Perhaps the number one thing people don’t realize before coming to Korea is that the education system is not going to be the same as in your home country. In fact, many new teachers may come to South Korea and find what they perceive to be flaws that they’d like to change.

You should come to Korea understanding that it is a different country and the way your country does things is not inherently better. And no, you are not going to convince the higher-ups to change the system to a way that you think is better!

Education is intense in South Korea and from a young age, the majority of students attend multiple schools and spend most of their time every day focusing on education.

In Korea, kids start their education at kindergarten (from ages 3-6), and around the age of 7 or 8 students start elementary school. Most students will attend at least one after-school private academy, also known as a “hagwon,” with English being the most popular subject studied. It is not unusual for some kids to attend several different hagwons every day and arrive home late into the evening!

Hagwons vs. Public Schools

Most of the English teaching jobs in South Korea are at hagwons. Hagwon is the Korean word for a private academy or institute, also known as a cram school in some countries. Teaching at a hagwon is quite different than working in the public school system, from the hiring process to the teaching environment.

Working Hours

The main difference between public and private schools is the working hours. Typically private schools run after public schools let out, so some hagwons will be open late into the evening with most teachers working from 2 P.M. - 10 P.M. You will definitely work longer than those scheduled hours and at least 30 of your weekly hours will be in-class teaching hours. At my hagwon, I typically worked 52 hours per week!

In a public school, you are guaranteed working hours of 40 hours per week, though not all of those hours are dedicated to teaching. You will spend a good amount of time doing “desk-warming”, where you are scheduled to be at school, in your classroom, without any classes to teach. Essentially, while desk-warming you are paid to do nothing. At a public school, you will rarely have to work more than your scheduled hours, which is a big benefit compared to hagwons.

Salary

Most ESL jobs in Korea will have a starting salary of around 2.1 million Won whether you’re at a public school or a hagwon.

If you are teaching at a public school the salaries usually start low, unless you have real teaching experience or qualifications (more than a TEFL), and vary slightly between provinces. You can check out the pay scale for the EPIK program here. There is also a possibility to earn a bonus if you work at multiple schools in your city.

Hagwons can have a starting salary anywhere from 2.1 to 3 million Won, with Seoul-based schools having the highest salaries. It is a bit more difficult to find the higher paying jobs if you do not have any prior teaching experience, but it is possible. Furthermore, the highest paying jobs are usually only open to applicants already in the country, so after your first year teaching in South Korea, you can snag one of those more lucrative jobs!

Hiring Process

Recruiters: It is possible to apply for public school jobs through recruiters like Korvia, which focuses on assisting people with applying for the EPIK program. However, recruiters are most often used when looking for hagwon jobs. Recruiters are usually the best option because they are free and they can expose you to many more jobs than you could find on your own. Recruitment companies like Travel and Teach are a great ways to find hagwon jobs in South Korea.

Apply Directly to Schools: In South Korea, many of the hagwons are franchises or part of large corporations. Only 15 ESL companies own more than 70% of the private education sector in Korea! Since many large companies own multiple schools throughout the country it is possible to apply directly to a school without using a recruiter.