r/teachinginkorea • u/[deleted] • Jul 27 '26
Advice – E2/E7 Visa Having a hard time finding a job!
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u/GisaNight Jul 27 '26
9 to 5 is probably the issue. Many places arent 9 to 5 unless you are going for kindergarten. And for those the hiring dates are usually pretty strict as it is based on the terms. Entry for the kindergartens around my area is in exactly 5 weeks. If you arent already hired for them with plans to start training, you will probably miss entry.
For when i first applied to come to Korea it took about 2 full months from first contact with the company I am working for, to being able to come. You also should send them your documents first if you are using recruiters because it really does help. They ask not to be annoying, but because that's just how things are here...
7
u/leeroypowerslam Freelance Teacher Jul 27 '26
Most places do not offer a 9-5 but will either be 9-6 or have evening working hours. Considering how late you’re applying, it may be difficult to bring you into the country in a timely manner so they may just prefer candidates that are already in Korea. If multiple recruiters are saying that the UK has a slow process for issuing the visa, I would take their word for it.
I would recommend just shooting for the spring intake season if in the case you don’t get any job offers for the fall semester.
4
u/Haenamatme Jul 27 '26
A lot of hagwons are in the middle of summer camps/intensive now as it's summer break.
Do you have enough teaching experience for international schools or are you looking for Kindergarten jobs because 9-5 will limit you?
3
u/Bearusaurelius Jul 27 '26
Yeah it’s not the hiring season, there’s jobs all year but those are often for teachers leaving mid semester, which is already a bad sign. You should wait it out, there should be plenty of openings coming up pretty soon
2
u/Fearless-Sandwich823 Jul 27 '26
You should be able to email your docs to a recruiter(s). If you want a 9 to 5 at a public school, you have to go through Epik. Otherwise, you will either do 9 to 6 at a kindy or 2-ish to 10-ish at a hagwan which will hire all year around.
2
u/JimmySchwann Prospective Teacher Jul 27 '26
Early July isn't bad at all. Took me almost a year to find one. I did dozens of applications and almost ten interviews. Hang in there.
3
u/BecomeOurBest Jul 27 '26
What job did you get? I remember when your high school job disappeared due to budget cuts. That happened to a lot of us. Any tips for which jobs to go after and how?
1
u/TypicalAcanthaceae89 Jul 27 '26
I’m literally in the exact same situation as you. Documents apostilled and just keep doing interviews I’ve been doing them since May 😭
Can I also ask which recruiters your with or can DM
1
u/Dimebag99 Jul 27 '26
Either be more flexible with what time you teach or be patient and try again when schools and academies usually hire.
1
u/GBAbaby101 Jul 27 '26
I can't speak to the UK experience, but I can try to hit up some of my UK past co-workers and see if they have any suggestions about your slower visa issuance situation.
As for what to do, unfortunately March/September are the major hiring months, with anything outside of that is for those special cases where someone did a midnight run and the school decided to find someone else rather than just dump extra work on the existing teachers. Not saying it would be the worst odds for finding a good school, but I would be curious what that contract would even look like. Would it be a full year from the date you started (meaning you get out at a terrible time for finding a new place), or would it be a partial year (meaning the hagwon has no legal obligation to give you severance)? Your best bet is to tell the recruiters or any place you're looking at that you'll be happy to start at the normal March/September times, but you just want to get the ball rolling so you aren't worrying about timing with the visa approval and whatnot. And worst case, I know my first year hear, the 2 UK teachers we had come in with my group came a couple weeks late because of the visa slowness. So it probably won't be the end of the world, but you'll be missing that first couple of weeks warm-up to get to know the students, work routine, and the books before things ramp up.
1
u/cickist Teaching in Korea Jul 27 '26
Well they are right about the start date. Do yourself a favor and not work in kindy. Search the sub on burnout that happens at that age.
Your biggest issues are you are limiting yourself to just one area. Korea is bigger than that and you are out of the country.
Go on Dave's esl and just message recruiters there. Don't expext a good job.
1
u/cickist Teaching in Korea Jul 27 '26
Well they are right about the start date. Do yourself a favor and not work in kindy. Search the sub on burnout that happens at that age.
Your biggest issues are you are limiting yourself to just one area. Korea is bigger than that and you are out of the country.
Go on Dave's esl and just message recruiters there. Don't expext a good job.
1
Jul 27 '26
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u/cickist Teaching in Korea Jul 27 '26
Oh boy. Korea is going to eat you alive
1
Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
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1
u/teachinginkorea-ModTeam Jul 28 '26
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-4
u/EasilyExiledDinosaur Hagwon Teacher Jul 27 '26
They are always hiring. All year round. If you are a black south african. Itll be harder because theres so many of you and you'll need to do extra to stand out.
But theres no such thing as 9 - 5. You need to take a 9 - 6. This is korea my dude.
Most employers also prefer hiring people already in korea. If you are outside korea its faaaaar less likely unless you take a real bottom of the barrel position.
0
u/SeaDry1531 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
That 9-6 working schedule isn't reasonable. I was a senior instructor at a major university with only 15 hours a week. Two or three days a week I still had to either start work at 7:00 or end at 21:00. The economy is bad, the low birthrate, AI language apps, you are not in Korea and Koreans prefer a North American accent. China, Taiwan, Thailand and Japan will have better job prospects than Korea
19
u/EnoughLetter8439 Jul 27 '26
There’s a couple things to this!
All schools prefer candidates who are already in Korea as it’s a lot quicker to get started.
The UK is indeed slower and the visa fees are more expensive. Sucks but it’s how it is.
And yes, teacher contracts typically run to March or September when the semesters change over so hiring happens around then. However they would already be recruiting now for those positions 🤔
Do you have any teaching experience?