We all have our reasons for why we want to teach in Korea. Some of those reasons can be simply wanting to live abroad, be in a place where there is a great emphasis on education, the competitive pay the jobs offer, or wanting to live out your secret Korean drama fantasy and be swept away by two potential love interests, with the main love lead being the one who wins out in the end. I may or may not watch too many dramas. 🙂 But no matter how you arrived at your decision, pat yourself on the back because you’ve now cleared one big hurdle: making the choice to do this!
Here are some of the first things you’ll want to do to get started:
Native English Speaker
To be eligible, you need to be a native English speaking citizen from the following countries: United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. You also need to have proof of your education being taught in English from one of the seven countries listed.
Clean Background Check
When you receive your background check, it needs to be completely clean. From what I’ve read, if there is any kind of prior infraction on your background check, you will most likely get denied by immigration.
Good Health
Another thing you’ll need to be is in good mental and physical health. So that means no health issues that could be communicable or threaten public health. You will also need to be able to pass a drug test as they do administer a health exam and a drug test upon arrival (after you quarantine, because COVID).
Bachelor’s Degree
To teach in South Korea, you will need to have, at the very least, a Bachelor’s degree. There is an exception to that, with the TaLK program. With TaLK, you need a minimum of 2 years of higher education or an Associate’s degree (or its equivalent). TaLK services the rural areas of South Korea. But for all other teaching avenues, like EPIK or working with hagwons, they require Bachelor’s degrees. If you’re not through with your degree just yet (and you’re almost done with it), don’t let that hinder you. I have seen people gathering documents and starting their job search, even if they don’t have their degree in hand. You just need to make sure your degree will be done by the time you’re looking to go over.
TEFL Certification
Not all TEFL certification programs are created equal! Your TEFL certificate shows potential employers that you’ve been properly trained to teach English as a foreign language. Hop on over to my blog post about Getting my TEFL certification to read about my experience with receiving my TEFL certification.
Valid Passport
Make sure there’s more than 6 months left on your passport from the time you would apply in South Korea. I would honestly make sure that I would have at least a year left on my passport, just to be on the safe side.
🎶 🎧 🎶 now listening to: Chilled Cow—Lo-fi Hip Hop Radio
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