Changing Schools- The Paperwork

As I was talking with schools I was interested in working with last year, one company gave me notice that I would need to have two documents: one for immigration, and one for the company. The one for immigration is the Letter of Release, and is required to change your visa over to a new employer. The one for the school is the Certificate of Employment, and basically just proves to the school that you aren't lying about previous work experience. I guess enough fibbing throughout the country in various fields prompted that such a form be produced by workers. It's standard for Koreans and foreigners in the country to provide it when asked. 

Now, the school I signed the contract with did not request the Certificate of Employment, but I will obtain it anyway in case I need it in the future. (They did provide me with the Proof of Employment paper needed to change my visa to the new school, though.) The forms are so similar, too, that I might as well do them both at the same time!

Let's talk about the paperwork, shall we? The appearance of these forms is not standard. The information it contains, however, is. For the most part. I searched online and found that there is a skeleton of necessary information. I will write them below. I recommend writing it in both Korean and English. As you are in Korea, the Korean is most important.

For the Letter of Release (이적 동의서):
(This can be used when breaking your contract, too, while allowing you to seek work elsewhere.)

Name (성명)
Nationality (국적)
Passport Number (여관번호)
Addresss (주소) -your address
Telephone Number (연락처) -your telephone number
** I also included my foreign registration number from my ARC and my date of birth.

At the bottom, you will need a statement similar to this:


"I hereby grant the transfer consent of the above named person as of <ENDING DATE> who has been working at <PLACE> since <STARTING DATE> as a Native English Teacher."

"위 사람은 <PLACE>에서 20__년 _월 _일(the starting date)부터 원어민 영어 보조교사로 근무하고 있는 자로 20__년 _일 _일(the ending date) 이후 이적을 동의합니다."

Then, you will need the date the form was signed, followed by the name of your workplace and its address and contact information.

At the bottom, you will need the name of your principal or manager, along with their signature and seal.
Don't forget the seal!!!

Here's a sample I made in case you are a visual person like me:

For the Certificate of Employment (재직증명서):
Name (성명)
Foreign Registration Number (외국인등록번호) -ARC number
Address (주소) -your address
Position (직위) -probably Native English Teacher (원어민 영어 보조교사)
Period of Employment (재직기간) -year / month / day - year / month / day
Use (용도)- Employment (고용)
**Again, I also included my date of birth.

Similar to above, you will need a statement giving something like this:

"This is to certify that the above mentioned person has worked for this school."
I currently have not put this into Korean, but I will update this when I have.

And then after, state the date the form was signed, followed by the name of your workplace and its address and contact information (copy and paste, baby).

Finally, again, you will need the name of your principal or manager with their signature and seal.
The seal is important. It means the document is real.

Visual aid:

And that's it! I've read that some schools ask for 400 won, as this is a form of legal work. So if you do get asked, it has happened before and that is why. Also, it's less than 40 cents. So just do it.


I did find a pretty interesting website while looking for what I needed in these forms. It's called EFL-Law. Maybe you've heard of it? It gives you advice on situations that may pop up, what you should and shouldn't see in your contract, info on visa runs, and much more. Check it out if you feel so inclined! :) I used this website as a reference for the Letter of Release form, so it's definitely handy. ...If you can navigate it.


If you have any more questions, please let me know! I can also send the sample forms via email or whatnot, if needed.

Take care xoxox

I Love Busan

I am back from my trip to Busan! Finishing up the last day in this two-day workweek, I am utterly exhausted. I feel like I shouldn't be, since I was on vacation for 5 days and only worked for two. Flip-flop of the usual. My sinuses did start to hit me the day we left, and are still here. I am just exhausted in every way. BUT. My trip was awesome. ^^

As I mentioned, we left Friday evening. It only ended up taking us 6.5 hours to get to Busan by bus!! Amazing. My friends who left Saturday morning said it took them about 9... The hostel was really nice and in a great location to commute to all of the touristy things we wanted to see. Seomyeon, the area we stayed in, has a transfer subway (where two lines meet and you can get on either). Some things we wanted to see were on one line, and some on the other. Perfect!

On Saturday we went to the Busan Aquarium. I. LOVE. IT. Seriously, I could spend an entire day there. Maybe more. I have so many pictures, and quite a few minutes of video, so I think I'm going to make a separate video for the aquarium. Unfortunately, I am having issues getting a video segment onto my computer... So it may be a bit before I actually get that one up. Anywho, the aquarium is located in Haeundae. There is also a wonderful beach there, which you can be sure we took advantage of! 

