How to Find a Summer Job Teaching in South Korea

Teaching English in Bundang (and Seoul), South Korea- Your FAQ Answered!

It is possible to find a summer job in Korea, but your search will require patience. Summer camps recruit teachers for the summer, as do SAT cram programs. Since money was my priority, I concentrated my search on SAT cram programs, which pay markedly better than summer camps. I was hunting for two to three months of work at 4.0 million won a month (equal to about $3300 U.S. in summer 2010), with airfare and apartment included.

In January 2010, I googled "summer teaching job Korea". What did I find? Not much. I found a few job postings dated 2008, and I found exactly one essay written about a summer teaching experience in Korea. I wrote the author of said essay and asked her how she locked down a temporary position. She replied with this:

"I taught for Elite Educational Institute. They did pay for my flight and housing for just the summer...They mostly hired year-long people but hired some extra help... I think there were 6-8 of us. However, be warned -- they only consider people from Ivy League and similar schools. It doesn't really matter how good of a teacher you are; they mostly care about how they can advertise you to parents. Lovely, right? Welcome to education in South Korea! =)

So, keep that in mind when you email... They'll also ask for a photo at some point in the interview process. They're looking for clean cut."

I found the Elite Academy website and emailed the branch in Bundang. Inquiring about summer positions, I attached my resume and my picture. I waited.

I got no reply.

Before I knew it, it was March 2010. Job postings began to appear on Daves ESL and, more helpfully, on the Facebook forum ESL Teachers in Korea. It was on Facebook where I found the following ad:

Elite Educational Institute is a nationally recognized academy that has been helping students achieve success since 1987. The Apgujung Elite branch in Korea is looking for enthusiastic university graduates to teach our 2010 summer SAT program. Many of the students who attend the boot camp attend international schools in Korea or attend schools in the states and are in Korea for the summer and are bright and motivated students. The academy is located in a prime location in central Seoul, Apgujung, only a few minutes away from Gangnam. This is the perfect opportunity to make money, interact with engaging students and faculty, and experience Korea and its rich culture!

Website: Eliteprep.com
Contract Period: 6/14/10 – 8/6/10
Requirements:
• BA/BS degree
• Native English speaker
• F4 or E2 visa
Experience: previous teaching experience preferred, but not required.
Location: Apgujeong, Seoul. Central Seoul (great location!)
Work Schedule: 120 hours
Pay: 3.0-4.0 million won + Overtime
Airfare: roundtrip airfare provided
Housing: provided
To apply, send an email with a copy of your resume, diploma, and a recent photo.

BAM! This was exactly what I was looking for! I emailed the ad poster, and he penciled me in for a phone interview two days later. A teacher at Elite, he was a Korean-American educated at an American university, and he sounded cool and businesslike over the phone. He asked me a few questions about my past experiences in Korea and with SAT instruction, and about how I handled problems in the classroom. The interview went well; he sent me a contract minutes later. After months of fruitless searches, I had a job!

Or did I?

For the next few weeks, I swapped emails with my soon-to-be supervisor. He asked me for a writing sample and he gave me initial directions on how to go about getting a short-term visa. In April, a month after I'd signed my contract, I received this email:

I sincerely apologize, but the Apgujung branch does not require as many teachers as originally expected. However, the Bundang and Mokdong branches do require teachers. I will forward your information to them and inform them that we already planned on hiring you as a teacher. The other aspects of the position are the same (housing, flight, etc.). Please email me if you have any questions and again, I apologize for the change.

Now I was nervous. My contract didn't feel so certain anymore. I'd been dealing with only one person throughout this process, and this person was no longer in the capacity to directly offer me a job. How could I be so sure that the other branch would contact me?

It was mid-April; summer was approaching. (As a back-up plan, I'd taken the exam for the U.S. Census 2010 job.) Korea was looking shaky, but I wasn't ready to give up the search. So I got creative, searching Craigslist, where I found an ad from New York City-based "Work Abroad with Korean-American Adventures" which offered a juicy recruitement deal: $4,500 per month for a summer of SAT teaching in Korea.

