EPIK, JLP and Regional . .opinions please.

[keobuk2]

Hi there,

Typical first post here..
I'm currently with TaLK in Damyang but liking it enough not to want to go home. My school offered me another TaLK contract but one will only work for 1.5mil plus accommodation for so long. Negotiations continue, however..

What're the opinions on the pros and cons of EPIK, JLP or Regional?
I understand JLP uses Canadian Connections for recruitment..will they hire a Kiwi? (stupid question, but..)
Who do I have to bribe to get a regional contract?
Any chances of choosing accommodation or schools with any of the above?

Ta muchly
Sam

[Brian]

Hey,
Welcome to the board.

Just curious, what's stopping you from looking into it with Canadian Connections or the Jeollanam-do Office of Education yourself?  Have you completed a B.A. (have to ask, I know TaLK was hiring college students before).  If so, there's certainly no reason why you shouldn't want to try another program and another salary.

Way back when I signed with Regional basically because it had an extra week of vacation and it meant I wouldn't have to do teacher training courses at Damyang during vacation.  I'm not sure if that's still required because they started keeping people at JETI full-time.  I also lucked out because I wanted to move to Suncheon after my first year in Gangjin county, and the opening there was in the Regional Program.  For some reason it's hard to switch beween JLP, JCP, and Regional.  As far as doing a side-by-side comparison, I don't have all the numbers in front of me now, and not sure if they differ much these days.  I do know that when I sent an email to Canadian Connections they explained the difference by actually sending a side-by-side comparison of responsibilities, salaries, and vacations. 

As far as choosing individual schools or accomodations, who knows.  You give preferences for location, and CC at least will try to place you there.  If you happen to know a particular school that will have an opening, it wouldn't hurt to bring it up.  I remember back in 2006 the cities like Suncheon, Yeosu, and Mokpo were in high demand, meaning veterans were given first choice of those jobs, but I have no idea if the demand has since exceeded the supply. 

I think I'd pass on EPIK if I were you, for a couple reasons.  One, it's not connected with the local school board here, meaning Andrea (or whomever is in charge) has no idea what's going on with you, your school, or your contract. Two, from what I understand you can't pick where you end up.  Three, EPIK has a history of bad reviews.  Sure, like everything else about working in Korea "it depends," but why work with a company with such a poor track record. 

There are two other options you might look into:
* JETI - the Jeollanam-do Education Training Institute.  This is the facility that has intensive, English-immersion sessions for Korean teachers.  If you are interested in working with adults, this might be a good fit for you.  I know they were offering a higher salary that ordinary public school jobs, but they may also require more qualifications.  It's located in Damyang, which many find rather isolated if they didn't do their homework about the area, but you're probably familiar with that by now.
* City Hall jobs - I know in Suncheon, and perhaps in other cities, there are jobs that operate out of city hall.  As far as I understand it, they farm you out to various libraries and community centers around town, and you'll teach all ages, from pre-school through adult.  The salary and accomodation is similar to ordinary public school jobs, and in fact some teachers in this program have been working in public schools because of a lack of teachers.  They never seem to have enough teachers for the city hall program---poor advertising it seems---so if you were set on living in a particular city, but can't get a position through CC, this might be an option.  I know a few people working in this program, and if you think it might be something you'd like, I can send you more information.  Google around for job ads. 

Good luck, and I hope some others can contribute more information.  Like I said, and like you probably know, so much about working in Korea can be summed up with "well, it depends" or "sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad." 

[capebretonbarbarian]

I think they may have or are in the process of phasing out the JCP contracts.  Most teachers are hired as regional workers now. 
There really is only one difference between JLP and Regional.  That is, on occasion as a JLP worker you are called out to work at Jeollanamdo Educational Training Institute (JETI) in Damyang to teach Korean English teachers.  They do have full time workers there now but JLPers are still called on occasion.  They are doing a 6 month program now so that is why JLPers are not called there.   There seems to be very few JLPers now.  One negative thing about being a JLPer is that I'm not eligible to work the winter camps offered to the regional workers in Suncheon. However, I usually make up for it with a JETI camp.     
The salary and vacation are the same for JLP and Regional. 

I recently did a job hunt, wanting to change things up, as I've been at my school for 3 years.  I applied to several other provinces for public school positions but found that for salary and vacation you can not beat Jeollanamdo.  Actually, a lot of provinces do not even compare and for one area (Busan) I would have had to take a pay cut of 500,000 a month.   

Also, the city hall workers I've met all have been quite content with their positions also. The salaries are very similar to public school but vacation is less.   
 

