KorVia: Recruitment
First and foremost, you do NOT need a recruitment agency. There are many people that apply directly to EPIK, GEPIK or Hagwons. I chose to go with a recruiting company because tend to worry over everything and wanted someone to hold my hand through the process. In fact, Fall 2013, EPIK went through the direct applicants application (Sept 22nd) before KorVia told me EPIK was accepting applications (Oct 7th). This could be that there are different dates for the recruiting and non-recruited. Not sure.
You should know that KorVia only deals with the public school system so if you want to work for a hagwon (private tutoring business) then this entire site won't help you at all. If you don't know the difference between a hagwon and public school or if you don't know which you would like to work for, checkout Eat Your Kimchi.
I choose to go the public school route because of the regular hours and the job security that comes along with it. I also like the idea that I am going to get paid regularly and am less likely to have a terrible boss (I may have watched one too many K-dramas). If you decide to go public, check out KorVia.
KorVia is the recruiting company that I decided to go with to help my application and transition to a new country. There are a number of different companies that I could have gone with but I chose KorVia after some research. All of the companies I came across had both positive and negative reviews but I think that comes with that line of work. The people that are rejected from the companies are more likely to be vocal whereas the positive reviewers are off doing their work or have their testimonials on the recruiting sites. Keep that in mind and don't be scared off by negative reviews; just take them with a grain of salt.
I came across KorVia from Youtubers, Simon and Martina from EatYourKimchi. I liked the company because they have (occasional) parties inviting their recruits which would give me a chance to meet other people that are out of their comfort zone. I didn't find any other company that really took care of their recruits after getting them into Korea. Now, KorVia is a company that is based in Korea so all the communication has been through email or Skype. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to face to face but I think getting all the paperwork done isn't too hard with the guidance by electronic means.
You should know that KorVia only deals with the public school system so if you want to work for a hagwon (private tutoring business) then this entire site won't help you at all. If you don't know the difference between a hagwon and public school or if you don't know which you would like to work for, checkout Eat Your Kimchi.
I choose to go the public school route because of the regular hours and the job security that comes along with it. I also like the idea that I am going to get paid regularly and am less likely to have a terrible boss (I may have watched one too many K-dramas). If you decide to go public, check out KorVia.
KorVia is the recruiting company that I decided to go with to help my application and transition to a new country. There are a number of different companies that I could have gone with but I chose KorVia after some research. All of the companies I came across had both positive and negative reviews but I think that comes with that line of work. The people that are rejected from the companies are more likely to be vocal whereas the positive reviewers are off doing their work or have their testimonials on the recruiting sites. Keep that in mind and don't be scared off by negative reviews; just take them with a grain of salt.
I came across KorVia from Youtubers, Simon and Martina from EatYourKimchi. I liked the company because they have (occasional) parties inviting their recruits which would give me a chance to meet other people that are out of their comfort zone. I didn't find any other company that really took care of their recruits after getting them into Korea. Now, KorVia is a company that is based in Korea so all the communication has been through email or Skype. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to face to face but I think getting all the paperwork done isn't too hard with the guidance by electronic means.
I would recommend getting everything done as soon as you know you want to commit to this. Of course, I knew this before but I hesitated a little. I started my TEFL online course before I applied for Korvia, thinking they wouldn't accept me before I had most of it done. Wrong.
KorVia’s application site is very straightforward. The only anomaly I found was the TESOL/TEFL certification. I sent an email asking and got a response very quickly stating that yes I would need it. All foreign English teachers are required to have either a degree in Education/English or have TESOL/TEFL.
If you are going through KorVia, make sure to read through the site. There is good information and will help you anticipate what is to come. I submitted my online application (August 10th) and was quickly assigned to Jay Sin, my recruiter (Aug 12th). We arranged for an interview over Skype and made sure both of us would be able to make the time (August 15th, 10 am KST).
There was a bit of delay since Jay wanted to take a lunch break at our scheduled time so it started 30 minutes later. It was a slight inconvenience but it gave me time to eat a bit of dinner since I had just came home from work.
I threw on a blazer since it was over Skype and I wasn’t sure how formal I should be. All the questions were standard and Jay was very friendly. I remember not understanding a question and asked her to reword it and she explained it a little more for me.
Questions included:
I was accepted during the interview and was given information about the choices I had: EPIK or GEPIK. We decided I would try for EPIK and use GEPIK (which has a later start date for applications) as a back up. She answered some questions and sent me an email with lots of information.
For the interview, read up on Korea, smile lots and read over the questions above and think about your answer. Always remember to frame it in a way the interviewer would want to hear. It may seem obvious but I have been on the other side of the table and when asking "What is your greatest weakness?" I don't want to hear, "I tend to procrastinate alot."
From this point on it was all about the application for EPIK and getting documents ready. You want to be able to send your documents off the day you get accepted if possible. First come first serve so get on those documents. I am super grateful for the time that Jay put into reviewing my application, personal essay and lesson plan. She also gave me tips for the interview, sent me a new application form when EPIK changed it last minute and was on my case about getting the documents ready, which I needed.
KorVia’s application site is very straightforward. The only anomaly I found was the TESOL/TEFL certification. I sent an email asking and got a response very quickly stating that yes I would need it. All foreign English teachers are required to have either a degree in Education/English or have TESOL/TEFL.
If you are going through KorVia, make sure to read through the site. There is good information and will help you anticipate what is to come. I submitted my online application (August 10th) and was quickly assigned to Jay Sin, my recruiter (Aug 12th). We arranged for an interview over Skype and made sure both of us would be able to make the time (August 15th, 10 am KST).
There was a bit of delay since Jay wanted to take a lunch break at our scheduled time so it started 30 minutes later. It was a slight inconvenience but it gave me time to eat a bit of dinner since I had just came home from work.
I threw on a blazer since it was over Skype and I wasn’t sure how formal I should be. All the questions were standard and Jay was very friendly. I remember not understanding a question and asked her to reword it and she explained it a little more for me.
Questions included:
- Why do you want to teach English?
- Why do you want to teach in Korea?
- Medical questions (Standard in Korea)
- How does your degree apply to teaching?
- How would you adapt to Korean culture and life?
- What is your teaching philosophy?
- When would you want to start?
- Are you ready to commit to a year?
I was accepted during the interview and was given information about the choices I had: EPIK or GEPIK. We decided I would try for EPIK and use GEPIK (which has a later start date for applications) as a back up. She answered some questions and sent me an email with lots of information.
For the interview, read up on Korea, smile lots and read over the questions above and think about your answer. Always remember to frame it in a way the interviewer would want to hear. It may seem obvious but I have been on the other side of the table and when asking "What is your greatest weakness?" I don't want to hear, "I tend to procrastinate alot."
From this point on it was all about the application for EPIK and getting documents ready. You want to be able to send your documents off the day you get accepted if possible. First come first serve so get on those documents. I am super grateful for the time that Jay put into reviewing my application, personal essay and lesson plan. She also gave me tips for the interview, sent me a new application form when EPIK changed it last minute and was on my case about getting the documents ready, which I needed.