’d messed them around but we
were now only left with Gone2Korea.
Lee had his interview with Gone2Korea and
they were in love with him. (He is very lovable) in his interview they were
already signing him up and giving him guarantees. This was the part where he
told them about me and told them that even though my degree was in animation
they should interview me. They weren’t convinced
about this but gave me an interview. The interview was intense and at 5 in the
morning but I aced it (phew) and I was allowed to move onto the next stage.
The questions in the recruiter’s interview are very basic. They are test
questions for the Korean education department’s questions.
.Why
do you want to become a teacher?
. How
will you cope with being away from your family?
.How
will your degree help you with teaching
.Why
do you want to move to Korea?
(make sure this answer is never ‘for travel and money’ )
.What
do you know about Korea?
.When
was there a time that you were in a situation involving other cultures?
The recruiter was a very nice Korean lady
in Seoul and made
me feel at ease.
The wait to hear if we were going to the
next interview was terrifying but we were told to fill in the application form
and hope against hope we were picked.
Stage 3
.Application form –
The application form took a long time. It
is quite important to not make any mistakes and hopefully your recruiter will
help you a lot with this. Ours was fantastic. Make sure you think long and hard
about what age you want to teach as well as where you would like to be placed.
Saying only ‘Seoul’ or ‘Busan’ will limit your chances greatly unless you have a
lot of teaching experience. I do know people that have been placed in both with
no experience but it is extremely rare. We were advised to try Daegu as they
were hiring the most people and we would have a chance to be near to each
other. This is the best choice we have made and it is a great city.
The lesson plan and essay portion of the
form is also very important so spend some time on it and remember this is a job
interview, no matter how boring it seems it will be worth it when you live
here. You also have to attach your passport photos here that will be the same
as the final ones you use on your form. Luckily you can just scan these forms
in and send them but make sure you really do have the photos as different ones won’t be accepted later.
Passport photos- make sure to get about 6
done as you can use them when you get here for your alien registration card and
application forms. I had to go to a ‘Snappy
snaps’ where they made them the
right size and colour background.
Stage 4 –
The Big Interview -
Once your forms have done a little back and
worth between you and the recruiter you will wait to find out if you have an
interview. This is the longest wait of your life. We waited 2 weeks and I
checked my email every two minutes.
Don’t fret too much. This is the perfect time to start researching
paperwork and researching the country you want to live in.
I found so many helpful blogs out there. So
many people have experienced this before and are here to help so never be a
stranger.
We finally got given our interview dates
and we were terrified.
Skype interviews are a weird thing to get
use to so here are some tips:
.
Practice –
put the camera on before hand, the same time as the interview if possible.
Check the lighting and sound. You can wear headphones in the interview but make
sure your microphone can be heard
.
Background – although not many interviews are held in your home it will matter
what they can see. Make sure your background is tidy and clutter free. You don’t want them distracted. It also will look a little
silly if you have a ‘I love Korea’ poster in the background but good attempt at subtle
brainwashing.
.Colours – this is a visual interview
so make sure you wear colours that don’t
clash on camera. Stripes will sometimes create weird effects on the screen. Also
make sure you are distinctive from the background.
. Appearance – Korea is very appearance conscious.
Make sure you are interview ready –
even if it’s just from the waist up. Do
your hair, wear a suit/dress and remember to smile. They are hiring you to
teach their children after all. Cover tattoos as you will be when you work
here.
. Voice
– I have friends with many
different accents here but they need to understand you. Speak slower than you
think necessary, pace your sentences and practice questions they may ask. These
people may not be English native speakers so its important to talk to them in
an appropriate way.
. Research
– I was asked in my interview
what I knew about Korea.
I had done nothing but research solidly for 2 months but I went blank. Luckily
all of the research paid off as even my stressed out mind could pin point some
facts. PREPARE PREPARE PREPARE. This will be an important conversation.
My interview was an American guy which
threw me off guard as I wasn’t in banter fluent English
speaker mode but he was lovely and made me feel at ease. Just be yourself and
remember they don’t want to hire traveling
party animals. They want teachers so even if you are traveling for one year to
save money and see Asia, don’t say that.
My questions were:
.What
do you know about Korea
.How
would you deal with a class that had different levels of English ability?
.What
is the most important element of the classroom?
.What
would you do if you had an unruly student?
.How would
you deal with a disagreement with your co-teacher?
.Why
do you want to live in Daegu?
.When
have you had to adjust to another culture?
.How
will you cope with missing you family?
.How
will your degree help you?
Some of these, as you can see, were similar
to my initial interview questions but it was intense. I am glad the guy was
friendly and nice.
There are things that Korea isn’t exactly open too so it might be a good idea to
research those:
.They isn’t very open to gay
relationships. I know many gay people here but they aren’t shouting it from the rooftops, Korea is definitely on the verge of
change but for now I’d maybe not mention it in
your interview, it’s not their business anyway.
.They don’t like tattoos. Even nice small ones are a symbol of gang culture
here to elderly people so you will need to cover them up. I have two which are visible
so I cover them with plasters. Its annoying but you get use to it.
