Putting Together an Exemplary CV for a Job in Korea
There’s a lot that one can learn about constructing a great resume, and you’ll find general tips from many free resources. But there are a few unique considerations to keep in mind when applying for a teaching job in South Korea.
Right after your header along with contact info, teaching experience needs to be the first thing on the resume. Write about virtually any times when you played a educating job. Focus on virtually any immediate educating activities in a school room setting–this can easily include teaching assistant as well as tutoring roles while attending school. If you do not have any authentic educating experience, don’t fret! Many individuals get excellent teaching positions without ever having instructed before. The majority of these positions give you the opportunity demonstrate your leadership attributes and also expertise with youngsters.
Recruiters view educating experience as an immediate plus, and it will surely enable you anyone to secure an job interview. But, be willing to give an explanation of your experience in depth during your phone interview because it will surely possibly be a key talking point.
After you have included all of the teaching experience you can muster, it’s time to show what a master of the English language you are. It may not seem resume-worthy to you that you minored in English lit. or wrote a 30-page paper on Italian Futurism, but achievements such as these can valuable for establishing you an an English expert. There are many schools in Korea that focus preparing students for college and graduate school entrance exams. If you received good scores on any of these tests, you should list them here. Finally, don’t be shy about flaunting your acadmic honors (3.0+ GPA, Deans list, Cum Laude, National Honors Soceity, etc.). Koreans take academic distinctions very seriously.
Koreans take education and studying very seriously (what other country could have a popular TV show called “God of Study”?) so academic awards are generally smiled upon. On my application, I mentioned that I was part of the National English Society, as well as the Dean’s List . In addition, if you had an especially high grade point average (anything above a 3.), that would be great to include as well. If you have virtually any teaching or language certifications, this needs to be included. Many instructing certifications (TESOL, TEFL, CELTA to name a few) will permit you to negotiate a higher wage.
Besides the qualifications you list in your resume, there are actually a few clear design elements that should be done for any job application. Try to stick to to one page except when you have several years of instructing experience. Bold, underline and italicize words to stand out in your resume. Don’t forget to spell check! Grammatical and spelling mistakes are a warning sign for employers hiring English instructors. Have many people critique your job application. Make it visually attractive. Use white space to make it reader friendly. Make sure the font is easy to read, like Times New Roman.
Together with a job application, nearly job employers and educational facilities ask for a photo of you. Regrettably, there is no simple way around this somewhat unpleasant demand. South Korea is a very image-conscious nation, and they would like to ensure that you “appear” the part of the local English instructor. The photo is just as essential as a good resume, and may be a identifying element for a employment offer. Use a photo that does not show any other people in it. Also, use a photograph that shows you smiling. Ensure, however, that you can’t see any piercings or tattoos in the photos.
With that, you have all best tools to get a the best position teaching English in Korea.
To learn more regarding obtaining a job as a teacher in Seoul, you can stop by my personal Korea blog.