FAQ

Welcome to KIS Jeju and the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) and the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.

The Frequently Asked Questions are categorised as follows:

1. Before Applying

Teaching Licence: A current and valid teaching licence or teaching certification issued by a national, state or provincial licensing authority from countries designated by Korea International School Jeju (KISJ). These countries are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. In addition, if you are seeking a position in the Middle or High School, your teaching licence or teaching certification must also align with the specific subject area of the vacancy and enable you to teach students at that grade level.

Education: At minimum, you need a Bachelor’s degree in the educational area of the position you are applying for. Ideally, you will also have earned a specialist or an advanced degree in your area of expertise such as a Master’s degree in Mathematics or English Language Arts. If you are interested in a leadership position, there are additional requirements which would include an Educational Leadership qualification. 

Experience: At minimum, you will have two (2) years of teaching experience in an international school setting in which English is the language of instruction, or you have worked with students who have English as an additional language. Ideally, you would have at least four (4) years of teaching experience, with at least two (2) years working in an international school setting in which English is the language of instruction.

Please go to either the Schrole recruitment platform; or, the Search Associates recruitment platform to find out more.

Child Protection and Safeguarding are imperative considerations in ensuring that all children at Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) are engaged in a safe and secure learning environment.

As part of our hiring process, we conduct thorough background checks on all applicants for positions at Korea International School Jeju (KISJ). 

Further to this, it is a mandatory requirement that all faculty and staff complete Child Protection and Safeguarding training annually prior to the first day of the new academic year.

All faculty and staff are required to be familiar with the KISJ Code of Conduct and the Child Protection Policy and must sign their acknowledgement to agree to follow the rules and guidelines for these policies. 

2. Recruitment Process

If a suitable position is available, please submit your application through either the Schrole recruitment platform; or the Search Associates recruitment platform. 

Our hiring team will review your application and if you meet the position requirements, you will be invited for an initial screening interview. 

If you are selected for an interview, our Faculty Affairs Coordinator will reach out to you via email with an invitation to attend an online screening interview using Google Meet. 

In the interview invitation email, you will receive a link to the Faculty Affairs Coordinator’s Google Calendar to select a suitable time to meet with you. In the email invitation, you will also be asked to complete a questionnaire so we can find out more about you prior to the interview. 

The purpose of this interview is for the school to verify you are able to obtain a working visa for the Republic of Korea.  It provides us the opportunity to further discuss the position, as well as to help determine whether Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) is the right fit for both you and us.

Shortly after the screening interview, you will be contacted by the Faculty Affairs Coordinator and informed whether you will move forward in the recruitment process. If you are moving forward, you will be contacted by the Divisional Principal to schedule a Stage 2 Interview. 

This interview will be with the Divisional Principal and/or the Associate Principal and/or the School Director. This interview will focus on your experience and your suitability for the position. 

Shortly after the Stage 2 interview, you will be contacted by the Divisional Principal and informed whether you will be moving forward in the recruitment process. If you are moving forward, you will be contacted by the Instructional Coach to schedule a Stage 3 Interview.

The Faculty Affairs Coordinator will contact the three (3) references you nominated in the questionnaire responses. These references must include your most current supervisor (Principal or Head of School). The purpose of this check is to ensure there are no child protection concerns as well as to check upon your professionalism and your suitability to work with children. In addition, a social media check will be conducted.

This interview will be with the Instructional Coach and the Department or Team Lead for the curriculum area of the position in which you are applying. This interview will focus on your subject area experience, knowledge, pedagogy and your suitability in working with the specific grade level for the position.

If there are no concerns raised from your reference checks, a final interview will be conducted with the School Director. In this interview, the School Director will discuss the contract, salary and other benefits, as well as answer any final questions you have about the position. Prior to this interview, a copy of the employment contract will be shared with you for your review. 

The School Director will inform you whether an offer of employment will be forthcoming.

If a contract offer is to be made, the School Director will request that the Faculty Affairs Coordinator send you a contract offer. It will be sent electronically for signature and you will have forty-eight (48) hours to accept or decline the contract.

3. Contract

If you receive a contract offer, please be sure to read through the contract with care and attention to detail. 

Salary:

The Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) compensation package consists of a United States Dollar (USD) amount as well as a Korean Won (KRW) amount per calendar year.

Salaries are based upon factors including years of experience and advanced degrees, and will be discussed in detail  further in the process.

