*update*: Andrew McLeod is currently a Science Teacher for the American International School.
Andrew McLeod teaches English as a second language in Korea, near Seoul.
“I teach about 35 hours per week through the school, but the hours are very spread out, so that I start work at 6:30 am and finish around 9:00 or 9:30 every night. The main challenge, as well as the main reward, is getting to experience a very different culture,” says Andrew.
“Willingness to experience new things is a must, as is patience. You receive virtually no training, so the ability to learn on the job is also quite important.”
Andrew found the job through the UTM Career Centre.
”The Career Centre’s job listings website was very helpful,” he says. “Koreans are very interested in learning English, and will hire almost any native speaker with a degree, so being hired was not difficult.”
Andrew enjoys this position and working a 1-year contract has taught him a lot about different cultures. Eventually, he would like to become involved in a career that allows him to improve the lives and experiences of university students.
“Be very careful when selecting an institute to work for in Korea. There is very little governmental control of the industry and many teachers find themselves mistreated,” he says.
“Be sure to research your potential employer very carefully, because finding out they're not a good company over here is finding that out too late and virtually nothing can be done once you're here. There are websites that keep a record of complaints from foreign teachers that you should visit, and you should also ask for the e-mail addresses of the other teachers at your institute, so that they can describe their experiences.”