My First Entry

I just got accepted for a position as an English Instructor with Chungdahm Learning Institute! I graduated in January of 09' and have been working on securing a job ever since. I wanted to either go to Hawaii and get a government job, stay in the Twin Cities and work for the Target Corporation, work in Korea as an English teacher, or apply to the FBI using my linguistic skills. Well, the economy really sucks and I need improvement on my language skills, and I just had a calling for Korea.

I studied abroad in Germany last year for a semester and when I was there, I felt that I wanted to go back to Korea. So I made it my goal, and through God's grace and my determination, its finally come true!

What was the process like that I had to go through?
I had to research which organizations were legit, because I've heard horror stories out there. While most public schools follow the laws, I've heard of private institutions that don't pay their employees on time, cheat them out of benefits or simply are shady. I did research on Chungdahm Learning (CDI) and E-Spirit, which were recommended to me by an acquaintance. I got some opinions from Dave's ESL Cafe and got mixed reviews. I also looked at other people's blogs and got their perspective. I also applied to EPIK and gone2korea, which is a recruiting agency. I also had to research which VISA to apply for, because there is more than one and each VISA has different requirements and benefits. Most people go for the E-2 VISA, which is for people who are going to teach English. I think it requires official transcripts, the official diploma and criminal background check/sex offender check with an Apostille, but I'm not sure, because I didn't apply for this one. Because I'm a Korean Adoptee, I got to apply for an F-4 VISA (Korean Heritage VISA), which gives me similar rights to Korean citizens, plus multiple entries. For the job process I had to create a resume, have several people look it over and then go with my instinct. My bro helped me and made it all complicated, but my friends told me to keep it short and sweet. I think it looked better short and sweet, anyways. I had to create a photo of myself that looked professional and friendly and send it in along with my cover letter. Unlike the U.S., other countries may require you to attach a photo to your resume and may or may not base part of their decision on your physical appearance. After I sent in my resume, I had a few interviews over the phone. (I have a more detailed explanation on the bottom) Then onto the VISA Work...

VISA PROCESS
I had to contact the Korean Consulate in Chicago, which serves MN. They were actually very helpful and friendly. I got a letter on what I needed. I needed my American citizenship certificate and naturalization papers, a VISA application, a formal letter stating my purpose or obtaining a VISA, along with my Korean Family Registry (호죽등본/ho-juk-deung-bon), adoption papers, a court reporter's documents proving that I am 진철, born in Korea but sent over to the United States. That took a long time because there were documents that we didn't have, that I didn't even know existed: the 호죽등본 and the court reporter's document, for example. I had to contact my agency in Korea and in MN to get paperwork and wait. I wrote a letter to KSS, with a copy of my adoption papers as proof that I was who I said I was. I asked for my Korean Family Registry, which they sent. As for LSS, I had to go through their Post-Adoption Services and fill out a form, requesting information from my file. I did this and then had to get it notarized and turn it into LSS. It took a few days for them to search my file, but they did find a copy of my Korean Family Registry (in English). They also had the Court Reporters Document, which has both my American Name and my Birth Name on the same sheet of paper. The Consulate gave me a form to fill out, renouncing my Korean citizenship. My parents and I thought this had already been done when they naturalized me as an American citizen, but I guess I may have been eligible to get my Korean citizenship back? I chose not to because I don't want to be dragged off to do military duty when I get there. I had to send all the documents in through the mail with a money order. I finally got it back, it took like at least a month in total, because I would send in documents to Chicago and the lady would keep asking for more. However, it was such a good feeling when I got my F-4 VISA in the mail though! The VISA itself looked like a sticker that was attached to a page of my passport.

APPLICATION PROCESS
I applied to CDI, E-Spirit, EPIK and gone2korea. I didn't hear anything from CDI, EPIK or E-Spirit. I did hear something back right away from gone2korea. I also heard something from korearecruiting and Aclipse. Korearecruiting had seen my resume online and asked if I needed help. Aclipse, it turns out, was the intermediary between me and CDI. I began corresponding with the recruiters and keeping them updated on my progress. Whereas most of the time, recruiters help you with the VISA process, I just did it myself, because they are usually familiar with E-2 VISAs. I set up interviews and did one with gone2korea and Aclipse. While I was waiting for my interview, the Aclipse recruiter had me do a few tasks, which were meant to test my skills. After I found out that I had passed the phone interview, I had to fill out the application, send in an updated copy of my resume along with another photo of myself and I had to write an essay, which is part of the application process that partly determines your salary. The essay didn't require any research at all, it was mostly to see if you really knew English. Then it was back to more waiting. Seriously, checking the mail each day made me partially ill. But it was an amazing feeling when I finally got my job offer! I'll have to fill out the paperwork and send it in to my recruiter.