There are a few things I left out of blog posts while I was in South America. Specifically, anything to do with my application process for an English teaching position in South Korea. Since I have officially been offered the job (and will be signing a contract in a week), here are some fun stories about what its like to apply/interview for a job while backpacking.
The Paperwork Stage
My application process began in the states 1 or 2 months before I left for South America. I started acquiring all the necessary paperwork (transcripts, reference letters, diplomas, etc), writing essays and lesson plans, and-most importantly- took an online course to obtain my TEFL certification (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish my TEFL course before I left for traveling and continued the course in what felt like a painstakingly slow pace throughout Argentina and a few weeks into Brazil. It was super-duper fun to take quizzes, relearn everything about grammar, and plead with the hostel computers to not freeze up/shut down/decide to rebel against having working internet. It was a day of celebration when I completed that course.
The Sending Things in Stage
This part is boring but I need to acknowledge a special lady. My mom is the greatest. She tolerated my constant texts and emails about documents I needed printed/copied/scanned/mailed and acted as my proxy in the states to finish my application.
The Interview
This story involves an old Bolivian lady, a tiny internet cafe, and a whole lot of stress.
It all started with the congratulation email from my recruiter saying that I made it to the Skype interview stage. Yay! This was a great moment except that the email said that the interview was the following day. Not stress inducing at all. Not at all. I had been checking my email religiously multiple times a day since I had sent in my application but had just spent 5 days without internet while I hiked the Colca Canyon in Peru (they just so happened to email me the day I left for the canyon...awesome). So while I was ecstatic, I was also completely horrified. Not only was I not mentally prepared for the interview, we were also taking an overnight bus to Cusco that evening. I don't know how many of you have taken overnight buses but 1.) you don't sleep very well no matter how hard you try, and 2.) you smell funny afterwards and look like you haven't showered in days (at least in my experience). Before catching our bus, Hannah and I made sure to book a hostel that had hot, working showers and fantastic internet (so said the reviews on hostelworld.com).
I barely slept on the bus. Anxiety will do that to you. When we finally got ourselves to our hostel we were greeted with "we currently don't have hot water or internet." I freaked. The rest of the day was devoted to finding a place to have my interview (Hannah put up with a lot that day). I wandered into every hostels and internet cafe within 2 miles of our hostel. According to the interview guide provided by my recruiter I needed to have a brightly lit, quiet space with a white background. Plus I needed to be dressed professionally....YEAH, OK. Backpacking guys, I had been backpacking for months and I needed professional clothes. It also turns out that brightly lit, quiet spaces are hard to find in hostels or internet cafes in Cusco.
Thats when a miracle happened. I found a cafe. A cafe with white walls and fast internet. I ended up paying the old lady who worked there to close the cafe early, shut the doors, and turn off her T.V (she was watching her dramas). The interview went fine and I practically hugged the old lady when I finished.
To sum it up:
- Thank god Skype only shows shoulders and up. I don't think ripped jeans would have been considered appropriate.
- I got a private space to do my interview and the lady only wanted to charge me 1.5 bolivianos (around 30 cents) for using the internet for almost 3 hours and closing early. So cheap. I gave her extra.
- Cold showers are a great way to wake up after a long bus ride.
- I have zero idea how I passed the interview. Seriously. I felt so sleepy, overwhelmed, and underprepared.
- I think I made myself sick with stress. The next day I woke up with a fever and was in bed all day. Good times.
The rest of the process is pretty boring. It took 3 weeks to hear back about my results, I sent all my paperwork to S. Korea so they could figure out my placement, and now they're sending me my contract.
The end. More later. I'll be using this blog during my time in S. Korea and I want to update it at least once a week.
Placement: Gwangju
Age of Students: ?
Departure Date: ?
The Sending Things in Stage
This part is boring but I need to acknowledge a special lady. My mom is the greatest. She tolerated my constant texts and emails about documents I needed printed/copied/scanned/mailed and acted as my proxy in the states to finish my application.
The Interview
This story involves an old Bolivian lady, a tiny internet cafe, and a whole lot of stress.
It all started with the congratulation email from my recruiter saying that I made it to the Skype interview stage. Yay! This was a great moment except that the email said that the interview was the following day. Not stress inducing at all. Not at all. I had been checking my email religiously multiple times a day since I had sent in my application but had just spent 5 days without internet while I hiked the Colca Canyon in Peru (they just so happened to email me the day I left for the canyon...awesome). So while I was ecstatic, I was also completely horrified. Not only was I not mentally prepared for the interview, we were also taking an overnight bus to Cusco that evening. I don't know how many of you have taken overnight buses but 1.) you don't sleep very well no matter how hard you try, and 2.) you smell funny afterwards and look like you haven't showered in days (at least in my experience). Before catching our bus, Hannah and I made sure to book a hostel that had hot, working showers and fantastic internet (so said the reviews on hostelworld.com).
I barely slept on the bus. Anxiety will do that to you. When we finally got ourselves to our hostel we were greeted with "we currently don't have hot water or internet." I freaked. The rest of the day was devoted to finding a place to have my interview (Hannah put up with a lot that day). I wandered into every hostels and internet cafe within 2 miles of our hostel. According to the interview guide provided by my recruiter I needed to have a brightly lit, quiet space with a white background. Plus I needed to be dressed professionally....YEAH, OK. Backpacking guys, I had been backpacking for months and I needed professional clothes. It also turns out that brightly lit, quiet spaces are hard to find in hostels or internet cafes in Cusco.
Thats when a miracle happened. I found a cafe. A cafe with white walls and fast internet. I ended up paying the old lady who worked there to close the cafe early, shut the doors, and turn off her T.V (she was watching her dramas). The interview went fine and I practically hugged the old lady when I finished.
 |
| GOT THE JOB! |
To sum it up:
- Thank god Skype only shows shoulders and up. I don't think ripped jeans would have been considered appropriate.
- I got a private space to do my interview and the lady only wanted to charge me 1.5 bolivianos (around 30 cents) for using the internet for almost 3 hours and closing early. So cheap. I gave her extra.
- Cold showers are a great way to wake up after a long bus ride.
- I have zero idea how I passed the interview. Seriously. I felt so sleepy, overwhelmed, and underprepared.
- I think I made myself sick with stress. The next day I woke up with a fever and was in bed all day. Good times.
The rest of the process is pretty boring. It took 3 weeks to hear back about my results, I sent all my paperwork to S. Korea so they could figure out my placement, and now they're sending me my contract.
The end. More later. I'll be using this blog during my time in S. Korea and I want to update it at least once a week.
Placement: Gwangju
Age of Students: ?
Departure Date: ?
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