[robtel]

I am an EPIK teacher here in Jeollanam-do, along with my girlfriend. We haven't had any major issues. Andrea seems to know pretty well what's going on with us and how we're a little different from the JLP teachers, which has turned out to be very little (our airfare reimbursement has been the only thing we had to ask about). Also, even after the raise that JLP teachers recently received, a level 3 EPIK teacher in Jeonnam still makes 100,000 more monthly than a level 3 JLP teacher. With extra classes (but very little extra time spent at school) and extra money for going to multiple schools, we are taking in quite a bit more than we thought we would be, which I'm sure could happen with any program. We asked for a rural placement and got it. We both asked for elementary school, which I got and my girlfriend got half middle school, half elementary. Our apartment is great. Really, as best I can tell, it seems that EPIK brought us in, "oriented" us, then passed our file along to the JLP office, who have done everything else. All this is just our situation, of course, and it's all hit-or-miss. But I feel like we got a hit with EPIK.

If you wanted to try with EPIK though, apply early. There are only four spots in Jeonnam for EPIK teachers. (There's apparently some longstanding now-on-the-wane feud between Jeonnam and EPIK which I really didn't care enough to learn much more about.) We didn't know that, but just happened to apply early, and were surprised to find only two other teachers going to Jeonnam at orientation. There are many spots in Gwangju, but the salary is 200,000 lower I believe.

[keobuk2]

Thanks for the information and opinions.
 I've got off my hindquarters and sent Canadian Connections an e-mail so look forward to hearing back from them. I, too, checked with a few other provinces but nothing really compares to Jeonnam so far.
Wish me luck

[Gilligan]

I used to be JLP for several years now I'm regional. 
There are a couple of other differences. 
In my experience there seemed to be more benefits to being JLP.  More paid camp opportunities as mentioned earlier.  I am now a regional employee out in the country and have 0 vacation camps. JLP in the past has given JLP employees money every December/January to update and purchase new furniture, while regional does not.  JLP gets more paid business trips for meetings and such, which are usually fairly interesting or at least you can get some social time in with other teachers.  In the country on a regional contract there are 0 meetings. 
You have more protection from your school as a JLP worker.  The county offices have been quite difficult out here, trying to make my husband work tons of overtime and travel between schools without pay.  I think regional workers in bigger cities like Suncheon have a better time than in the countryside.

[keobuk2]

Apologies in advance for a question that might be more at home on eslcafe...

I'm assuming the people on JLP went through Canadian Connections. Is it normal for them to be slow with communications?

I sent them an application over a month ago but haven't heard anything back. Called them, was told they would get back to me asap and haven't heard a thing.

Should I assume that they are oversubscribed? I've heard that jobs in Jeonnam tend to become available last minute but I am somewhat nervous.

Cheers.

[dporter]

Cheers all,

I will be in Jeollanam-do in September. My placement is with JLP through EPIK (if anyone can understand how that process works.)

I used another recruiting agency but communication from them was also slow. I think the lag is on the JLP side.

If I understand correctly, camps are offered as 'extra' and can be accepted or declined? If I simply wanted more time off I could beg out of the camps?

[Arsalan]

If I understand correctly, camps are offered as 'extra' and can be accepted or declined? If I simply wanted more time off I could beg out of the camps?

Well, they say "extra", and the school will tell you the same.  However when time comes for the camps, they'll tell you that you must perform this extra bit of work.  Some people experience this in different ways.  1.  Co-teachers will tell you it's a must, like a duty, even though it's referred to as "extra".  2.  Co-teachers will beg you until you give up, and even scare you into submission.  3.  Some lucky ones get away without doing this, but this is a very small percentage.  Don't count yourself as likely being in this group.  Especially if you're planning a vacation in a different country.  Plan your vaca as though you'd have to do the camps.  Give them a heads up way before hand (tell them you've already bought plane tickets to Seoul from Gwangju or something) so they can't switch dates on you last minute, and DO NOT let them know you're going to a different country.  Some schools come up with their own reason to discourage this.... tell them you're going to Seoul.  I did the same, but I purposely forgot to mention that I'd be in Seoul to use the airport.

In my case, it was a matter of a teacher's opinion that would have ruined my entire sojourn to India for couple of months.  Why let someone else's ideas destroy potential experiences in a different place?

[Brian]

I'm not sure how things work in JLP, but in regional camps were optional.  It was said that I "should" sign up for one, but the slots were snapped up pretty quickly. 

This year in Jeollanam-do they've scaled back on the big camps, and instead brought in more college students from the US and people from the Phillippines and Maldives to teach the camps. 

The two camps I did were pretty thrown together, in typical Korean fashion, but I had a good time and wish I had some opportunities to teach more.  I'd recommend doing at least one for the experience.  The ones at your own school are often the hardest because you have to plan everything---and teach everything---yourself, but if you do a county-, city-, or province-wide camp there's often at least a skeleton curriculum in place.

Plus, the extra paycheck was a nice bonus.  I remember working a three-week camp at my school in Gangjin county and didn't get paid for it because it was "my duty."