My EPIK application timeline

Hello everyone. After getting a question a few days ago, I thought it might be helpful to make a blog post about my entire EPIK application timeline. I didn’t create one initially because I actually didn’t think anyone was reading this blog besides a few family members. So, I have gone back through all my email correspondences and have gathered my personal timeline. I hope anyone reading this will find this post helpful.

I got my TEFL certification through ‘myTEFL‘. At the time I used someone’s discount code (who no longer teaches so I doubt her code works anymore) so I received close to half off the price. I liked using myTEFL as I feel the information learned was good and you can email them if you have any questions about the quizzes. myTEFL has job placement coordinators. My job placement coordinator was Luba.

• March 13^th – I sent Luba my documents for a teaching application
  • TEFL certificate
  • Scan of degree
  • Formal headshot
  • Cover letter
  • Copy of passport info page
  • Resume
• March 15^th – Luba emailed me back stating that my materials will be processed but really, it was all just sent to Alistair from Korean Horizons, a recruiting company.
• March 19^th – Alistair and I set up a time to speak over the phone about applying to public school in Korea through EPIK.
• March 23^rd – We spoke on the phone and afterward, he emailed me the EPIK application. When returning it back to him, I also needed to send a copy of the info page of my passport (he already had this from before but I sent it again anyway), a picture containing my head and shoulders, and scans of 2 reference letters.
• March 29^th – I completed the EPIK application and sent everything back to Alistair. We then set up another time to talk on the phone. We talked the very next day. After this was the waiting game >_<
• May 16^th – Alistair emailed me letting me know that my application was accepted by EPIK and they wanted to interview me. They chose the timeslot which was 4pm KST. That means it was 3am EST. I was sleeepppyyyy!
• May 22^nd – I had a practice interview with Alistair. His questions were a mixture of being easy, difficult, and thought provoking.
• May 25^th at 3am – I had my Skype interview. My interviewer refused to turn on his camera and show his face, so it was pretty much a voice call over Skype. Every single question I was asked was super basic. The practice interview with Alistair was much more difficult with more meaningful questions. The only question that made me stop and think was something along the lines of what would I do if my co-teacher was a lot older than me and taught the class something incorrect? I got this question because Korea is super big on the whole hierarchy thing so I had to think of an answer where I can teach my kids the correct thing while not embarrassing my co-teacher.
• June 5^th – Alistair notified me that I had passed the EPIK interview and was offered a teaching position! I also needed to send him the physical copies of the items for my EPIK application.
  • Notarized copy of my degree
  • Signed EPIK application form
  • 2 sets of unopened university transcripts
  • 2 original reference letters signed with ink (no digital signatures!) and sealed in envelopes signed across the back flap
  • Countrywide criminal background check. Statewide is not enough, it must be countrywide.
  • Passport size photo
  • Copy of TEFL certificate
• June 8^th – I dropped all my physical documents off at the post office to send to Alistair so that he could send them to the EPIK offices. I suggest paying for 1-3 day shipping because the quicker it arrives, the better. Unfortunately, my post office did not offer 1-3 day shipping for international parcels so I was stuck having to pay for 3-5 day shipping.
• June 14^th – Alistair notified me that he received my physical documents.
• June 21^st – I emailed Alistair to check my application status with EPIK to see if I could know where I had been placed. There was no info at that time.
• June 27^th – EPIK assessed my documents and recommended me to a POE/MOE. I was told that I won’t know my location until July ☹.
• July 3^rd – I was assigned to a POE/MOE but wasn’t told which one.
• July 10^th – Alistair notified me and some other recruits in a mass email that we were selected to teach in the Jeonnam region. Yaayyy… >_>
• July 13^th – Alistair notified me that he mailed my contract and notice of appointment to me and that I should receive it within a few days to a week. He also emailed me a visa application form so I can send all this info to my Korean consulate. Check with your consulate to know which items you need when applying for a visa.
• July 16^th – I received the contract and notice of appointment in the mail.
• July 17^th – I sent everything to my Korean consulate.
• July 20^th – My dad bought me my plane ticket to Korea! Thanks Dad! I flew American Airlines.
• July 28^th – I received my Korean visa in the mail whoohoo! Then I immediately faxed Alistair my U.S. tax exemption form (this is so I would not be charged government taxes. Due to the relationship between governments, only some countries get this).
• August 12^th – I flew to Korea!
• August 14^th – Start of EPIK orientation

So that was my application timeline. It was a two-month process that felt like foreveerrrrrr lol. I hope this can give more people an idea of what their own application timeline might look like. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! I will answer them to the best of my ability. In four months it will be a complete year since I even started the whole application process so other things you might want to know about it could be hazy in my memory. But having only been back in the States for two months, things about life in Korea are still fresh in my mind. So, any questions about rural life and Boseong in particular, ask away!