21 Jul
The Dreaded Job Hunt
The job market is a grueling place. I had been job hunting for 3 months until one day, I found a job posting on Indeed about teaching English in Korea. The company was called “Aclipse” and I was immediately intrigued by the post. While teaching was one of my original career goals in high school and college, I began to give up on that dream once I joined the workforce. Stability in corporate America started to sound much more appealing than uprooting my life to South Korea to teach English.
I applied anyway even though I had some hesitations. Within a couple of days, I received an email to schedule an interview with an Aclipse recruiter. The email detailed how to schedule the call and some of the benefits that Aclipse provides to teach English in Korea. As I mentioned before, I had been job searching for quite some time. Coming off of month-long waiting periods with no responses from other companies, I was pleasantly surprised by the swift response that Aclipse provided.
Interview & Mock Lesson
When the day came for my interview, I was nervous and excited at the same time. I had no idea what to expect. Once I entered the call and introduced myself, Nico (my recruiter) created a super welcoming and judgment-free space. I felt comfortable to ask any questions I had about teaching English, and felt relaxed during the interview.
Aside from being a place for you to ask questions, the interview is also a place where the Aclipse recruiter can see if this role will be a great fit for you. Nico did this by conducting a mock English lesson. Although I had previous experience working with non-English speakers in university, I was still nervous to act out a scenario on-the-spot. The scene was set, I was given time to collect my thoughts, and we began our English teaching lesson scenario.
Doing the mock lesson was a little awkward at first, but went super well! It gave me a sense of how lesson structures are formulated, and it gave the recruiter a sense of how I would be as an instructor. Once we were done with the mock lesson, Nico gave me the green light that I had passed the interview!
Shortly after my screening call, I received an email regarding the next steps for the hiring process to begin teaching English in Korea.
- These steps included: creating an introduction video, filling out important documents, requesting a school placement, and filing instructions for receiving a visa.
- These important documents included: FBI fingerprint background checks, signed health statement forms, and scanned files of legal documents.
This process seemed a bit daunting at first, but Nico helped me every step of the way. By sending me tutorials and examples of each required piece, I was able to complete all of these requirements by the end of that week.
I received my school placement, employment contract, and saw the Embassy of South Korea all within a month of completing the steps listed above. This all happened in the blink of an eye!
There are many small details that can be overlooked throughout this process. My best piece of advice would be to NOT procrastinate on submitting what is required and consistently messaging your recruiter with updates, even if they seem small.
I have officially signed my contract and am set to move in August 2024 to begin teaching English. Aclipse has helped me every step of the way and turned an extensive process into a smooth operation.
Gabe White, English Teacher at Creverse
Gabriel (Gabe) White is a soon to be English teacher in South Korea. He is a Korean, Puerto Rican-American from the Richmond, Virginia area and received a bachelor’s degree in English from Virginia Commonwealth University. Being involved in student organizations like Filipino Americans Coming Together at VCU (FACT@VCU) and VCU Globe during his college years, Gabe learned just how much he enjoys experiencing new cultures. In his free time, Gabe loves teaching local dance classes, spending quality time with his loved ones, exploring new cities, and watching nostalgic movies.