The most common ESL teaching positions are at private language Institutes (PLI), known as hagwons. PLIs range from singular stand-alone schools to large franchises across the nation, and can vary in student numbers from a few dozen to several thousand. The goal of these hagwons is to provide extracurricular academia outside of the normal school hours in most subjects including English. Students who attend these institutes are looking to improve their education, and ultimately increase their chances of getting into top schools, both domestic and abroad.
The bulk of the ESL positions in Korea are at PLIs, and offer a standard remuneration package based on qualifications between 1.8-2.4 million KRW for up to 120 hours per month in addition to the standard benefits commonly including airfare and accommodation. Due to the abundance of PLIs across the country, both in large cities and in more exotic locations by the seas, the prospective instructor may wish to review the location and the remuneration packages to better suit his or her preferences for an ideal experience working in Korea.
Students in PLIs commonly range from Kindergarten to Adults, with most schools specializing in their clients by student age and English-skill levels. For example, one type of PLI may focus on Kindergarten to elementary students, while another may educate only middle and high school students. Therefore, the types of ESL education at PLIs can vary from simple phonics and fundamental reading and speaking, to advanced reading, writing and test-taking skills in SAT, TOEFL and TOEIC. Some schools will offer in-depth training of its programs and procedures, while others will simply require a positive attitude and a willingness to impart the best that the teacher can deliver. Prior teaching experiences or certificates in teaching English, such as TEFL or TESOL are not necessarily required, but may increase the chances for coming across as a more reliable and respectable candidate to the prospective employer.
Public Schools
Similar to private language institutes, many public elementary and secondary schools offer ESL teaching positions to the qualified teachers. These public school positions carry a slightly different working schedule, usually from 9am to 5pm less working hours and offer similar benefits from the PLIs. Some points to consider, however, are that public school positions are not as abundant as PLIs and are usually available coinciding with the beginning of the Korean school year in February, and at the end of the summer vacation in September. It is generally assumed that public school positions are more sought-after by the ‘serious’ teachers wishing to continue building on their resumes for a teaching career back home. While working experience at Korean public schools are taken into consideration by most teacher’s organizations (for example in the USA), experience at PLIs are not. For this reason, many wish to apply for public school positions. Some additional information the potential applicants may wish to consider are:
Larger class sizes (25-40) as opposed to PLIs (4-20)
Additional preparation work for classes due to underdeveloped curriculum
Small foreign teaching staff
Varying student English-skill levels in one class
Less working time than PLIs
The students may range from elementary to high school students, with the programs involving basic to advanced grammar, conversation, and the Korean version of the SAT which is a combination of basic listening and reading skills.
Universities
University positions are highly sought after by experienced ESL instructors, but do not necessarily represent the pinnacle of the Korean ESL job market. University positions rarely mean the title of professor, but are usually positions for conversation and extracurricular English courses. Instructors may be required to have split shifts and hold regular in office hours in addition to the hours needed for preparation, administration and grading of exams. This increase in roles and responsibilities is offset by less class hours, greater vacation time, and the boost to the professional resume of the individual. However, the qualifications for most university positions are quite demanding with most requiring a master’s degree in English-related major and abundant teaching experience. These positions are also quite rare and most universities conduct their own recruiting and interviews in private. Students include undergraduate and graduate students.
Companies
In recent years, more and more companies and research firms have been hiring ESL professionals to provide such services as teaching its employees and executives in-house, testing and evaluating its employees’ English skills, creating English content and publishing materials, and even managing overseas business developments. These companies seek to hire full time employees working a regular business work week, and may include a stable salary structure with benefits and vacation comparable to a similar position back home. The company will most likely seek those who can be with the company for an extended period of time, and will require top qualifications both in teaching and professional experiences.
