You ladies are my lifesavers! I love seeing current videos like this from my fellow Americans while I'm going through this process! Thank goodness I get my diploma the day I graduate! That will save me a ton of stress! :) Still waiting for that interview though...
Hey ladies! Your channel has been a great help to me. I am looking into applying for EPIK 2018 and am in the beginning stages of gathering my documents to send. I wanted to ask about transcripts. What is the process with that? Would you explain how that works? Sorry to bug you. Thanks!
You aren't bugging us! haha Its no problem! So with transcripts it just depends on if you have already graduated university or not. So if you have already graduated then you just request for a copy of sealed official transcripts from your university (you may have to pay for this it just depends on your uni) but make sure they are sealed and you don't open them And that's it! You just send the sealed envelope with your other documents. If you will be applying and you have a few more months until you graduate, then EPIK allows you to initially send a letter from your university with your current gpa/statement that you are on track to graduate before you come to Korea. I had to do this because I applied in February but I didn't graduate until May, so I talked to my EPIK coordinator (if you pass the interview you will be assigned a person that you can email and ask questions to) and sent the letter of expected graduation with my documents so I could get everything submitted quickly. THEN when you do graduate you will have to quickly send the sealed official/complete transcripts and your apostilled copy of your diploma. Hope that helps!
Oh okay thanks so much! Finally I was able to get into the EPIK site so many browsers were not letting me. I just have one last question, about resumes. Did you guys have both resumes (English & Korean) or just English resume? I heard from others that you need both, but I don't know how to make a Korean resume! It looks so hard
We didn't need any type of resume for EPIK, but if you apply to a recruiter or a hagwon you may need a resume. I assume it would just be an english resume though. But if you plan on just applying to EPIK directly you just need to fill in their application they provide on their website. :)
Hi, I want to apply to EPIK for their fall program asap (like March) so I can get my ideal location. The only problem is the diploma requirement you both mentioned. If I'm graduating in April and won't get my diploma until May, should I just wait until I have my diploma before applying?
First of all, thank you for all of your videos. It's been very helpful. My question is, Do I need a college diploma or is TEFL certificate sufficient enough?
Hi Thomas! If you are determined to go through EPIK then a college diploma is required as well as a TEFL certificate. If you just want to come teach english in Korea then it wouldn't be impossible to find a position based on just the TEFL, you would just have to read the hagwon's specific recruiting requirements.
EPIK doesn't give any of your documents back, so you will want to order a replacement diploma from your school (otherwise you won't have a physical diploma anymore). Once you begin to send your documents to Korea, you can email your coordinator and explain the mishap (and that you understand that they won't send you your actual diploma back), and I doubt they will mind. Have you had your interview already?
Hey Ladies. You guys are extremely informative and I appreciate that. One question that I have is that I am graduating in December and it takes a while for you to get the diploma. Do you think that would be an issue since you have to submit everything in January ?
Yes since you have to get it apostilled this is can take a while, so maybe explain the situation and ask your school if its possible to expedite your diploma. If its not possible, we know some people who had to wait until the next application period because their diploma took so long :/
Hello!! So I wanna get the process right here - I have my degree. Then I get a copy of my degree. Then I get that notarized (by my school). Then I get that notarized copy apostilled (by the government people). Then I actually SEND that copy to EPIK, or I photocopy it first?? Thank you!!
You do all that and send it to EPIK (not another copy of it). The apostille will get stapled to your notarized diploma copy and if you take the staple out it isn't valid anymore so you just send what you get back from the government people to EPIK..hope that makes sense haha its complicated
If you are an American: First you have to get the copy (make sure it is just a copy!! of your diploma) notarized in the city where you received your diploma (so wherever you university is located take a copy and your original diploma to a notary and they will notarize the copy), then you have to mail that notarized copy to your state's Secretary of State and they attach the apostille document to it and mail it back to you. If you aren't American then I'm not sure of the procedures of the other countries, but we can look it up for you :)
When applying does your High School education matter at all or is it just your College education? Like say I have a GED instead of a real High School diploma, would I be inapplicable?
Hello Breanna, I just went through the application process myself and worked with a recruiter (I recommend going through one, but you don't need it), where I had a bunch of questions (similar to this one) and they didn't mention anything about not using a GED. But, to make sure I would recommend reaching out to a recruiter/do more digging on the EPIK (for public school) website. They have all the recruiter info listed under "How to Apply" on the EPIK website (www.epik.go.kr). This could be different if you're trying to teach private schools in Korea (they are called Hagwons). As for as the EPIK application process, they mainly focus on the college education - where you need a Bachelor's degree or equivalent from an accredited college or university. You need to enter in what degree you obtained, how many years you were there, what major, your GPA (if you have it), and when was your graduation date (or future graduation date). The high school portion of the application is not that detailed (state info and how many years at school). Also, you only need your college degrees notarized & apostilled (I personally asked the recruiter and she said 'no' on the high school stuff being notarized & apostilled - soooo thats good news). I'm sure other people and HelloChingus can offer more advice. But, I hope this helps! It's a pain of a process to go through, but it will be worth it LOL. Good luck and I hope you make it to South Korea!!!!
