Footprints Recruiting

To Teach or Not to Teach

Looking for a NON-TEACHING job in Korea? Most jobs in Korea for foreigners are to teach English however there are other jobs in Korea for ex-pats. In order to get a job in Korea NOT teaching English, you typically either need to be in the country or you need to get a transfer or co-op opportunity organized through your university or college. At this time Footprints Recruiting does not offer jobs in other fields. We exclusively offer jobs in Korea teaching English.

There are many international schools in South Korea, most of which are DOD - Department of Defense - schools for dependents of personnel stationed in Korea and civilians working with the army, navy, marines and airforce. We are also aware of a couple Korean children that attend these schools and a couple American kids who were not affiliated in any way with any part of the American military.

If you're American, or if you're a teacher with dependants who wants to teach in Korea you might want to look at this angle to get your kids into an international school. This is not to say that you could necessarily teach there but rather that you might be able to get your child in which would be far cheaper than a traditional international school where the tuition is pretty steep.

International schools will only accept candidates with teaching degrees and often several years experience.  If your purpose in teaching abroad it to experience culture we urge you to consider public or private schools rather than the international schools for obvious reasons.

Public schools in Korea began hiring native English speaking teachers in larger numbers in the late 90's. In 2003 the Ministry of Education sent out a directive to start an initiative to increase the level of English education in the public high schools. In turn, the high schools began looking for native English speakers to help them achieve the goal of increasing the level of proficiency in English among their students.

Today, Footprints is the single largest supplier of teachers to the public school programs in Korea- both EPIK and SMOE hire hundreds of teachers from Footprints each semester.

Many government agencies and some private companies operate research institutes. Most of these institutes hire foreigners who have degrees in humanities, economics or business administration as full-time editors. Editors proofread correspondence and research publications, write speeches, and occasionally teach. Most institutes pay quite well, and some provide housing. Because these institutes tend to be government-run or closely affiliated with powerful corporate groups, their instructors seldom experience problems in obtaining work visas.

Most large corporate groups (called "chaebol" in Korea) have their own in-house programs. The typical instructor can expect to teach more than 30 hours per week, teaching all day from early in the morning to late at night. Most are intensive residential programs where the students study for 3 to 6 months. Some employers provide full benefits including housing, but the instructor may be required to either live on campus or commute long distances from Seoul.