The Korean job market is much much more expansive than I ever had imaginied. For those of you considering a tour in Korea in the near future, here is a little of what you can expect:
I put my teaching resume online and within 48 hours I had literally 39 schools/agencies pursuing me by phone and email. Another 15 or so joined the fray a day or so later, with new ones continualy popping up. At first I was completely overwhelmed by the volume of schools and was trying to scout them as best as possible. Some good schools recruit directly and leave the duty to their head foreign teacher. It's nice to get a fellow foreign teacher on the phone for some straight talk. Many schools also provide photos of the school, accomodation, surrounding city, and all the contact info for all the foreign teachers. Personally, I would not settle for anything less because there are too many schools out there willing to committ to full disclosure. The ones not taking this step I simply weeded out.
As far as salary and other things go...Pre-paid roundtrip airfare seems to be standard. Some schools offer reimbursed flights, but personally I wouldn't settle for that when there are heaps of other schools willing to pay up front. My one year of teaching in Thailand, and 2 years + of doing ESL back in the States has brought me consistent offers of 2.4-2.6 million won per month. If you have some experience, then really there is no reason to accept the offers of 2.1-2.2 million that some recruiters will try to toss at you.
Also, be sure to save about 2 months for the visa process. There are a lot of steps, including a face to face interview at a Korean Consulate which may be inconviently located.
Well these are just my initial observations. I haven't made any decisions or commitments yet, but I have been impressed with the professionalism exemplified by some of the schools thus far.
