Korvia Consulting - Teach English in Korea

It may sound cheesy to say so but I have been so pleased with my experience working with Korvia that I cannot imagine working with any other agency. In fact, I never even felt the need to look elsewhere. From the beginning, my application process was smooth and looked after with great care. Ann, my recruiter and one of the directors at Korvia, was professional, caring, diligent, and worked with me to find a position that met my personal preferences as well. When I was suddenly sick right before I was supposed to move to Korea, Ann worked with my school and helped make the altered shift be as smooth as possible. As I've continued to work in the GEPIK program here in Korea over the years, Ann has continued to work with me in finding new positions and has remained patient despite how particular and stubborn I can sometimes be. I have also had the opportunity to work with a few of her team members and have found them to be just as helpful and bright. Because of all of this, I ended up recommending many friends from the states to work with Korvia and they have come to Korea and also had great experiences with the team as well! After three jobs through Korvia, three referenced friends, and over three years of satisfaction, I simply can't recommend Korvia enough.

Korvia is the best recruiting agency in Korea. There are no agencies I've seen that are even in the same league as them.

I've been working in ESL for the last eight years. I've taught in Korea multiple times. Even back in the United States, I would still apply to jobs abroad just to see what was out there. I worked with recruiters, applied to schools directly, even applied through the almighty EPIK and SMOE.

In all that time, I had never had an experience I would even call satisfactory. Then I got into contact with Korvia and I was blown away. I didn't know a recruiting agency of this quality even existed.

Here are some of the reasons why they are great:

- They have connections to jobs I didn't even know existed. I applied during the off-season for public school hiring, so I thought I'd be going hagwon for sure. Not only did Korvia hook me up with a public school (which I didn't know was possible during off-season), they actually had a ton of schools available. I couldn't even keep up with how many available public school positions they were throwing at me. I have never seen an agency have anything close to this kind of opportunity.

- Korean staff that all speak English extremely well. Not only do they speak English well academically, they speak well culturally too. They're direct and clear, which is a relief for anyone who has spent time working in Korea. Also, they're friendly and understanding.

- They reply quickly and do a great job of keeping you up to date on what's happening.

- They offer support even after you arrive. On my first day at my school in Korea, there was a gift bag of pencils and information waiting for me at my desk. They offer parties with Korvia teachers for us to make friends. They ask, confidentially, if everything is going well with the school and the transition to Korea.

After years of experience, I can confidently say that you will not find a better agency with Korvia. If you're even thinking about teaching in Korea, send them a message and see what's available.

I came to Korea in 2011, and I've been with Korvia from day 1. I heard about Korvia from a friend who was already here teaching. The four years that I have been with Korvia, it has grown into this huge, wonderful, supporting agency to hundreds if not thousands of applicants. In 2011, I felt Korvia was still a small agency. My recruiter then, Jean, was able to get to my questions right away. Now,during application peak times, it takes a day or two but Korvia is still on top of things. I promise.
Korvia is doing something right to grow so fast and be among the very few agencies EPIK and GEPIK partner with.
I believe Korvia grew because their service is beyond a doubt EXCELLENCE. This is possible because of their hardworking recruiters.Thank you Korvians!
I promise you will not regret choosing Korvia. I have recommended Korvia to so many people and will continue to do so. They will be there for you from the initial process until you leave Korea.

My experiences with Korvia have been nothing but amazing so far.

I had other friends that came through Korvia before I arrived and, they spoke of nothing but great things from their recruiters and experiences. So, I knew I had to go through Korvia myself when I chose to stay for a second year. It was definitely a great decision.

The entire application process was clear and always well explained. Whenever I did have a question, my recruiter, Ciena, would always answer my questions in a quick and timely manner. She was nothing but helpful and I felt genuinely cared for under her guidance. She never hesitated to look for my best options and she always made sure to check in with me from time to time, just to make sure things were progressing well.

The job that I have now is wonderful and I'm very happy with my area, school, students, and community. I don't think there's anything I would change about my current position at all.

Korvia is a very respectable organization. I always recommend them to anyone when they ask me about what recruiting company they should use. I never even hesitate to say their name, they've done so much for me and I know they are more than capable of doing the same for many others.

All in all, I am more than pleased with my experiences with Korvia.

Keep up the awesome work!!!

Coming to Korea is a bit decision, and I had a ton of questions, both in terms of Korean culture as well as the actual steps in becoming a teacher. Korvia, and especially Ann Park, answered each and every questions promptly and completely. She really helped to calm my nerves, and Korvia, being a Korean company, gave me an immediate connection to the country I have called home for these past two years. At every step in the process, Korvia was there to help. They made sure I understood the documents I needed to get and asked for updates to ensure everything was going to plan. It is already overwhelming to think about moving to another country, and I think it would have been way too much for me to handle the entire application process on my own on top of that. Korvia took some of the burden off me and handled communication with EPIK for me. As soon as I arrived at the airport, Korvia staff were there to greet me and give me a free phone to use until I could get my own. That's just part of the great service they provide. Once we got settled in Korea, Korvia offers parties and fun activities for its recruits, but I, unfortunately, wasn't able to attend because I didn't live in Seoul. Still, it is nice that they want to continue to connect with recruits and support us even after we have arrived. I stayed in contact via email, and it was always pleasant to hear from Korvia. Thank you Korvia for getting me to Korea. It has been a fantastic 2 years working at a middle school in Daegu, and I'm so glad to have had this amazing experience.

