the process

I've realized that while this blog documents my experiences living and teaching in South Korea, I've never explained how one goes about doing something like this. So I'm going to explain that process now, using clips from Mr. Show which are loosely related to parts of the process. This will hopefully be informational to anyone considering looking into teaching ESL, and also enables me to make my blog more entertaining by using other peoples' work.

The first step is to find a recruiter. The recruiter is essentially a non-essential go-between for the potential teacher and potential employers. While it's possible to find a job without a recruiter, I've used one to find both of my jobs so far. Recruiters introduce teachers to schools, and get paid by the schools if they successfully place a teacher.



If a school shows interest in a teacher and vice versa, a phone interview is arranged. Typical questions posed to the teacher include "Why do you want to teach in South Korea?" and "When can you be here?" It's not strenuous, to say the least.



If a job offer is...offered...and accepted by the teacher, the next step is paperwork. The teacher needs to acquire a clean criminal background check which must be notarized and apostilled. Also, 2 sets of university transcripts, one's original university diploma, a health statement, and the signed contract must be mailed to the school.
After receiving the documents the school provides the teacher their visa issuance number. The teacher must then call their nearest Korean consulate and arrange an interview in order to be granted a teaching visa. The teacher then travels to his nearest consulate (for me it was in NYC) for another interview.



Once the visa is granted, the school purchases a plane ticket for the teacher. The teacher then gathers up all the nerve they can, gets on the plane, and heads on over. Within days the teacher is in the classroom and the teaching begins. There's a wide array of strategies and methods the teacher may find useful.



Then a year goes by.

Upon completion of the contract the teacher prepares to go home. The school again pays for the transportation costs, and soon the teacher is re-entering their home country.



The teacher then reunites with family, and regales them with the victorious tale of how they spent a year teaching English in South Korea.