If you have any questions about a specific job or life in Korea, please do not hesitate to email your questions to TeachESLKorea @ Gmail.com
The Korean government will only issue E2 work visas to people with university degrees and passports from USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, S. Africa, Great Britain, Ireland.
Earliest Start Date
The earliest you can start in Korea is 4 weeks after you have all documents in hand.
The FBI or national level criminal check normally takes 6-8 weeks, plus 1 week to be apostilled.
We do get a steady flow of jobs during the entire year even though most schools have start dates of Sept 1st and March 1st so we must plan accordingly.
Please contact your Congressman to see if they can get the FBI check expedited. (American teachers only).
**When you order your FBI check, don't forget to include a small note asking them to authenticate your FBI check, or else you won't be able to apostille it once you get it.
If you have not yet officially graduated or have not yet received your physical degree, the earliest you can start is 4 weeks after you have that important document in hand. In some cases, a formal letter of graduation (apostilled) from your university, can be accepted in place of your physical degree.
Resume
We all have a resume at this stage in the process but here are a few things to be aware of:
Contact information (phone number, Skype name, email) is current.
Your degree major is easy to find.
Keep the resume to 1 page or a bit more if it’s full of child-related items.
Highlight any experience teaching or helping children.
If you sign up for a TEFL course make sure you update your resume in your profile showing you’re enrolled and inform your TR of this important change.
Your high school education or jobs from more than 5 years ago do not need to be listed.
Resume
The picture is required for all applicants. Appearance, or at least trying to look your best is important in Korean (or Asian) culture.
Smile!!!
Dress for an interview
Face the camera
Not too far away so you can’t be seen
By yourself
Be warm and inviting
Common mistakes – pictures sent are from a night on the town, or drink in hand, topless on a beach, cropped, too far from the camera, not smiling.
**If you do not have a professional picture of yourself at the initial time of the application, please still submit so we can get the ball rolling, but email your TR your new picture as soon as you can.
Intro Video
An intro video can be a very effective way to connect with schools and catch their interest in your file. I can’t tell you the number of times a relatively generic applicant moves from a 6 to a 9 even in my mind after getting to know them a bit more through a decent intro video.
Keep in mind schools have no chance to have an in-person interview with you and they must make a decision from the other side of the world.
Many schools feel the video is a more useful screening tool than the applicant’s resume, picture and phone interview - combined. TEK tends to agree.
The video should be less than 2 minutes long.
Be enthusiastic about teaching not just being a tourist in Korea.
Smile!
Mention experience helping children
Schools want teachers who are open minded to being in a new culture for a yr as well as listening to advice or direction with respect to teaching.
Speak clearly
You don’t need fancy video or editing equipment – any digital camera will have a video recording function.
Upload the video to YouTube, Vimeo or a video sharing website and share the link with us.
Videos can be set to private so only someone who has the exact link can view it.
Passport
Must be from one of the 7 native English speaking countries – Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia, England, South Africa and Ireland.
You must have attended your last 10 years of education in one of the 7 native English-speaking countries (All of middle school, high school and university).
Must be valid for at least 6 months after you will be arriving in Korea.
If you need to renew your passport, please take a photocopy of your current passport before you send it in. Please order your new passport asap since the processing times can be varied and quite long.
University degree
Bachelor’s level or higher to qualify
Public schools (GEPIK and EPIK) now require all applicants to have a degree major in Education, English or Linguistics, or a 100 hour TEFL certificate.
Must be issued from a university in one of the 7 native English-speaking countries.
You can no longer submit your original university degree to Immigration.
You must make a photocopy of your university degree and get this copy apostilled. For Canadian teachers you must get this copy verified by the Korean Consulate near you.
Formal letters of graduation from your university that clearly state you have in fact graduated and are only waiting for your degree, which are signed, dated, on letterhead and then apostilled, are allowed in place of the degree for all teachers - ***except for Canadians, who can only get an actual copy of their degree verified, not a letter.
For American teachers do not wait to apostille the university degree and the FBI check together, since the FBI check is a federal document it must be apostilled at the Department of State in Washington, DC. The university degree can be apostilled at the Secretary of State.
**The earliest you can start in Korea is 4 weeks after you have all documents in-hand ready to send to Korea.
Many schools mail the certificates 4-8 weeks after your convocation date!
You must confirm with your university administration office the earliest date you can pick-up your degree certificate.
It normally takes about 1 week to get your university degree apostilled.
***Based on recent requirements in Korea by the Education Offices you must now have a 2nd copy of your university degree (and 2 original crc’s) apostilled.
National level criminal record check
We all have a resume at this stage in the process but here are a few things to be aware of:
Must be a perfectly clean criminal record check. Anything more than a minor traffic violation will cause your E2 visa application to be declined.
Can not be older than 6 months when it arrives at the Korean Immigration. Please consult with your TR if you’re unsure of when to order it.
Must be apostilled.
For Canadians, you are not able to apostille a document so you must have your original crc verified by the Korean Consulate near you.
American teachers
Only an FBI level crc will be accepted.
State level or 3rd party companies that may even check the FBI database will not be allowed.
The processing time for the FBI checks is usually around 6-8 weeks, plus at least 1 week to be apostilled. Remember: the earliest you can start in Korea is 4 weeks after you have all documents in hand, ready to send to Korea.
It must be apostilled at the Department of State, in Washington, DC
When you order the FBI check you must include a short note asking them to authenticate the criminal check. If not you will not be able to have it apostilled when you receive it.
Since the processing times at the Department of State can be as long as 8 weeks, we strongly suggest you use this service outlined here -
For Canadian teachers
Criminal records check must state: “The national repository of criminal records has been checked and no record has been found.”
You must have both original crc’s notarized by a lawyer and then verified by the Korean Consulate near you.
We all have a resume at this stage in the process but here are a few things to be aware of:
These are no longer required for teachers securing hogwan jobs in Korea, except for Canadians who must provide 1 set of transcripts at 2 different stages of the application process.
They must show you have officially completed your university degree.
They must show a breakdown of grades for all of your courses you took for your degree.
They must be officially sealed with a seal or ink stamp over the flap.
They must be in an official university envelope, with a logo.
They do not need to be apostilled or verified by the Korean Consulate.
TEFL, TESOL or CELTA certificate
When we first started our company we openly told applicants not to worry about these courses. They were too expensive and for most applicants, we had a pretty decent shot at getting them a job without them. The costs of the courses have now been slashed by more than 50%, and the level of the overall applicant getting a job in Korea is much higher.
*Example - As of June 5th I have 130 applicants in my active file looking for jobs starting before Sept 10th. More than 80 of them have at least TEFL or higher on their resume.
Such a course will:
Qualify you for public school jobs
Make your file more attractive to hogwans
Possibly earn you a pay increase
Help your comfort level once you’re in the classroom in Korea.