.They don’t understand mental illness. Psychology is fast becoming a popular
degree here and this is the first year schools have had mental health officers
interview children so it is something that is changing but mentioning you went
to counseling when you were young will send alarm bells ringing. Even if its
something completely legitimate like every kid had to in your school , I just
wouldn’t mention it.
. Old health worries. I had an accident
when I was younger that put me in hospital but every form asked for the last 5
years of my health history. If its not something that is a concern now and not
in the time they are asking about, don’t
mention it. Obviously if it will effect you when you are here you should say
something but don’t bring it up if you don’t need to.
. Race – Korea
is a lot better than they have ever been. I know people of all races that they
have hired to work here but sometimes you might get a recruiter that asks you
some very awkward or embarrassing questions. Just remember that they have
nothing against you but they know you may face these questions when you arrive
so answer them as politely as you can and remember they are intrigued not
trying to hurt feelings.
.They don’t understand obesity –
being over weight is more common than it ever has been here so people are more
sensitive to it but they have no qualms with tell you that you are getting fat
or look bad today. In an interview they may mention weight. Just be prepared.
After the interview I had to wait 48 hours
to hear if I was successful. It was the greatest email I’ve ever received. My recruiter phoned me from Korea to check
in with me. Make sure you are always in touch with them. They get a lot of
people drop out at every stage so make sure you always confirm you are still
happy to carry on in the process every time you reach a new stage.
If you have already received this yes from Korea then CONGRATULATIONS!
Stage 5
The Paperwork Begins.
Once we had passed the interview we were
told to start gathering our paperwork. Never under estimate how long will it
take you to get all your paperwork together. Don’t leave anything for granted. I was almost held up from going over a
reference letter from an old college because the date was put down in the wrong
format.
What we needed:
.CRB check – we got the most basic one and it took about 2 weeks. You have to
apply online and then ring to pay. You also can get them to notarize it which
will save you time in a solicitors office but they forgot to do ours twice so
please make sure you email them to remind them and maybe even ring to make sure
they know to notarize the form since this will be free for them to do it.
Passport – Make sure you have at least a year on your passport or how ever
long you plan to stay in Korea.
You can get them here but your visa will be put in it and it’s a hassle to change it. Its also helpful to have
quite a few pages left as you may be traveling lots here.
.TEFL qualification – You will need to have this finished at least 3
months before traveling but you will need a signed letter off them to prove you
have signed up to a course. This took a just over two weeks and was rushed to
us due to the fact it was thanksgiving in America so delayed.
. 2 letters of reference – These are really important and surprisingly hard
to get right. Make sure you read and re-read the check list for them. It’s a lot to ask people, especially if you aren’t working with them anymore so make sure you start
this one as soon as possible. The letters must detail why you will be a good
teacher and why they think you will be a good candidate to move to Korea. You will
also need their personal email and phone on the letter as well as a address. It
must be on letter headed paper and it MUST have an ink signature. I had one
sent back because it was done in ball point pen and appeared not to be ink.
Just be careful with these. You want to get them right first time.
.Tattoo declaration form - If you have any tattoos you have to sign a form to promise that no one will see them while you are at work.
.
. Transcripts – this turned out to be the bane of my life but it should be a simple
step. Remember that when you will be applying to leave will be the ends of
terms for universities so apply early and call up so that you can check you are
getting what you are asked for. You need a sealed envelope with the university
seal on the opening. It should contain your transcripts for all 3 years of university
including what modules you studied and not just their grades. Mine unfortunately
arrive in an envelope without a seal so had to be sent back then I sent a
sealed envelope all the way to Korea
only to find that they had forgot to put anything in it. This cost me a lot of
extra money to re-FedEx an envelope to Korea and almost cost me my
placement. Please plan for these kinds of random problems by doing everything
ahead of schedule. Things WILL go wrong.
. Apostile –
.For your Degree – You will need to take your original degree to a solicitor who will
then photocopy it and apostile it (this means he signs and marks the copy to
prove he has seen your actual degree).
. For your CRB – once this arrives you will also need to get it apostiled. This cost
me 5pound in a London
solicitors. I walked in and didn’t
make an appointment. It was extremely simple and they knew what I needed.
This then all needs to be copied twice (my
local newsagents loved me) and fedexed with the originals to Korea. The Fed-ex
cost us about 60 pounds to arrive in a week and arrived exactly when it said it
would. You can track it the whole way and see your paperwork winging its way to
Seoul.
The cost for the process was:
.CRB
check – 30 pound
.Transcripts
– 15 pound
.
Passport photos – 8 pound
.
Signing up to a TEFL course – 120 pound
.
Copy of my degree (as I didn’t have the original) – 30 pound
.
Apostiles – 5 pound per document
.
Fed-Ex – 30 pound but double as we sent twice as many docs
.
Photocopying – 10 pound
.
So all
together it was about : 253 pounds each.
It sounds expensive but once you are here
you do make the money back very quickly.
Stage 6
Wait!
The waiting is agony. Waiting to receive
your contract is agony. . Lee and I were on pins and needles. We needed to sell
our house, car, put things in storage, inform family, save money, finish our
TEFL and so many other things but you are waiting for that piece of paper
before spending more money.