My recruiter was Sarah and she was amazing. This is a fantastic company that helps you along every step of the way, which is exactly why I chose Korvia. They are extremely professional and always answer you with a quick response! Sarah was there to answer every little detail I had as well as help review and correct my application. I couldn't be happier with the outcome and my placement here in Daejeon. Thank you guys for all your help!

I originally applied to the EPIK program through another recruiter. Unfortunately, EPIK rejected me, and when my previously enthusiastic and "dedicated" recruiter found out, he dropped me like a hot potato and told me, "Have a nice life". To say I was devastated, was an understatement. I worked very hard to prepare myself for the EPIK application process and the possibility of moving to another country.

I was determined to find a teaching position in Korea. I knew there were other possible outlets. I just needed a reputable recruiter to help me explore those options. So I applied to Korvia Consulting! I was paired with Sarah as my recruiter, and I can tell you that she has been such a great support through my entire process.

Interview:

When I applied to Korvia, my application was pre-screened, then I was offered an interview with a recruiter (Sarah). This interview was maybe 15 minutes total. I believe the purpose of this email is to decipher individuals who are truly passionate about wanting to teach in Korea, from those who are looking for a free vacation. My advice is to be prepared when entering this interview. Know why you want to teach, and how you plan to teach. What is your teaching style (again, do your research if you do not know)? Where do you want to teach? I would suggest that you be pretty flexible with your options, mainly because Seoul is one of the hardest places to find a position now-a-days due to the lack of funding. Maybe consider the GEPIK program. Many locations in Gyeonggi-do are within an hour subway metro ride to Seoul. Either way, even if you are not placed anywhere near Seoul, the experience of living in another country and immersing yourself in a different culture should be a great opportunity all together.

Finding placement

I would say that this portion of the job process was the longest. Although Sarah was my official recruiter, all of the Korvia recruiters will send you descriptions of job openings. I could get 1 or 2 everyday. It was my duty to respond to these emails and tell the recruiters whether I was interested or not. If I was interested, then the recruiter would send my information (application and introduction video) to the school. It was at that point the school would decided whether they wanted to have an interview with me or not. Though this process sounds pretty easy, it was hard finding a school that wanted to interview me. I went 4 months without any interviews. The first an only school to interview me, ended up being the school that hired me!

DOCUMENTS, DOCUMENTS, DOCUMENTS!

As I mentioned early, be prepared. Already have your documents done, or in the process of being done. As for me, I had my documents done VERY early (August 2014). Therefore my background check expired (it only lasts 6 months). So once I received my job placement, I had to basically travel the entire United States to have my background check submitted, certified, and apostilled (I literally flew to Washington D.C. to have my background check apostilled in person).
Anyways, despite how crazily hectic everything was, Sarah and Ann Park stood by my side and reassured me continuously along the way. They were very organized. Once they received my documents in the mail they informed me right away. They made sure that things went smoothly despite my situation.

Additional Assistance

One of the main reasons I chose to apply through Korvia,is because of the services they provide you.
When my plane arrived in Korea, Korvia had a driver meet me at the airport and drive me directly to my apartment.
They also provided me with a preloaded Korean SIM phone card so I was able to communicate with people here in Korea and at home. The SIM card has about 30 minutes preloaded on it, but you can add more time and internet data if you want.

Placement

Since I was denied by EPIK, my next option was to apply through GEPIK, so my placement is located in Namyangju, Korea (about an hour east of Seoul). What I can say, is that despite it being considered "rural", it is still a pretty hustling town. I cannot say that your town will be similar to mine, but I can say that, you will be within a 30-45 minute distance of an Emart or shopping area (what I have deduced from other teachers working and living in the Gyeonggi-do area). I was stringent about wanting to teach at a public school, and I was awarded just that. From what I understand, private schools are quickly becoming the route to go because of reduced funding for the native teachers. I am happy with my school, co-teachers, students, and location.

Social Activities

Korvia is trying to bridge together their teachers through parties during the spring, summer, and fall. I was able to attend the Spring 2015 party, and was able to meet many teachers who have become good friends. I really appreciate this step they are taking, because this is one of the only times I get to interact with other foreigners in a open and comfortable environment, other than the GEPIK orientation.

All-in-all I was extremely satisfied with my experience through Korvia Consulting. I would HIGHLY recommend them if you are considering teaching English here in South Korea!

This is my eighth year in Korea. In spring of this year, I needed to find a new school for the first time in four years. A good friend of mine has spoken highly of Korvia Consulting for a while, so I signed up with them. Ann Park, Jessie Kim, and the rest of the staff did an excellent, thorough, professional job from my first contact with Korvia through my new placement, and after.

I had used a couple of other recruiting services in the past. One went out of business and the other was the exact opposite of Korvia: it was obvious that staff members did communicate well with each other, and were even worse when it came to providing information to me. Korvia always communicated with me in a timely manner, and made the process feel personal, positive, and even friendly.

I highly recommend Korvia Consulting to anyone interested in teaching English in South Korea.