I'm not sure if EPIK has an official age limit, but we met a girl at orientation who was only 20. If you fulfill all of the requirements, you should be able to apply!
Hi! So according to their guidelines, in order to be eligible "EPIK teachers must be citizens of one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, or South Africa. Must have studied from at least the junior high level (7th Grade) and graduated from a university in one of the seven designated countries listed above." So you'd need the citizenship and proof that you went to school in that country to get a job with EPIK. If that's not possible, then you could always try hagwons!
Thank you so much for your videos!! They've been very helpful. I have a question about Busan.. do you think it would be enough to have a teaching bachelors with student teaching experience? or would I need to get a TEFL to be placed there?
Thanks for watching! I'm glad they've been helpful so far! If you have a bachelors in education with teaching experience then you should be able to be placed in Busan without a TEFL. If you don't have a bachelors in education then you have to get a TEFL with at least 50 in class hours to be placed in Busan (Korea doesn't care about the CELTA so I wouldn't waste my money on it). But bottom line - if you are a certified teacher then you don't need a TEFL at all and you are eligible to be placed anywhere in Korea.
I love this series. Thank you for uploading 😊.
Thank you so much! That really means a lot to us. Let us know if there is anything else you would like to see/have questions about.
I already know this info but i love watching you guys. Hopefully I'll be there in August 😅
Aw thank you!! Good luck!
Did you get thereee?
You ladies are my lifesavers! I love seeing current videos like this from my fellow Americans while I'm going through this process! Thank goodness I get my diploma the day I graduate! That will save me a ton of stress! :) Still waiting for that interview though...
Good luck!!! :)
But what if I am Korean American? Like I no longer have Korean nationality.
Hey ladies! Your channel has been a great help to me. I am looking into applying for EPIK 2018 and am in the beginning stages of gathering my documents to send. I wanted to ask about transcripts. What is the process with that? Would you explain how that works? Sorry to bug you. Thanks!
You aren't bugging us! haha Its no problem! So with transcripts it just depends on if you have already graduated university or not. So if you have already graduated then you just request for a copy of sealed official transcripts from your university (you may have to pay for this it just depends on your uni) but make sure they are sealed and you don't open them And that's it! You just send the sealed envelope with your other documents.
If you will be applying and you have a few more months until you graduate, then EPIK allows you to initially send a letter from your university with your current gpa/statement that you are on track to graduate before you come to Korea. I had to do this because I applied in February but I didn't graduate until May, so I talked to my EPIK coordinator (if you pass the interview you will be assigned a person that you can email and ask questions to) and sent the letter of expected graduation with my documents so I could get everything submitted quickly. THEN when you do graduate you will have to quickly send the sealed official/complete transcripts and your apostilled copy of your diploma. Hope that helps!
Oh okay thanks so much! Finally I was able to get into the EPIK site so many browsers were not letting me. I just have one last question, about resumes. Did you guys have both resumes (English & Korean) or just English resume? I heard from others that you need both, but I don't know how to make a Korean resume! It looks so hard
We didn't need any type of resume for EPIK, but if you apply to a recruiter or a hagwon you may need a resume. I assume it would just be an english resume though. But if you plan on just applying to EPIK directly you just need to fill in their application they provide on their website. :)
Thanks for your help Ladies! Best
Hi, I want to apply to EPIK for their fall program asap (like March) so I can get my ideal location. The only problem is the diploma requirement you both mentioned. If I'm graduating in April and won't get my diploma until May, should I just wait until I have my diploma before applying?
I have already done the fingerprint fbi homeland security thing being a preschool teacher at a daycare would I redo it or just get the paper ?
If it is less than 6 months old then yes you could use, but remember you have to get it apostilled too for EPIK.
First of all, thank you for all of your videos. It's been very helpful. My question is, Do I need a college diploma or is TEFL certificate sufficient enough?
Hi Thomas! If you are determined to go through EPIK then a college diploma is required as well as a TEFL certificate. If you just want to come teach english in Korea then it wouldn't be impossible to find a position based on just the TEFL, you would just have to read the hagwon's specific recruiting requirements.
so say i want to apply in august but wont get my diploma til October when i graduate, would i just wait til i get my diploma to apply?
So I accidentally got my actual diploma notarized and apostilled instead of a copy. Do you think that will still be alright?
