I wanted to share more about my EPIK (English Program In Korea) interview process, specific details and timing, and my suggestions on how to prepare for it for anyone interested in applying to EPIK. You can use an agency like Korvia to help you apply, but I decided to apply on my own, so I did struggle a bit looking for exactly the kind of prep and advice I’m about to share!
EPIK is an official Korean government program that recruits foreigners from English-speaking countries to work as a native-speaking English teacher at public schools across Korea.
If you want to read a little more about my personal story and thoughts behind applying to EPIK you can read my post: How I Ended Up Teaching English in Korea.
Interview steps:
Interview Request Email
I received my request for an interview via email about a month and a half after submitted my written application directly to the EPIK website. The email said I had passed the first selection phase and invited me to participate in a webcam interview via Zoom. I was able to book the interview myself by selected from provided time slots on a calendar. I was required to book within 3 days of receiving the email.
Throughout the EPIK process, it is incredibly important to respond to everything in a timely manner as they have strict deadlines for literally everything. Since a lot of emails are coming from abroad, some of them can easily be sent to spam accidentally so make sure to check regularly!
I booked the interview for a week later intending to prep, but if you read my other blog post, you’ll know I wasn’t overly successful on that front 😅
The Interview
Behavioral Questions & Basic Questions
Part one of the interview was just as expected for any interview. My interviewer asked questions such as:
- Tell me about yourself
In answering this question, you should talk about your education and professional background, while making sure to include interests and experiences related to teaching or with obvious transferable skills. You can also include interests and hobbies, but preferably focus on things that are either relevant to the job somehow OR help set the up story behind how you became interested in teaching abroad.
- What do you know about EPIK?
Typical behavioral interview question. They want to know that you’ve done your research. I memorized how, when, and why it was founded just in case, but I don’t think it was strictly necessary. If you literally just know what EPIK stands for, you’ll be good on this question.
- Why do you want to teach abroad? Why specifically with EPIK?
Why you’re interested in teaching abroad and teaching specifically in Korea are two separate questions! I think I talked about wanting to challenge myself to have new experience, experience a different culture, and grow past my limitations. Of course, this is a very generic answer, so think more about what you personally hope to get out of the experience of teaching abroad. I mentioned that I am a naturally introverted person and wanted to push myself to build my confidence and leadership skills.
Why specifically Korea? They might ask you: why not JET (Japan’s equivalent of EPIK)? For me, the answer was pretty easy because I have relatives in Korea and have wanted to explore that side of my heritage more. If you are interested in Korean media and culture, you should mention this, but keep in mind that EPIK will of course prefer people with a passion for teaching, not just a passion for K-culture, so I wouldn’t make this the highlight of your answer.
The other point I made for this question is the Korean government’s strong emphasis on good education. EPIK generally has a good reputation globally and provides a lot of great support and training for foreigners wanting to teach English abroad. Korea is known for respecting the importance of education (culturally and systemically) as well as the work teachers do, which differs from America to some extent. There is a strong, standardized structured curriculum here that makes it easier for teachers to stay organized and coordinate with other teachers and students even when students transfer in and out of schools in the middle of the school year. Basically, just sing their praises and it’ll be a legitimate enough response.
- What is your experience with Korea/Korean Language/Korean culture? What is your experience with being abroad?
- How do you expect to navigate cultural differences and challenges while abroad?
With these questions, the interviewer is interested again in why you want to go to Korea, how much you know about being a foreigner in another country, and whether you’ll be able to handle culture shock and other challenges while navigating life abroad. Tell them about your experiences with other cultures and travel, or tell them about why you’re so excited about the experience. You might also bring up a story of when you encountered a cultural difference and how you handled it, true behavioral interview style. Just make sure you show how open-minded, curious, and adventurous you are.
- How would you handle a conflict with your co-teacher if it were to arise?
