How I started teaching in South Korea

Most of my friends know me as the person who didn't graduate university but instead went to travel around South Korea instead... hahaha I mean, I'm living my dreams right now.

This is how I came about to going to South Korea to teach English.

If you have questions about anything in regards to the TaLK Program, Please don’t hesitate to ask me! I’m glad to lend a helping hand! :)

Application Online

I applied for the TaLK program online through their website (www.talk.go.kr) for the Fall 2017 Term. I was initially hoping to apply for the 12-month contract but unfortunately, they’re unsure whether the program will be extended next year so they changed my application to the 6-month contract.

When you first go on the page, you would need to set up an account for “My Page” and from there you would fill out your application! I started my application the moment they opened recruitment for the Fall 2017 term, and it took me a little over 2 weeks to finalize everything and submit the application. [My Page is where you see the status of the application as well!]

You would need both an application A and an application B. The application A is essentially an outline of your experiences, think resume but in an application format! The application B contained my self-medical assessment and my personal essay.

For the personal essay, they expect you to write from 700 words to 1000 words and being me… I tend to write more so my finalized essay was 919 words Oops!

I received an email from my local application office pretty fast following the submission of my application online! I submitted the application Sunday night and by Tuesday Morning, I had already received an email saying that they are reviewing my application. By Thursday, I received an email from the Vancouver consulate requesting an interview for the following Monday. The whole process was quite fast and was definitely not what I anticipated since a lot of the posts I read online were saying how the application process is rather long.

Aside from the Application A & B, you would also need to submit a lesson plan. I don’t have any background in teaching, and the thought of making up a brand new lesson plan scared me to death. However, with the help of my friend and the sample provided by TaLK, I successfully made up a lesson plan and I am pretty proud of it!

Besides these, when you go into the interview, they ask that you bring all the required documents with you. But, I didn’t have my recommendations letters (you need 2), nor my transcript so I told my interviewer that I will bring them later and they were very nice about it!

Interview Process

You would need to go through two interviews for the application to the TaLK program. The first interview is with the consulate general in your country, and the second one is with the actual Seoul TaLK office over Skype!

For the Preliminary interview with the consulate general of Vancouver, they asked me basic questions. For example, what do you know about the program? Why do you want to do the program? The best advice I can give here is “Just be yourself”! Let your own personality shine through! I was pretty nervous and did not know what to say beforehand but, during the interview, she asked me to describe my experience working with children, and that got me talking. After I told her about the experience, she actually commented that “I can see that you really do enjoy working with children”! Just remember, the program is about giving children the experience of learning English from a Native Speaker while at the same time, for you to learn more about their cultures. I focused on these two points, and I think it went smoothly! Unfortunately, I’m the type of person that doubts herself so I wasn’t really sure if she liked my interview or not.

I remember, for the most part, I mentioned a ton of experiences working with children and learning more about the culture. I also mentioned that I don’t really want to go to Seoul to experience the culture since I know people speak English there. I want to force myself to learn the language and force myself to integrate into the culture (I would hope this is the answer they often look for).

For the actual application, they actually took off the option where you are able to select your preferred placement. But, during my interview when my interviewer realized I’m applying with a friend, she asked whether or not we would like to be placed together and where we would like to be placed in (it’s not a guarantee but it’s certainly better than nothing!) - If any of you are wondering, my friend and I picked “Jeollabuk-do”.

My interviewer told me that there are several rounds of recruitment, so the earlier you apply, the better chances of your getting accepted into the program! We advised me that I should not wait until the very last round since not many positions will be available (hence decreasing the chances of being selected as a scholar). The local application office would receive all of your required documents and they would send it to Seoul, where they assess and then give you a second interview!

During the second interview with the Seoul TaLK Office, they asked me questions in regards to my ability to adapt to a rural place or live independently by myself. They asked me various questions from language barriers to cooking for myself, and to living independently by yourself. As well, I would say familiarize yourself with the benefits of being a TaLK scholar as they did ask me this during the interview! This interview lasted around 40 minutes for me, and it was a nerve wrecking experience. My interviewer was nice, but I was a nervous wreck. I would like to think of myself as a composed person on a daily basis (I have the worst sense of humor). However, during the interview, I was so nervous that I kept making unnecessary jokes. For example, he asked me to what extent would I be able to cook, and I was like I can cook to the extent that I would not starve myself [I was extremely nervous]. After the interview was finished, he informed me that I should start checking my email after the end of the month for the result as results usually come in 2-4 weeks after the final interview (even here, I was making the situation awkward: I literally said I check my email every day — sometimes multiple times a day). To be honest tho, I feel this kind of left a unique impression on the interviewer? hahaha ㅋㅋㅋ

Application Package

After the conditional acceptance email, I would have to go on to My Page and accept/decline the scholarship. It’s a conditional acceptance because TaLK do not require you to submit an apostilled criminal record check when you apply, but they require the document after you’re accepted (yay for them for thinking ahead because criminal record checks are not cheap). The email states that after I provide them with the rest of my documents, it will be turned into a full acceptance. [Update: they scanned my notarized copy of my criminal record, and sent it off to the Seoul office -> I received my full acceptance!]

Once you receive your application package (invitation letter and the actual contract), you will print them off and use them to receive your Visa… Don’t forget to bring some copies with you to Korea because I think you need to use them for your ARC registration card as well!

The visa was pretty easy to get and apply! Some parts of the application are indeed a bit confusing but following the sample they provided me, I sorted everything out and applied for it! As well, I did my Visa application and my CRC notarization in the same day! [One tip: Don’t forget to bring your passport cause I forgot ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ]

I’m done everything else?

So Once I did my application and everything else, I just needed to book my ticket. The ticket was not cheap but a good thing is that the flight allowance they give me will be more than enough to cover it! I was debating between a one-way or a return but I’m not sure if I’m going to extend or not, as well everyone is telling me to just go around Asia so I only bought a one way. I bought my ticket as they announced the date to arrive… I had a little heart attack cause I would be arriving on my bday at like 8:25 pm T.T

Oh Ya! They announced the orientation venue for us as well! I have always wanted to go to Daegu, and our orientation venue is at Daegu Haany University (Samsung Campus)!

Finally, What’s left is saying goodbyes and packing… I’ve been on a shopping spree haha! I hope this helps with your application and I wish you the best in applying! :)

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Date submitted application A + B: March 12th, 2017

Reviewing of Application: March 14th, 2017

Preliminary Interview with Local Application Office: March 20th, 2017

Second Interview with Seoul TaLK Office: May 16th, 2017

Received Results: June 1st, 2017

Arrived in Korea: August 5th, 2017