When Can I Get A Job Teaching English In Korea?
“When can I get a job teaching English in Korea?” is a common question asked by people considering leaving their home country to enjoy Korea and teach English here. Today, I’d like to explain when the best times of year to come over are and what teaching programs are suited to those times of year, as well as covering how you can start teaching right away.
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Can I Come Immediately?
Hagwons
There are several ways to get over here depending on when you want to start. If you would like to come immediately, your best bet may be the Hagwons because they accept teachers year round. This is ideal for those who already have their affairs in order in their home country, have all their documents prepared and are ready to come to Korea straight away, no questions asked.
This is because Hagwons are private academies that are looking for teachers at any given time. It’s common for them to hire anytime they’re looking to replace someone or add new members to their staff. In other words, you can find a job from January to December every year at a Hagwon.
Direct Placements
Another option you may consider if you want come over to Korea straight away and get a job quickly is looking for public school job openings that you can be directly placed in. These are similar to the jobs you get through EPIK, however you just apply for the specific teaching job you’re interested in rather than through the EPIK program.
There are openings all year round in public schools because of teachers dropping out and schools needing to find new ones, however these don’t appear as frequently as hagwon jobs. With that being said, direct placement are a common occurrence. This is especially true if you’re starting around the same time that the semester starts. You can quite easily find a job and get direct placement around these times. If you’re looking for a job in this manner, the ideal months are March and August because they are the beginning of the teaching semester.
When Can I Get A Job Teaching English In Korea If I’m applying in advance?
EPIK
If you have some time before you plan to come over and don’t necessarily want to come over immediately, you may want to consider the EPIK program. This service brings in teachers twice a year through a Spring intake and a Fall intake. Both intakes require that you apply 4-6 months in advance in order for you to get into the program.
This is a great option if you know you definitely want to come teach English in Korea in advance, but you need some time to get your stuff together. I personally applied through EPIK and it went really well for me, although it did take a lot of time and effort to go through the application process, and if I didn’t have the time, I might not have gone that route.
So, if you’re planning to teach in Korea, and want to get to get over here ASAP consider hagwon or direct placement jobs. If you have 6 – 4 months before you plan to start teaching or you want to head over in during the spring or fall intakes you should look into the EPIK program.
Alright, so that’s a breakdown of “when can I get a job teaching English in Korea?” If you have any further questions, get in touch with me through my contact page or sign up for a free 15 minute call to talk about teaching in Korea.