In this one, they want to assess a little bit whether you can blend in seamlessly with the teaching culture there. As a foreigner, you might not know from the start how things at your school operate, so make sure the interviewer knows you would never make any assumptions about that. Saving face and providing a united front is important, so avoid giving the impression that you’d undercut your co-worker in any way, such as saying you’d correct your co-teacher immediately in the middle of a class.
You want to demonstrate you have some nunchi (눈치), ability to read the room and act accordingly in social situations. You might get to Korea and have a great synergistic working relationship with your co-teacher(s) so none of this will apply, but the interviewer wants to know you’ll be prepared for anything.
- Do you have an history of mental health issues such as depression, etc.? Have you ever participated in therapy or counseling?
This question may seem a little out of left field, and honestly I think it’s an unfortunate result of bias and stigma. Some people may believe you are ill-equipped to teach abroad if you have had any history of mental health issues or even have attended therapy sessions. The safe answer here is to just say no. To be honest, I believe that this is your personal information, and it is your right and responsibility to deal with it privately, so EPIK doesn’t need to know the details as long as you are confident you can do your job well.
- What is your preference for where to teach, and what grade levels would you like to teach?
This question shouldn’t have any influence on your application, so just answer honestly. I honestly had no idea what grade I would like best and had no preference for location, so that’s exactly how I answered. I also mentioned that I have some family in Seoul, so living in Gyeonggi-do might be nice so I wouldn’t be too far from them. I was afraid that if I said I wanted to be in Seoul, I wouldn’t get in because Seoul is a popular choice, and I actually liked the idea of living more quietly in the countryside after years of living in NYC. In the end, I was placed in Seoul anyway.
Those are a few questions you may be asked and how to answer them, but also be aware that you may be asked some or none of these questions depending on your interviewer. I’ve heard of some people being asked almost no questions in their interviews, and some being absolutely drilled. My interview was fairly professional and by the book, so I had to answer all the standard questions.
How to prepare? When I applied I couldn’t find very much detailed information on the interview process, but that’s why I wanted to share my experience! I just read through the EPIK website, reviewed my essay responses from my application, and watched 2-3 tiktoks by people teaching with EPIK. It didn’t take much.
Mock Lesson
This is the second part of the interview and it was the absolute worsttt. The interviewer will randomly give you a target grade level and a lesson topic such as food or occupations. You will get five minutes to prepare a mini lesson based on this information and present it to the interviewer. The interviewer will not interact or participate in anyway, so you must pretend you are receiving feedback from an audience.
Make sure you speak slowly and clearly so your imaginary students can understand. Try to exude as much energy and positivity as possible even while presenting over Zoom to nothing but silence and an awkward stare. You are allowed to use props if you happen to have some nearby, but definitely not required at all! I’d recommend including some movement or motion if possible to show you’re able to think of engaging activities on your feet and get students physically active as well. My topic was directions, so I had my “students” move left and right as they practiced speaking the words aloud.
The interviewer will stop you after they’ve seen enough and provide feedback. It’s a bit awkward, but it’ll be over quick.
Application Essays and Lesson Plan Review
Last part of the interview! The email said to have my application printed or downloaded on hand for the interview. I found out later that this was because your interviewer will give you feedback on your submitted essays and lesson plans, so you’ll need to be able to go through it line by line together and remember what changes are recommended (there’s no need to print unless you expect to take lots of notes by hand).
Personally, I had almost no notes from my interviewer, except that some of the vocabulary I had included in my lesson plan may be difficult for the age group I had selected. I adjusted the vocabulary for the final submission, but honestly this is just a formality and a way to show you can accept feedback. Since you’ll be teaching according to the public school curriculum if you get hired, I don’t see how the exact details of your lesson plan matter so much. I think they just want to see if you can be detail oriented and have reasonable expectations.
And that’s the end of the interview! The whole thing took about 50 minutes I believe. I received my acceptance email within the week and moved on to the document collection process. I hope this was helpful for anyone who wants to apply to EPIK but isn’t quite sure what to expect. I’ll be writing more about the entire process later as well!
Love,
B.
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