After working for a company for about two years, I left in search of a new one. It’s not that I disliked the company or my colleagues. In fact, my job was very fulfilling, my superiors and teammates great, and I loved the industry that I worked in. But with the onset of the pandemic, I realized that the work I was limited to was not something that I wished to do in the long run. So I left in pursuit of a different role that I could see myself doing even decades from now.
On top of that, my family decided to move back to South Korea and I needed to find a job that could ensure my independent survival.
It was then that the idea of teaching English abroad dawned on me.
Why not travel abroad to South Korea for a year to teach English and have housing provided for me by the English abroad program? The program offered paid accommodation and flights as well as a severance bonus. It seemed perfect!
(There are many different programs for teaching English abroad, from the ones in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea to Spain, Czech Republic, and United Arab Emirates.)
EPIK Overview:
Acronym for “English Program in Korea,” EPIK is a one-year program where citizens from English speaking countries (now only accepting applicants from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K., Unites States, and South Africa) can go to South Korea to teach English in public schools.
Established back in 1995, EPIK is affiliated with and sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Education. Check out the official website HERE.
1) Applying to EPIK for the Fall 2021 Term
As excited as I was to teach and travel, I began my application immediately. It was the May of 2021 when I started the process, and the deadline was sometime in July. For the timeline EPIK created for the application procedures, visit this page.
I reasoned there was enough time for me to submit my application.
And I did. By the end of May, I was able to gather all the required documents for the initial application except for the second letter of recommendation, which was scheduled to arrive on the first week of June.
But the application for the Fall 2021 term, out of nowhere, closed on May 24, 2021 in KST.
I don’t remember the exact time in KST that the application closed. Neither am I certain about May 24th. Perhaps it was May 25th. But I do remember clearly that the application closed on the last week of May, because I was beyond disappointed about how randomly the application closed. And EPIK neither put this important update on its website nor did it announce it beforehand; I was able to find out about this news only when I went inside my application portal.
So I could not apply for the Fall 2021 intake.
2) Applying to EPIK (again) for the Spring 2022 Term
As upset as I was, I was far from giving up. Since I had all my materials ready, I decided to retry for the Spring 2022 Term. The timeline for the Spring term showed that the application opened in August. This time, I was going to submit my application the week it opened.
The Spring 2022 application opened on August 23rd, 2021.
But to my unpleasant surprise, the required documents had changed. For the Spring 2022 term, EPIK required applicants to submit an “Apostilled CRC” in addition to the…
– Online Application
– Professional Photo
– Two Letters of Recommendation
– Proof of English Education
– Lesson Plan Worksheet/Handout Samples
The Criminal Record Check Process
So, at this point, the only thing I was missing was the apostilled national-level criminal record check. And as naïve as I was, I decided to go ahead and try to attain it. If I had known beforehand how much I’d spend and what would happen, I would not have started the process.
Referring to various websites and EPIK’s own guidelines, I went ahead and applied for an FBI criminal record check through one of the approved channelers. EPIK writes that “applying directly through the FBI for a CRC is an incredibly time consuming process that can take multiple months.” So, as directed, I chose an approved channeler called Inquiries Screening.
For a complete list of FBI-Approved Channelers, visit HERE.
Inquiries Screening
Long story short, I paid Inquiries Screening $45 to do the job. They requested that I mail the FBI Departmental Order Submission Form along with 2 separate sets of fingerprint cards to them. To get my fingerprints done, I had to go to a post office and spend $62 to get two sets of inked fingerprints, as duplicate copies were not accepted. After paying a total of about a $100 and waiting for about two days, I received a link from Inquiries that gave me access to my background check.
*TIP: Inquiries Screening did a good job, but I was told by the post office lady that it is way more convenient (and cheap) to use a channeler named “Biometrics4All.” Here is their info posted on fbi.gov:
Biometrics4All, Inc.
www.applicantservices.com
(714) 568-9888
The Apostilling Process – Monument Visa
Now that I had attained my criminal record check, I needed to have it apostilled by the U.S. State Department. To do so, I contacted Monument Visa, which appeared to be the most trusted, popular choice. For a service fee of $55 (plus the Fedex 2-3 Business Shipping of $20), I successfully requested to get my criminal record check apostilled through Monument Visa.
Finally Submitting My EPIK Application
Now I was able to submit my application, as I finally had all the required documents for the initial application. Although my criminal record check wasn’t apostilled yet, EPIK wrote on its guidelines that either one of the following were required for the initial application:
– “A scan of a nationally apostilled national-level criminal record check dated on or after August 1st, 2021. Please review the “Required Documents” section of our website for details on which documents are acceptable and how to obtain them.“
OR
– “A scan of a non-apostilled national-level criminal record check dated on or after August 21st, 2021 + a scan of proof of application for a national apostille (receipt, e-mail confirmation, scan of application for apostille, proof of payment, etc.). Acceptable proof will be determined by the EPIK Office. If you have inquiries on this, please email [email protected].”
Using the second option, I successfully submitted my EPIK application on August 27th, just 4 days after the application opened. Along with the non-apostilled criminal record check and proof of application for a national apostille, I submitted my online application with the two letters of recommendation, lesson plan, hand out, an official TEFL certificate as well as the required essays.
In total, I spent $182 to submit my EPIK application. I could have saved much more if I had chosen a different channeler and requested the documents even earlier on to save on shipping. But even if I had, I would have had to spend about $100.
Be aware: applying to EPIK will NOT be cheap nor easy.
A Ridiculous Announcement
After submitting my application and required materials, I minded my own business and went about my daily tasks. But from time to time, I checked in on EPIK-related news, since EPIK sometimes made crucial changes without properly announcing them (i.e. my experience during the Fall 2021 application term). I periodically checked their Facebook page, YouTube channel, as well as their official website.
Lo and behold, I saw an unbelievable update saying that changes had been made to the application process for the Spring 2022 term. It was as follows:
“Due to various delays in criminal record check (CRC) and apostille processing times in many countries caused by COVID-19, we have decided to postpone the requirement for an apostilled CRC at the time of application for the Spring 2022 term. Applicants applying on or after 13:00PM on September 6th KST will not need to upload an apostilled national level criminal record check (CRC) with their initial online application.“
– The EPIK Team –
So EPIK made the change for the Spring 2022 term that required all applicants to submit an apostilled national level criminal record check only to repeal it a few weeks afterwards. And as an early, eager applicant, I had wasted my energy, time and money on it. On something that was now unnecessary in order to apply.
There you have it. My not so epic experience applying to EPIK.
But wait. It’s not over yet… 🙁
Check out my next post, “Applying to EPIK: Not So Epic Experience (PART II – The EPIK Interview)”.
