ellroy

Quick update if anyone's interested:

I'll be working for SMOE as of the end of this month. It's taken about 3 months from my first enquiry with Footprints to booking the plane ticket. A lengthy and bureaucratic process, which cost about £200 (+ the refundable plane fare).

As for Footprints, well, all I'll say is that I entered my relationship with them well aware that when dealing with any form of agency (be in real estate, travel, etc), it's less to do with the company itself and more to do with the individual you deal with. The first person I dealt with was excellent; prompt at responding to enquiries, polite, efficient and business-like, but unfortunately she left. The second person was a bit dozy, wrote poorly worded emails, and seemed oblivious to how far on in the process I was (e.g. he sent me the tracking number for my letter of employment 3 days after I emailed him to let him the package had arrived from Korea). Anyway, no big deal as the contract stuff had already been done before he was assigned to me, so there wasn't anything that could've gone drastically wrong. I suppose it was useful to use a recruiter as I was overseas (and in this case essential as I wanted to work for SMOE), but it really wasn't that much of a taxing process and I'm sure I'd have managed quite easily doing it myself.

So, with a sense of excitement and trepidation, I'm currently preparing myself for a year in Seoul.

phuketbound

^Congratuations! I've heard that footprints are one of the better recruitment agencies. I heard that they interviewed more people than they could hire this year. Great ready for a long week or training, some interesting stuff related to the culture and some related to teaching.

I worked for SMOE last year, and had a good experience. A lot of how good your experience is depends on the school that you are in. If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

I'm also going back to Seoul soon, and will not work for SMOE this year.

ellroy

Thanks pb!

Yeah, I've heard that the orientation week can be a bit superfluous in parts. Still, at least we get paid for it unlike EPIK. I does seem faintly ridiculous that you're not assigned a school or know where your apartment is until the end of orientation. Do you what the, ahem, thinking is behind this? I'm going with an open mind, but it was the main thing that made me think twice about going with SMOE (but then, better holidays and the guarantee of getting paid on time kind of swung it for me as a newbie in Korea).

jimbo

It's the revolving door phenomenon.

Who they need this week (and where) doesn't necessarily fill their needs next week.

Recruitment is a never-ending affair.

Not to mention this policy gives them quite a bit of decision-making power.
If location A requires a female who is easy going, and location B needs an authoritative male, then they have orientation week to suss that out.

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MisterStretch

I didn't do the orientation, even though I was an EPIK hire.

My school said it wasn't necessary so I got paid from Day 1.

ellroy

Ahh, thanks jimbo, kinda makes sense now.

Presumably you dealt directly with the school and/or have previous experience in Korea?

MisterStretch

I did a year in a hagwon in 2001. I really think it came down to the fact that I could use chopsticks, liked kimchi and could drink soju with any and all teachers and administrators.

While I signed an EPIK contract, it was for a specific school from the start.

ellroy

Ha ha! Good answer. Well, I'm okay with chopsticks (although admittedly I've never used metal ones), the small ammount of kimchi I've tried wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience, which I'm sure given time and variety I could come to enjoy, and although the consumption alcohol has yet to prove a problem, I've never tried soju. Hell, I'm sure I'll struggle on through.

Sanuk Canuk

Hope this is not too off topic but are there any opportunities in Korea as a subject teacher in an immersion program. Currently I am teaching Math(s) in a private Thai bilingual school and I am loving teaching Math(s) instead of English. If I could land a similar gig in Korea I would be off there for sure once my contract here is up. On another tack what are the class sizes in Korean public schools. Surely they are less than the 55 student sweatshops we have in Thailand but I really hate teaching conversation in large classes.

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phuketbound

^ The public school that I taught at, had approximately 38 students in each class. Other friends in public schools had around 35. I'd say depending on the size of your school, you should have between 35-40 students in a class. In most public schools, you would also have a Korean co-teacher to assist (whether they assist or not in reality is another story).

The thinking behind that mindset, is part of what Jimbo said, and also the way Koreans think. As you may soon discover, Koreans love to wait till the last minute to tell you things. Get used to it, because you can't change their way of thinking for the most part. You may be the last person to know something, and this can be frustrating as hell. Patience is indeed a virtue.

bcqcboy

There are some English 'camps' (camp = Konglish for extra-curricular learning) that have jobs for foreigners teaching science and mathematics. One such place is Paju English Village near Incheon. However, some of these camps / villages can be pretty farcical.

Lostone7

Thanks mate!! you made me laugh for about an hour


Korea= 4years 6mths .......................almost finisheeeee

But, not laughing at you! So if you come i'll get you a beer