Teaching Jobs in Korea

Teaching Jobs in Korea FAQ

Below are some of the most common questions that we receive about teaching jobs in Korea. If you have any further questions, feel free to get in touch with us!

Do I need a TEFL certificate for all teaching jobs in Korea?

As TEFL is a pretty common certification for teaching ESL in Korea, most schools believe that you will benefit from taking a course and therefore expect applicants to have this training.  If you have not taught ESL before, the knowledge you will gain will make your time teaching in Korea so much easier and more effective.

Check out Travel and Teach’s top picks for TEFL certification courses to teach in Korea. 

Many teaching jobs in Korea require TEFL in addition to in-class teaching experience. If you are interested in a position but are not sure if you qualify because you don’t have any teaching experience, please contact us and we will let you know about your chances of landing a teaching job in Korea.

Where can I teach English in Korea? 

Unlike with the public school programs where you are able to choose your desired city to teach in but are not guaranteed placement in that city, you can choose which city you want to teach in with private schools.

As many teachers usually only know about Seoul and Busan, it’s a good idea to learn more about the various cities where you can find a teaching job in Korea. Our best advice is to be open minded about the many amazing cities outside of the most popular ones – it is there that you will get the true Korean experience.

What are the best cities to teach in Korea? 

This depends on your goals. If you want to save as much money as you can, you should choose a smaller city to teach in. In smaller cities you will also benefit by meeting more Korean people; learning some of the language; diving into the Korean culture and exploring the most unique Korean dishes.

Larger cities like Seoul, Incheon or Daegu are fun and exciting cities to live and teach in. Schools in these larger cities are much more demanding as the competition is higher. You will be working longer hours at your school, but will enjoy the craziness that comes with living in cities with populations in the millions.

What are the teaching hours like in schools in Korea? 

For schools in smaller cities, you will be teaching on average about 2 hours less per day. You will also benefit from  an easier schedule where you will start teaching in the afternoon and finish in the early evening.

Schools in larger cities like Seoul for example, will almost always have morning hours where you will teach kindergarten. You  will then have breaks and lunch and can expect your day to end around 6-7 p.m.

Note that the teaching jobs in Korea that have longer working hours will also pay a higher salary. However, these schools usually require teachers who have teaching experience or degrees in Education.

When is the best time to apply for teaching jobs in Korea?

This really depends on a few factors. The most important one being if you have the documents required for your working visa, namely your university degree. You will then also need to obtain your Apostilled criminal background check.

Go here for more information on the required documents to teach English in Korea. 

If you have these documents, then you can apply for the specific time you want to start teaching. Many people think that start dates for schools only begin in September, but the reality is that Travel and Teach has jobs available each month of the year.

Is teaching in Korea easy?

In the early 2000’s and before, it could be said that teaching in Korea was an easy-ish job. You, as an English-speaking individual, would simply share your knowledge of your mother tongue by following along with the provided curriculum from the school.

It was easier to teach English at that time because the level of English of the students in Korea in general was much lower than it is now.

These days, as the level of English has gone up, so has the required level of teaching.

Further to this, the number of schools has risen dramatically and as such, the competition between schools has also risen. Schools therefore compete with each other by aiming to provide the best qualified teachers who will teach better than their competitors.

Is teaching in Korea worth it? 

Absolutely! Not only will you make a lot of money, you will be able to travel, meet new people and live in a country and culture that is vastly different from your own.

Teaching in Korea is worth it on so many different levels, it’s hard to list all of the reasons here. From your daily interactions with your students to the random, often exciting and even bizarre experiences you will inevitably have, every day teaching in Korea is an adventure to some degree.

Life as you know it is simply not the same at all when you are living in a completely new world. So aside from the money you will make and save while teaching and living in Korea, the more important thing you get from the experience is the experience itself.

It’s a year (or more) of your life that will stay with you forever.

Not sure where to start? Get in touch with us as your first step!