Finding English teachers is a very difficult business for schools. For the most part, directors and managers of schools are up to their eyeballs in dealing with all other business matters associated with operating their schools, students, marketing, educational planning, and other staff. Going through the time-consuming and often frustrating process of advertising and looking for teachers, and then dealing with the contractual and immigration processes of their employment creates a pain.
Over time, the main source of delegation to handling the search and recruitment of English teachers, has been to the growing industry of employment firms, known as recruiters. Without question, you will encounter recruiters in your travels here. There are over 60 recruitment firms that are in active operation and seeking teachers for the schools that they represent. The basics of dealing with recruiters are this. Some people love them, some people hate them. At the heart of it, they are entrusted by schools to handle their foreign teacher recruitment needs and have access to a lot more schools than a lone teacher can find on his own.
Many recruiters offer post-placement service and look in on you throughout your time in Korea. Or offer to be on hand, if there are any problems with the school or living in Korea. Some recruiters are good at this. Some, you will never hear from again after you arrive at your school. The bottom line is that they are not paid by you to find jobs, they are paid by the school to find you, sign you, and get you here, and that's it. If your recruiter goes above and beyond for you after that, that's a bonus. However, it would be wise to treat the business relationship for what is and expect the recruiter to be out of the picture after you start at the school. One of the main goals of this website is to be helpful and full of enough advice that you can handle your affairs on your own. In fact, we'd much prefer that you email us or ask questions in our forums, whenever you encounter anything that may require advice or help.
Another way that schools find teachers is through their own direct advertising. You will notice that they often advertise for themselves, in hopes of cutting out the middleman.
The job-hunt game can be frustrating, but the good thing is, as ex-recruiters and school managers, we can tell you what works and put you to the front of the pack of all the job applicants.
- To maximize your resume/photo's exposure to hiring schools, you need to play the whole field. Apply to all recruiters and schools. If you see a job ad from a recruiter who is advertising a job that doesn't really spark your interest, contact them anyway. Why? Because recruiters often have 10+ other jobs that they are also recruiting for. And new jobs often turn up every week.
- Get a good photo of yourself done. As much as your resume is important, don't forget that the majority of positions don't require prior teaching experience. Because of the volume of applications that come to schools with similar looking resumes, schools and recruiters default to intangibles such as appearance and personality.
If you feel up to this adventure, then feel free to take the plunge into our job and resume section, or continue reading further about living in Korea.