I sent in my cover letter and picture, and heard back quickly. Another interview, this time via Skype video, me on one side, blinking, and a curly-haired American in a hoody on the other side, live from his white-walled New York City apartment. I found it a little awkward, talking into my screen about my prior Korea experience, but I thought I was doing okay. "Alright, Alex," my interviewer said. "Would you mind teaching me a few SAT problems now?"

Huh? Now? I froze.

"Or I can give you a couple days to refresh your memory of the test and we can do it then."

Would it affect my chances for the job if I wanted extra time? I wasn't sure, but I opted to "teach" the SAT to my interviewer later.

Meanwhile, Elite Academy had officially withdrawn my contract: my initial go-to man notified me that neither the Bundang nor Mokdong branch needed new teachers after all.

Shit.

In between interviews with Korean-American Adventures, I skimmed Daves ESL Job Board and emailed my way towards talks with Princeton Review Korea and EPS Consulting Group. From EPS, I learned the monthly salary offered to their summer teachers was 3.0 million won a month and they offered neither housing nor airfare. The no-housing and no-airfare were deal-breakers. As for Princeton Review, I was scheduled for a 10pm American time interview with Wooyong Shim. He sounded professional in his email. When the agreed-upon time came, I waited by the phone.

Nothing. He didn't call.

"Are you in good health?" I wrote him, unsure if my snarky tone would translate to email. Even though he later wrote me to apologize for the miscommunication, I felt disrespected, a la Rodney Dangerfield. In addition, I'd read on the web that Princeton Review Korea had issues with trying to skirt away from promised salaries by offering bullshit "proctoring" hours to teachers at lower wages. When Wooyong Shim finally did call, I did not pick up the phone.

My second interview with Korean-American Adventures was a success overall, but it was a pressure cooker. I was given three SAT problems to play-act-teach over webcam, but I was not given the correct answers. I had no net. I struggled through the first one, saying, "And the answer is...can I get a time-out?" My interviewer did give me a time-out. As it turns out, I did know the right answer, but my uncertainty blurred my teaching ability. Luckily, he understood, and I made my way smoothly through the other questions.

Because KAA was a recruiting organization and not a school, I was not "hired." Instead, I was put on a roster of teachers. I was a free agent, waiting to be handpicked by a Korean school. If I were to create a video of myself teaching SAT, that would help my chances, or so I was told.

And so that's what I did.

Then I waited again.

On May 14th, finally, I was offered a job. Four days after that, a roundtrip airline ticket was purchased for me: to Korea June 7th, back to America August 14th. I'd done it. I'd landed a summer job in Korea. But it didn't happen through Korean-American Adventures. It happened through Elite Academy: a branch of the school in Yeonhui-dong. The Yeonhui-dong location had received my resume from my first supposed-to-be supervisor, the guy whom I talked to after I found that Facebook ad in March. I was signed up for two months at 4.0 million won a month, 160 working hours a month, apartment and airfare included.

Elite wasn't kidding about the 160 hours. I am working a lot this summer, and some of my classes are ACT and TOEFL, even though my contract specified only SAT. My apartment is tiny, but I have internet and a working air conditioner. The free time I have is relegated to the weekends. However, it's worth it: I sent a bunch of cash to my American bank account just last week.

In short, it can be done. You can find a job with benefits and work in South Korea for the summer. While it helps if you have prior experience, the biggest thing is persistence. Start your search in January, or March at the latest.

Good luck.

Teaching English in Bundang (and Seoul), South Korea- Your FAQ Answered!

A few of my favorite Korean memories:

Travelogue #54: What I Will (And Won't) Miss About Korea

Travelogue #45: Why A Korean Man Told Me He's "The Happiest Girl in the Whole USA!"

Travelogue #33: A Spring Night in Hongdae

Travelogue #27: The Complete Story of How I Came to Korea

Travelogue #20: Misadventures in Seoul on New Year's Eve, Part 1

Travelogue #23: The Day I Introduced Korean Kids to Fruit Loops

Travelogue #18: Korean Snowball Fights on my 23rd Birthday

• Travelogue #17: A "Routine" Day in Bundang, South Korea
• Travelogue #16: Flirtation, Painful Massages, and Language Barriers in South Korea
• Travelogue #15: Hello Korean Women's Tennis League. Can I Play?

How to Find a Summer Job Teaching in South Korea