Teaching English In Seoul - Information About Teaching Jobs In Seoul

For those who prefer to live and work in other areas of the country, visit popular teaching destinations in Korea or our Guide to Korean cities and Korean provinces for more information.  South Korea has dozens of beautiful cities with quality teaching opportunities to select from. 

Teaching Jobs in Seoul are Competitive!

Although Seoul has the most public and private language schools in the country, Seoul still remains one of the most competitive ESL job markets in Asia.  The large majority of westerners request Seoul as their primary job location therefore; English schools in Seoul and central Seoul specifically, tend to receive enough applications from recruiters, friends and word of mouth allowing schools to be ‘selective’ with the teachers they employ.

If you’ve taught in Seoul before then you will know that 90% of the teachers working at the private language schools are North American teachers between the ages of 22 – 32 years old.  In comparison, you will find a larger diversity of nationalities and age groups in Korea’s other cities.  This is because schools in Seoul are not desperate for teachers and they have the luxury of being able to reject applications.  As a result most of the schools will only accept applications from younger Canadian and American teachers.  It’s not impossible for older teachers and other nationalities to find employment in Seoul although it’s not as easy and finding a suitable position can take longer than normal.

Private Sector Teaching Jobs in Seoul – Over 250 Openings available each year with Gone2Korea

We have lots of opportunities in this segment of the Seoul ESL market every month of the year.  However, even though we have lots of teaching jobs in Seoul we still receive 2-3 applications for every available position, therefore placing all of our teachers who request this location is difficult.

As recruiters we have no control over the requests made by private or public schools in Seoul.  We are responsible for introducing teachers to the schools we represent; however, it is at the sole discretion of the school director of Seoul Education Board to decide which teachers are accepted and those which are not.  If you’re not selected for teaching jobs in Seoul then there’s nothing to worry about, Korea has many other large urban cities with amazing things to offer.

Schools in Seoul view couples and friends as high risk.  Gone2Korea represents lots of schools in Seoul and we can tell you from our professional experience that placing friends at the same school in Seoul is very difficult.  Schools invest a lot of time and money to bring teachers into the country and when an employer in Seoul hires two teachers, the risk factor doubles!  The reasoning behind this is as follows:

If one teacher doesn’t like the job, culture, gets home sick, etc. then there is a good possibility that both teachers will leave together before the contract has been completed, thus leaving the school with 2 teachers to replace instead of one.

Couples are easier to place then two friends.  Schools are especially weary about hiring two young males.

Salaries for first time teachers in Seoul are comparable (Slightly higher at some schools) with the industry standards in other parts of the country.  Teachers working in Seoul with no ESL or teaching experience can expect to make somewhere between 2.0 – 2.2 million won a month for 110 – 120 hours of classroom teaching each month.  Salaries offered obviously increase with the number of contracted hours.  On average, schools in Seoul pay an additional 200,000 – 300,000 won extra for every 10 additional monthly teaching hours.

Don’t expect a large apartment if you’re living and teaching English in Seoul.  Seoul real estate is on par with New York, London and Tokyo, and large apartments are rare and incredibly expensive.  Teacher accommodations in Seoul are usually single studio apartments, roughly 300 – 400 sq feet.  Note:  Even though apartments in Seoul are quite small, most of them are relatively new, clean and very livable.   We’ve placed hundreds of teachers in downtown Seoul and rarely do we get complaints about living arrangements.

If you’re serious about landing a quality job in Seoul then make sure to present yourself professionally.  As mentioned above, jobs in this city are more competitive than most people assume and presenting a proper resume, decent photo and cover letter can make a difference.  Make sure to visit our submitting an application tips page for more information on document preparation.

Seoul is the center of the Seoul Metro area with a population of more than 11 million people.  The Metropolitan area constitutes the satellite cities surrounding Seoul.  When combined this area has an astounding population of more than 23 million people making it the 3rd largest urban area on the globe.  Some of the more popular teaching areas in the greater Seoul region include: Ansan, Anyang, Bucheon, Bundang, Ilsan, Suji, Suwon and Yongin

There’s no right or wrong answer to this question, everything depends on the preferences of the individual and both areas have their positives and negatives.  Seoul is more entertaining although it’s also more expensive, more polluted and extremely crowded.

If you speak to people who live downtown then they will likely tell you it’s the place to be.  Likewise, if you speak to people living in the surrounding area they will likely tell you it’s better to live where they are and travel downtown by subway when needed.  Both locations offer an exciting teaching experience in one of the world’s largest urban areas.

The important thing to remember is that the entire Seoul Capital Region (Metropolitan Area) is connected by the Seoul Metro Subway System and traveling between districts is quite simple.

Competition in the greater Seoul region is less competitive than the central area.  If you request central Seoul as your primary living preference and we are unable to help you then considering the other area’s is a wise alternative.  Many of these cities are very wealthy and offer an amazing quality of life for English teachers.