EPIK doesn't give any of your documents back, so you will want to order a replacement diploma from your school (otherwise you won't have a physical diploma anymore). Once you begin to send your documents to Korea, you can email your coordinator and explain the mishap (and that you understand that they won't send you your actual diploma back), and I doubt they will mind. Have you had your interview already?
Hey Ladies. You guys are extremely informative and I appreciate that. One question that I have is that I am graduating in December and it takes a while for you to get the diploma. Do you think that would be an issue since you have to submit everything in January ?
Yes since you have to get it apostilled this is can take a while, so maybe explain the situation and ask your school if its possible to expedite your diploma. If its not possible, we know some people who had to wait until the next application period because their diploma took so long :/
Hello!! So I wanna get the process right here - I have my degree. Then I get a copy of my degree. Then I get that notarized (by my school). Then I get that notarized copy apostilled (by the government people). Then I actually SEND that copy to EPIK, or I photocopy it first??
Thank you!!
You do all that and send it to EPIK (not another copy of it). The apostille will get stapled to your notarized diploma copy and if you take the staple out it isn't valid anymore so you just send what you get back from the government people to EPIK..hope that makes sense haha its complicated
hwo do you get it apostille? i have my diploma from my university and am just looking into EPIK
If you are an American: First you have to get the copy (make sure it is just a copy!! of your diploma) notarized in the city where you received your diploma (so wherever you university is located take a copy and your original diploma to a notary and they will notarize the copy), then you have to mail that notarized copy to your state's Secretary of State and they attach the apostille document to it and mail it back to you.
If you aren't American then I'm not sure of the procedures of the other countries, but we can look it up for you :)
When applying does your High School education matter at all or is it just your College education? Like say I have a GED instead of a real High School diploma, would I be inapplicable?
Hello Breanna, I just went through the application process myself and worked with a recruiter (I recommend going through one, but you don't need it), where I had a bunch of questions (similar to this one) and they didn't mention anything about not using a GED.
But, to make sure I would recommend reaching out to a recruiter/do more digging on the EPIK (for public school) website. They have all the recruiter info listed under "How to Apply" on the EPIK website (www.epik.go.kr). This could be different if you're trying to teach private schools in Korea (they are called Hagwons).
As for as the EPIK application process, they mainly focus on the college education - where you need a Bachelor's degree or equivalent from an accredited college or university. You need to enter in what degree you obtained, how many years you were there, what major, your GPA (if you have it), and when was your graduation date (or future graduation date). The high school portion of the application is not that detailed (state info and how many years at school). Also, you only need your college degrees notarized & apostilled (I personally asked the recruiter and she said 'no' on the high school stuff being notarized & apostilled - soooo thats good news).
I'm sure other people and HelloChingus can offer more advice. But, I hope this helps! It's a pain of a process to go through, but it will be worth it LOL. Good luck and I hope you make it to South Korea!!!!
It shouldn't matter if you have a GED vs. a real high school diploma. The emphasis and document verifications only apply to your college diploma.
Is there a minimum age to apply? I've read everywhere that they want 22 year olds, but I'll be graduating at 19 and I don't want to wait 3 more years😓
I'm not sure if EPIK has an official age limit, but we met a girl at orientation who was only 20. If you fulfill all of the requirements, you should be able to apply!
If we buy a citizenship of one of the seven countries, is it possible to get a job in EPIK?
Hi! So according to their guidelines, in order to be eligible "EPIK teachers must be citizens of one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, or South Africa. Must have studied from at least the junior high level (7th Grade) and graduated from a university in one of the seven designated countries listed above."
So you'd need the citizenship and proof that you went to school in that country to get a job with EPIK. If that's not possible, then you could always try hagwons!
Hello Chingus Thankyou so much :)
Thank you so much for your videos!! They've been very helpful. I have a question about Busan.. do you think it would be enough to have a teaching bachelors with student teaching experience? or would I need to get a TEFL to be placed there?
Also, should I go for the TEFL or CELTA?
Thanks for watching! I'm glad they've been helpful so far! If you have a bachelors in education with teaching experience then you should be able to be placed in Busan without a TEFL. If you don't have a bachelors in education then you have to get a TEFL with at least 50 in class hours to be placed in Busan (Korea doesn't care about the CELTA so I wouldn't waste my money on it). But bottom line - if you are a certified teacher then you don't need a TEFL at all and you are eligible to be placed anywhere in Korea.
Hello Chingus alright! That clear up so much lol thanks again! ❤
You're welcome! :)
what did you girls major in? Does it have to be a teaching major?
Pame Mendoza Hi, we were business marketing and psycology majors so definitely non-teaching majors
Hello Chingus oh, that's great! thanks for replying :)
Which places would you suggest for the certificate that are legitimate?
The TEFL certificate? we both went through i-to-i and it was legitimate