Once you pass the interview you are almost
officially sure you are going but it felt weird to do anything without a date
and contract.
We knew what we would need to do so the
second it arrived we were set to action stations. In just over 2 months we
packed up our lives, quit our jobs, sold the car, put our stuff in storage, and
finished a very hard core TEFL course and a host of other things.
The things you will still need to do are:
.Injections – a costly but necessary
process
.Visas – E2
.Visas– You will need to take you contract as proof of employment to your
nearest Korean embassy. We went to London.
The office is open very limited hours so make sure you ring and ask someone as
the website is very deceiving.
You will need to give them your passport
and 120 pounds in cash, You can leave your passport there and a week later
collect it or give them a self addressed envelope and it will be sent.
We picked it up in a snow storm but it was
so satisfying to see that visa page in our passports. I think we danced in the
street.
.Injections – You can pick and choose with some injections but we took the ‘better safe than sorry’ option. We had Typhoid from the NHS as well as Hep B. Typhoid was
limited at the time so I paid 7 pounds for a tablet as no injections were
available. Hep B is 2 injections and was free from certain NHS doctors so it’s worth ringing around.
We also had to get Hep A, Japanese B Encephalitis
and we decided to get rabies since we love animals and wanted to travel.
.Hep
A – 2 injections 90 pounds each
.Japanese
B Encephalitis – 3 injections 14 days apart 75 pounds each
.Rabies
– 2 injections 21 days apart – 90 pounds each.
It’s
an annoying amount of money but worth the piece of mind.
We used the London travel advice centre on Tottenham
Court Road. They were extremely helpful, open late and a little cheaper than
other places. (Plus we got lollies)
Stage 7
The Tickets!
This was the best stage of the process. You
will need to buy your ticket yourself but it will be reimbursed with your first
pay check. I didn’t receive mine straight away
but I reminded the admin office and it was put through. You will also get 300
000 won in your first pay to help with furniture and living costs.
We flew from Heathrow (where we saw Danny
Devito as we boarded) to Seoul Inchon with
Asiana Airlines. It was the nicest flight I’ve ever been on. The plane was half empty and the staff were
incredible. It was the easiest 10 hours I’ve ever done.
We met other teachers on the flight which
was an incredible way to make friends. In fact the guy we sat next to is still
our best friend now.
The baggage for the plane is 20KG. This
will annoy you when you arrive and realize Americans get double that but don’t worry. We had a little over 20kg but they were
ok with it. It depends how early you arrive and how full your flight is. Mark our
friend had 30KG and they did nothing about it. It made me wish I hadn’t thrown out all that stuff I really wanted to
bring but I also know someone who was charged for 1kg extra so its swings and
roundabouts.
Prepare to pay but be pleasantly surprised
if you don’t.
Also money is a lot cheaper to change once
you arrive so wait till you get to the airport for a good rate.
Stage 8 –
Sign up to Facebook.
Epik teachers seem to meet and function
through Facebook. We joined a group in orientation and discovered people had
already met up in London
and different cities before leaving. Some people had even traveled a week early
to Korea and seen Seoul. Sign up to your
intakes group and you will instantly know all the gossip and maybe even find
out what school you will be in. Sometimes your co teachers or past teachers
will go searching for you online.
Stage 9 –
Celebrate.
Say a lot of goodbyes eat a lot of home
comforts and take a lot of leaving photos. You won’t be back to these Isles for at least a year and if we are anything
to go by you may fall instantly in love and be traveling the world for a while
to come.
I hope this helps a little and I’ll be happy to answer any questions. Like I
mentioned before. This is just my take on the application process and how it
happened for me but I thought sharing my story might help any stressed out new
comers or people thinking about possibly risking it all to travel the world.
My overall advice…Do it! You only regret things you didn’t do.
I will talk a little bit about the arrival
store and mobile phones soon but I haven’t had much luck in this department but fingers crossed with some
advice you will have a smooth transition.
P.s if you are a couple you will get taken
to different locations by teachers. Meet at BANWALDANG subway station. It’s the only line where two subways meet. It’s the center of town and in the shopping mall
above the station there is a giant fountain. This will be your meeting spot for
a good few months until you work out where you are.
If you are meeting friends please make sure
to clarify BANWALDANG as there is also a train station called Daegu station.
This is on the red line and got a lot of people lost. It is not the central
station. I know many people that did this and spent a long time, without phones
trying to track each other down. Make a rough time and expect to wait a while.
Welcome back to the 90’s J
Helpful websites:
. www.gone2kore.com
.www.footprintsrecruiting.com
.www.teachaway.com
.www.teflonline.com
.
.
The trip was easy but it was a shame we didn't have enough time to explore Seoul. An early flight meant we had to get to our hotel 'toot sweet'.
Where most importantly, we could watch the BBC!!!!! We found out we had won our royal bet and the baby prince was named George so we went out to celebrate.
Celebrating involved an Aussie burger bar.. With VINEGAR for our chips
Oh vinegar how I've missed you. We also picked up some handy tips for our trip.
So we headed to bed too excited to sleep for the day ahead. Bangkok here we come.
