South Korea has become a popular spot for millennials seeking adventure in far away lands- moving to Asia and teaching English is now very common. Finding a job teaching English in South Korea can be very lucrative, and requires little in the way of credentials or experience.
If you’re teaching English in Korea, how is the salary?
The pay is decent and the cost of living is VERY low. How low? So low.
Your employer will typically pay you in the range of 2.1-2.5 million won a month, and will cover such expenses as airfare to and from Korea, as well as your housing. At the end of your contract you’ll probably even receive a severance bonus equal to an entire month’s pay! This is why many English teachers are able to save money, pay off debts, AND travel and it makes moving to Asia and teaching English a key prospect.
How to find work teaching English in South Korea
The easiest way to get a job is to surf the Korea Job Board on Dave’s ESL Cafe (eslcafe.com). There are lots of jobs listed, including jobs for couples looking to get hired together. Believe it or not, lots of schools would love to hire a couple because they can save money on housing that way.
Lots of folks get hired through a recruiter, but we found that recruiters don’t really care about helping you get a job as much as they care about collecting their fee from your school once you’re hired. More on that later.
Getting your documents in order is easily the most difficult part of the process. It depends on your country of origin, so you’ll have to check with the South Korean Consulate in your country for details. As an American, I had to produce multiple apostiled copies of my university diploma, transcripts, and FBI background check.
How the hiring process works
The background check alone takes a few weeks to process and required a trip to the local police station for fingerprinting. These requirements change frequently, so be sure to check online for the actual requirements. Here’s where the recruiters come into play.
Most recruiters won’t even talk to you until you’ve gotten all of these documents in hand, that’s when they’ll start looking to place you into a school. I highly recommend finding tefl jobs in Asia on your own, that way you’ll have more control over where you’ll end up.
Next you’ll just need to pack your bags! Before we left the country, we binge-watched most of the old videos on eatyourkimchi.com. These guys have become internet sensations, but if you end up falling in love with them, like we did, it’ll be fun to go back and check out their old stuff. They cover so many topics on life in Korea, including what to pack in your suitcase, and what to leave out and help you understand what living in korea as a foreigner is like.
How do you go about teaching English in Korea without a degree?
Basically, legally, no – you can’t because your visa and work position is only for people with a full four year bachelor’s degree. It does happen, because people turn up on other visas and quickly fall into work. But it’s not legal, so we can’t recommend it!
What is it like living in Korea for foreigners?
Transitioning to life as an English teacher in Korea may not be easy. There will definitely be days when you long for the comfort and simplicity of home. Some days you’ll love your students, other days you’ll swear they were spawned from one of Voldemort’s leftover horcruxes. Your boss won’t always be as nice as they seemed at first, and you’re bound to have some communication struggles.
One of the best parts will be making long lasting friends with other foreigners living in Korea who share your interests. Remember, these people also left their homes in search of adventure and took on the challenge of moving to Korea. The key to a successful year is to keep a positive outlook, enjoy the unique experience, and realize that the whole trip is a waste if you spend the entire time bitching about this or that.
Post and all photos are by the fabulous bloggers at Localnomads.com
Check them out on social media Facebook,Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, you won’t want to miss their adventures!
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Wonderful post and some good tips in there for those who want to give it a go! It must be such a rewarding experience!
Some great tips! Good to know about the recruiters. Thanks!
Great tips for living local in this amazing country! I have a lot of friends who’ve taught in S. Korea and they’ve all loved it.
eatyourkimchi.com – that’s hilarious. I had a nice visit there 8 years ago and my best friend taught English there for 5 years (like the David Bowie song!).
I think this is what I’m gonna do when I retire.
Great post thank you for the tips. I’m thinking of doing this one day so this was really helpful for me, especially the info about recruiters, hadn’t even considered that .
We’ve just returned from Korea and our biggest challenge was figuring out what we were eating! That and communication but it was great fun.
I loved EatYourKimchi!!!! Such a great vlogging couple! Great tip about David’s ESL cafe but I think its important to mention other teaching avenues such as EPIKa as David’s ESL cafe is predominantly hagwon, which is a work environment that doesn’t suit the majority.