We also hit the Busan Museum of Art. It was a fairly modern/contemporary gallery, so if you do go please don't think it is a traditional museum. Those do exist, though. The artwork itself was quite powerful, a lot of the pieces dealing with relatively heavy issues. Still, captivating and well-done. 

After that, we went to a wax gallery, Madame Tussauds, located in Shinsegae (still in Haeundae)! It was totally creepy! But it was also a needed pick-me-up after the weight of the gallery. We took pictures with Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Lady GaGa, Madonna, and more... Oh, Audrey Hepburn. I have to mention her. Breakfast At Tiffany's. You know...

We then went back to the beach. The street that followed the coastline was numbered with musicians, and we sat right behind a duo. They were pretty decent, and it was fun to sing along to the songs I knew. :)

Our second day, Sunday, we caught the other line and headed toward Jongang Station, near to Gukje Markets, the Memorial for the War Dead, Busan Tower, Shanghai Street, and a foreign food street. It's a really cool area... Because we were in the tourist area, and it was our first time, there was so much to do! Although, because it was Chuseok, the city was empty. Even on Saturday in Haeundae, it was EMPTY.

After the sun set we went to Gwangali Beach and saw the Diamond Bridge! It was beautiful!! The buildings on each side were also stunningly lit. We sat around there for a while before we set off to meet up with friends in the Kyeongseong University area.

Monday we took it easy. We sat out on Haeundae beach, went to Vesta Spa (nude) where we could watch the sun set out of the windows... It was phenomenal. You could see Gwangali and Haeundae from the spa!

There was a little sauna room, too, where there was red ginger being heated, and BOY did that clear out my sinuses!

OH, it was such a lovely trip! We took the regular train on the way back, getting off right as the train entered Seoul. The entire trip from Busan to Seoul that way took about 6 hours. I would love to go back and see more of Busan! I actually wouldn't mind teaching around there... But with EPIK you cannot choose where you want to be. You can have preferences, but there is no guarantee you will be placed in that city. Also, even if I am fortunate enough to end up in Busan, I could be in the middle of nowhere and hours away from the sights I've talked about. Still, change of pace. 

I will find out next month if my school will have the budget to keep me on for another year. I hope they do, as I really like working here! But I've started to think about options in case they can't. But that's all a different topic.

I will post the videos when I get them done!

Take care everyone!!

:)

PS- if you have any questions, please post them!

For teaching in South Korea...

I wanted to post an entry about how I got a job in South Korea. (I will create another post for teaching English in other countries.) There are many different locations, and a few different programs that are responsible for them. The competitive nature for each program varies a bit, as well. Ultimately, though, it comes down to what you think would work best for you.
*This post is a little long, so feel free to use command-F, or your search function, to jump ahead to help on Teaching Certificates, Recruiters, Apostilled Diploma, or Videos

Here are the programs for public school teaching in South Korea:
 TaLK- The only program where one doesn't need to have a bachelor's degree. This program also offers 6 month contract options, instead of the 1 year contract. The program is a bit different. It can be found on the EPIK site.

 * * Please note, each of the programs below involve a one year contract. * *
EPIK- English Program in Korea. They are responsible for all locations except for the Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul and Incheon. They are still responsible for Seoul and Incheon, however. This is the least competitive of the three, but please keep in mind that the process itself still is.
- EPIK Website

SMOE- Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. EPIK handles Seoul applicants, as well. Take note that there is a different application form and set of requirements, though. This is the most competitive.
- See EPIK site

GEPIK- Gyeonggi English Program in Korea. This program is responsible soley for the Gyeonggi Province. It is slightly more competitive than EPIK because of its proximity to Seoul and Incheon. A number of those who work in Seoul commute from cities located in Gyeonggi.

Jirisan Mountain, image from TheExpeditioner.com

Benefits
There are a lot of perks to go and teach with each of these organizations. For example, you will earn 2.0 million KRW (~$2,000USD) +/month (depending on qualification), free furnished housing, and round-trip flight reimbursement. There are also entrance and exit settlements you are granted, as well.

Requirements
Sounds great, right? And it really is! But there are also requirements that need to be met for one to qualify. It may sound intimidating, but each of these programs hire twice a year so you can have as much time to get everything together and leave at a time of year that suits you.
Here are some of the requirements:
1. A Bachelor's Degree -in any major
2. Teaching Experience OR a teaching certificate (CELTA, TEFL, TESOL), min 100 hrs.
3. Valid Passport
4. Two letters of recommendation
5. A FBI Criminal Record Check -must be done within 6 months of sending in application
*this is the one item that you should make sure to plan accordingly, as obtaining it too soon and too late are both no good.

Those are the basic things to be aware of. You should most definitely go to their websites for all of the requirements (there really aren't many more, though) and explanations of each.


