So you want to go to Korea...

As I said before I want this to be helpful to anyone who might want to go to Korea in the future. So I will begin with some helpful hints to get you started on your way.

Some of you may have your heart set on going to Korea, some may have it as an option and other readers (probably most of you) are just trying to figure out how I got to where I am. The first thing I would suggest to you if you want to go to teach English in Korea is to find a recruiter (or two or three) to help you with your search. There is NEVER any cost to get a recruiter so I would stop talking to anyone who asks for money. Recruiters make their money from the schools in Korea that are looking for English teachers.

I'm not going to say who to go with (I will tell you who I am working with and who has impressed me), but I will give you some tips:

1) Shop around. Find as many recruiters as possible. Generally all of the ones I have contacted are friendly and helpful. Even if you don't use a recruiter, talking to them can give you information that other recruiters don't mention.

2) Ask questions. I've seen it on many recruiter websites so this might be redundant, but if you want to know something, ask. If you're going to committ to moving halfway around the world for a whole year you want to be sure of what you're going to deal with (that being said, nothing is predictable and new experiences can be good for us all - even if they are scary as heck). A good recruiter will be as helpful as possible (I've gotten some pretty long replies - which I find helpful).

3) Talk to other people. If you can get in contact with other people who are doing the same thing, it can be helpful. They can suggest good agencies (and steer you away from bad ones). Facebook could be helpful in this regard if you use it.

4) Take your time. Plan your trip farther in advance. You don't want to be scrambling for a recruiter to place you somewhere in two or three months from now. This is not something you want to rush.

Picking a recruiter can be a fun and exciting way to get the process going. As always with big decisions like this (and I'll stress this later), do your research. Check things that you are unsure of and don't always take one persons word for things.

Two recruiters that I have been impressed with are Canadian Connection (based out of Toronto) and Russell Recruiting (based out of Vancouver). without having committed to either agency they were very helpful. I would recommend at least talking to them or looking into them if you want to go.

If you have any questions about recruiting or looking for recruiters, do not hesitate to ask them on this blog.

Stay tuned for some bigger news about my Korea trip coming in the next few days, accompianed by some new helpful hints.