I am interested in teaching in South Korea and stumbled across your blog while doing some research. I am having a difficult time sifting through all the websites and recruitment agencies trying to find a legit program to go through. I have looked at CIEE, SMOE, Reach to Teach, and a couple others, but I’m not sure which is best, and which ones aren’t really reliable. I was wondering if you had any advice or recommendations.

Thank you,

Well, Joseph lets see if I can be of some help here. First up, SMOE is the office that handles the public school positions in Seoul. Public schools have a great many advantages over private hogwons. However, a big part of the public school system is the crap shoot of how your principal and coteacher will be. You can end up with great ones or shall we say not so great. Still, with a public school position you will bypass most drama like not being paid on time, no pension or no severance.

After two years in Hogwons I’m all about public school positions. If you don’t want to work in Seoul you can also try the offices that deal with the rest of Korea like Epik and Gepik. Yet if the hogwon allure is just to shiny to resist then you might want to contact the big Chains and look for a main branch and avoid franchises since franchises may differ widly in operation from the main branch. You could also try recruiters. One with a good rep that I know is footprint recruting.

Whatever you decide be sure to the inside scoop from the teachers that work there. Preferably in a fashion where the bossman won’t be on the other line listening in.

I hope that helps!