Before the beginning

     Hey!  I arrived in South Korea on Monday night (Korea time) October 13, 2008.  A couple days later  (October 15), I began working in a private school (a family business) as a teacher helping students to learn English.  I continued working at that school until February 24, 2012 after which I began working in another private school in another town in South Korea. 

     Why did I come to South Korea?  Because I needed a job, and I learned that an opportunity of wonder, excitement, and liberation was there.  "Steve Qranger," a youtuber, suggested it and provided me a recruiter referral.  (Dreamworks Recruiting) Within a few months after the recruiter and I began emailing each other, I began my new job.  Before then, I had never in my life thought about it.

     Here's a run down about what I had to do to begin interviewing for a job (I'm not trying to provide guidance.  I'm just sharing my own experience.  Still, just in case you're considering going to South Korea to teach English, you should know that immigration rules have changed, so check with a recruiter or study the matter on your own.).

1.  Send my original (not a copy) of my college diploma to my recruiter.
2.  Send two official copies of my college transcripts, in sealed envelopes, to my recruiter.
3.  Send a resume and cover letter to my recruiter.
4.  Complete forms sent to me by my recruiter.
5.  Get another official copy (in sealed envelope) of each of my college transcripts (6) to take to my interview with a Korea Consulate in Atlanta.

     After 1-5, my recruiter began sending job offers.  I didn't like the way this part was done.  I would have preferred that my recruiter send me a list of several job openings for me to consider.  Instead, she sent them to me one at a time.  This is how the process went.

1.  Recruiter sent me information about a job opening.
2.  I studied the information, plus I studied everything I could find on the internet about the location, language, popular culture, etc.
3.  I accepted the offer.
4.  Recruiter scheduled a time for a phone interview (usually around 11 pm. Atlanta time).
5.  I did the interview.
6.  If employer was satisfied, recruiter emailed a copy of the contract to me to sign and send back via. Federal Express.

     I should add that I told my recruiter that I did not want to be in Seoul.  I figured EVERYONE wanted to be in Seoul, so I, as a first time recruit, would have better luck outside of Seoul.  Also, I felt, because fewer people spoke English, and because there would be fewer foreigners in the area, I would learn more Korean and more about Korea by being outside of Seoul.  I told my recruiter that "in the midde of nowhere, Korea" would be okay with me.

     In summary, I don't remember how many cycles of the 1-6 process (above) I completed.  But, I do remember noticing that all the contracts were almost the same verbatum.  I looked for more sample contracts on the internet.  Yup!  They were amost identical.  Basically, the only differences (although not much) were the salaries offered.

     Anyway, I accepted every offer given.  A couple of  employers decided to hire people already living in Korea.  One of them was not, after all, able to afford it.  One of them lost one of my transcripts, so I had to get another one and send it.  After spending a few hundred dollars on postage, and going through the process, I asked my recruiter to tell the employers that I want them to be very seriously interested before agreeing to do an interview with me, and that I wanted them to be careful and not lose any more transcripts, etc.  She assured me that she would do that. 
   
     In the end, I was hired by an employer in "in the middle of nowhere, Korea."  I left everything behind in the USA, and started life over from scratch.