Types of Jobs in Korea
There are 2 basic types of jobs in Korea – Public School and Private Schools. Private schools are often called hogwans. Most 1st year teachers in Korea now work for hogwans, unless you have a stellar resume (B. Ed, BA in English or Linguistics). We make sure you can email with a current teacher at any of our hogwans, so you can be comfortable it’s a reliable, enjoyable workplace.
*At this point it must be made very clear the ESL job market in Korea has changed dramatically over the past few years. With the market maturing, more teachers staying in Korea for several years, combined with a huge increase of applicants.
**Most public schools do their hiring 5 months before the start dates of Sept 1st and March 1st, so if you are not prepared well in advance this might not even be an option.
For most 1st year teachers, unless you have a degree in Education, Linguistics or Education it is most likely we will be focusing on private schools.
Private Schools
Kindy hogwans - 10am to 6pm, teaching mostly kindergarten, with some elementary school in the afternoon.
Afternoon hogwans - 1-9pm or 2-10pm, teaching mostly elementary with some middle school.
Adult hogwans - Split shift - 7-10am and again from 6-9pm, teaching adults.
Additional info: almost all schools have the same basic contract details:
[Click for more info]
- Usually more than 1 native teacher at each school
- Small class sizes of 6-12 kids
- Limited prep work because most lessons are right from a textbook
- We have worked with many of our hogwans for several years so we know they’re reliable
- 30hrs of teaching per week
- Monday to Friday
- Free furnished apartment
- Free flight to and from Korea
- 50% medical insurance
- 2 weeks of paid vacation
- Bonus of 1 month’s pay at the end of your contract.
- Pension – we find at least half of the hogwans in Korea do not participate in this program.
Public schools:
EPIK handles the public school jobs for almost all of Korea, including inside Seoul, Busan and all of the provinces – except Gyeonggi-do, which is handled by GEPIK.
All public school contracts will include: [More info]
- Only 1 native teacher per school
- You have a Korean co-teacher but you are the lead teacher
- A general curriculum is provided but the teacher must create individual lessons with lesson plans.
- 30-40 students per class.
- You see each class 1 or 2 times per week.
- 22 teaching hours per week
- 4 weeks of paid vacation
- Teacher must pay for their flight to Korea in advance and be reimbursed when they get to Korea.
- At school every day between 8:30am and 4:30pm, even if you do not have classes.
- Free, furnished apartment
- 50% medical insurance
- Pension
EPIK – [More info]
GEPIK – [More info]
- Currently hiring a few last minute teachers for April, May and June starts.
- Teach ESL Korea is the #1 recruiter for GEPIK schools in Korea!!!
- Schools tend not to plan nearly as well in advance as we might hope or expect so hiring is often done a bit last minute.
- GEPIK now prefers to hire teachers who are already in Korea (save the cost of the flight, can interview in person, and know they have exp in Korea)
- They seem to prefer females over males, and N. Americans over other applicants.
- Very little chance of placing couples within GEPIK over the last 1-2 years.
- Must have at least 100hr TEFL to qualify.
- Each GEPIK school hires their own teacher, so you interview with the specific school you might be working at.
Additional Links
Public vs Private