YIKES! 
...Here is where the help comes in.


Teaching Certificates
If you don't have any teaching experience, you need a certificate to teach in Korea as of 2012. I recommend a TEFL or TESOL. A 100-/120-Hour course will run you about $300, but it is extremely helpful (and now necessary). I decided that I wasn't going to worry about the expense, because I will make it back soon enough. I chose a 120-Hour course through TEFL Academy, although there are other programs to choose from.
With the online course, you read material from specific sections and do a corresponding assignment, which is then submitted, graded, and returned to you with feedback. The feedback is really great and they are there to help you! Which program you take may end up depending on which recruiting agency you go through, if you do.

Recruiters
I HIGHLY recommend applying with a recruiter. Especially if you are going for GEPIK. The only connections I have been able to find to GEPIK are through different recruiters. Each program has a group of recruiters that they work with. They are incredibly helpful, though, as they provide support and make it easier for you to perfect your application package. They are very hardworking and will do their very best to get you a job that suits your preferred location. You simply apply to them first, and then help is on the way!

Here is a list of a few recruiters:
Korvia Consulting- This is who I went through. They work with EPIK, SMOE, and GEPIK. They have been instrumental to my current position. How it worked was that I had an interview with one of their recruiters, after applying, who accepted me. I submitted my information to her, and she approached different schools until we found one that wanted to hire me. Because I know the caliber of their work ethic, I will most ardently recommend them first.
ATC Recruiting
WorknPlay Consulting
Footprints

There really is no wrong decision. Go to several websites, see what they're about, read their testimonials, and double check which programs they are affiliated with. Pick the one that scores the highest marks with you, and go for it. You can only work with one, though, as working with several for the same area could get you into serious trouble.

Apostilled Diploma
One of the additional requirements you'll need to send in once you're accepted at a school is an apostilled copy of your Bachelor's Diploma. *Note, copy of your diploma, not the original.
I originally sent this to Washingtong D.C. along with my FBI CRC for an apostille, but this is not correct! While they apostilled my CRC, they sent back my diploma. Your diploma needs to be apostilled by the state that issued it. BUT! Before you can get this, you need to have it notarized. This just means that it is an original copy. Let's break it down into steps.

Step 1- Make a copy of your diploma
Step 2- Bring copy of diploma along with the original to a public notary (these can be found at your local bank, but call first to make sure they're in for the day). They will imprint the copy with their notary seal, state that it is an original copy, write their name, and the date that they notarized it.
Step 3- Bring the notarized copy of your diploma, your original diploma, driver's license, and passport (to make sure all of your bases are covered) to a Secretary of State SUPER!Center. These supercenters are able to apostille documents, and are extremely efficient (with 34 people in front of me, it only took them 10-15 minutes to call my number). If by some chance you cannot drive to one of these stations, you may also submit your apostille request by mail, which will take a little longer. The apostille will be a paper attached, along with a seal. They will also put a seal over the staple. This should remind you that even when making copies of your documents, you should never ever un-staple an apostille.

I was able to do all this within an hour! And the only cost was $1 for my apostille. The notary may charge you $5, but mine didn't. I hope yours will be the same :) View SUPER!Center Locations in Michigan.


Videos
Another helpful tip is to make a video! Make several videos! Not all on the same thing, of course. An introductory video is probably something that your recruiter will ask you to make, if you go through one. This is handy because the video can be posted on youtube and shared with schools over in Korea. The video should contain a brief bit about who you are, why you want to teach in Korea, why you are a good choice, and what your teaching philosophy is. I actually wish that I had made mine a bit longer, as I left out a lot of things I would have liked schools who looked into me to know. Here is a link to my video, though, if you want a point of reference. I watched several before making mine. Some of them were awesome, and some of them were downright terrible.

Another video that I would recommend making is a short teaching video. When I was debating between working with Korvia and WorknPlay Consulting agencies, I was given the opportunity to apply for a job where I would be teaching general elementary classes, but in English. One of the requirements to apply was to have a math/science teaching demo. I decided to go with Korvia, but to record a teaching demo anyway. I think it is good, though, because since I have no formal teaching experience it allowed me to show schools that I can prepare a lesson and carry it out with fun, enthusiasm, and games, as I learned from my teaching course. Here is a link to mine. And yes, it feels really goofy asking questions and responding to "answers" when no one else is in the room. It's a bit rushed, but I believe it gets the point across.


That's long enough for this post! I dare say... Next time I will compile a more simple list with links for other countries who need ESL teachers like Japan, China, and Thailand. Location is key! And every country offers slightly different perks.

Till next time!