Teaching English in Anyang, South Korea

Question

I am looking to move to Anyang in South Korea this November to live and work there. My girlfriend lives there so I already have accommodation. I do not have TEFL course yet but plan to do it in order to gain employment as a teacher. How do I go about findig a good school? Are there teaching positions available all the time? Would November be a good time to start working?

Many thanks for your help.

Chris.

Answer 1

Anytime is a great time to start working in Korea. There are millions of jobs! However, having a 4 year degree is kind of a necessisity.  Going without a 4 year diploma can be rough.  It's not impossible.  I can be done. But you sometimes have to go poof if problems arise.  A lot of people do that.  But they're cracking down somewhat on those individuals.  There were giant scandals about fake degress last year when some prominent people were discovered to have fake ones.  Now there is a lot more checking going on.  If you got a real diploma, then there are thousands of jobs.  If not, be careful and do privates and part time jobs.  Good luck.

Answer 2

The TEFL course is going to discourage you because they insist on doing everything by rote.

English schools are the second most lucritive business in Korea (the first is love motels) so they are always looking for teachers.  To be legal you have to be from Canada, England, US, or South Africa.

Answer 3

There are many positions, it IS a good place to work and employers hire all the time.  Also, as long as you have a four-year degree, you do NOT have to have a TEFL certificate (but it certainly wouldn't hurt).

The best website to find a job is Dave's ESL (we teachers often just call it "Dave's") at www.eslcafe.com.  Click on "Korean Job Boards" and then use the search function and type in Anyang.  You should get dozens of hits.  To be on site by 11/1, I would recommend sending out resumes no later than 9/1.  

Also, Anyang is a nice area, but be aware that it's at least an hour to the foreigner's markets (for western goods like deodorant or fluoride toothpaste) in Itaewon or Songtan.  Also, Seoul has a fabulous subway system so you might keep open the possibility of jobs in neighboring areas as long as they're near a subway line.

Answer 4

I live in Anyang and am a private tutor here. However, there are loads of schools here which would probably hire you on the spot. I went to one school (I just walked in off the street) when I first arrived and they offered to hire me immediately, however I'm now working with my husband so didn't take up the offer. Goodluck xx