Severance:

As mandated by employment laws in the Republic of Korea, if you are continually employed for 365 days or longer, you qualify for severance pay.

Korean National Pension:

If you are under sixty (60) years of age, it is mandated by employment laws in the Republic of Korea that you contribute to the Korean National Pension Plan. The contribution is 4.5% of your salary, and this amount is also matched by Korea International School Jeju (KISJ). 

Please note that not all countries have a social security agreement with the Republic of Korea. If a country does not have an agreement (currently these include New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, European Union countries), you will not be able to seek a refund on your pension contributions if you leave the Republic of Korea. 

Medical Insurance:

Medical insurance is provided to the employee and up to two (2) accompanying legal dependents who are under eighteen (18) years of age. The current medical insurance plan is provided by TieCare International and it includes dental and vision. 

Housing:

Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) will provide employees with partially furnished accommodation. There are accommodation options both on-campus or off-campus, with new teachers required to reside in the school-provided housing for the first year of their contract. 

Please note, whilst the school will provide your accommodation, there are some additional expenses that will need to be paid by the resident. These will include utilities (electricity, gas, water), maintenance services, and personal services (cell phone, internet, Cable TV, etc.).

Stipends and Bonuses:

There are additional stipends and bonuses that may apply based on your contract. Please see the contract for more details on these stipends and bonuses.

The salary determination for a teacher will vary based on documented, full-time certified professional teaching experience at accredited institutions where English is the language of instruction.

Your contract states that you have been hired to work at Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) and as such we do not include positions on our academic contracts. Sometimes, due to student enrollment numbers or other conditions, adjustments need to be made. In such circumstances, the divisional Principal will communicate with you to find the best solution for you and the students before any changes are made.

After you have completed a full year of employment at Korea International School Jeju (KISJ), your salary will increase for the next academic year.

As Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) is the sponsor of your working visa, unfortunately, due to immigration laws in the Republic of Korea, teachers can only work for Korea International School Jeju (KISJ). Any other employment within the Republic of Korea is not permitted under your employment visa.

4. Onboarding

Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) uses Google Classroom as the main support hub for our incoming faculty members. 

Once your Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) email account is active, you will receive an invitation to join the Google Classroom for new faculty and staff members. 

Your ‘teachers’ in the classroom are the Faculty Affairs Coordinator and the Human Resources and Labor Affairs Team members. This is to ensure that only the relevant people can see your personal information. 

Here you will find information on all the things you need to prepare for your visa application, as well as other information regarding your arrival in Jeju. It’s set up to provide some clarity on the documents required for your visa and with due dates, so that you can also track the process on getting things done. 

Because collecting documents and sending them by courier can be time consuming, expensive and stressful, we have set up the Google Classroom so that you can attach scans of the documents to enable our Human Resources and Labor Affair Team to check them to make sure they are correct before sending. 

As you get closer to joining Korea International School Jeju (KISJ), the Google Classroom will also be used to communicate key information such as arrival information, things to prepare before getting to Korea, shopping and other outings, etc.

Once your employment contract has been signed, the Faculty Affairs Coordinator will work with our IT Team to create an email account for you.

Once it is ready, the Faculty Affairs Coordinator will share the details with you via your personal email. 

If at any time you have questions or problems with your Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) email, please reach out to the Faculty Affairs Coordinator who can provide assistance.

5. Arrival on Jeju Island and Orientation

Your arrival on Jeju Island will be scheduled sometime between 21st July and the first day of new teacher orientation. As the orientation schedule is not determined until the academic calendar is confirmed, at this time we do not know exactly when this date will be. 

Generally, you would arrive somewhere between the Wednesday and Saturday before new teacher orientation, which would begin on a Monday. 

On arrival, you will be greeted at the Jeju International Airport by members of the Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) leadership team and will be transported to your apartment. At your apartment, you will be shown how to use some of the appliances, such as the air conditioning, ondol (floor and hot water heating), etc. 

In the days following your arrival, there will be options to do some shopping trips to get groceries and other items you need to begin making your apartment your ‘home’. It will also give you an opportunity to meet other new teachers and their families and to become familiar with the local area. 

New faculty and staff orientation will begin on a Monday morning (based on the academic calendar for that year). In the 2026 academic year, it was Monday, 27th July. 

Orientation usually begins with a welcome breakfast from 8:30 am to 9:30 am for all the new faculty and their families. Following the breakfast, family members are transported back to their apartments and orientation officially begins at 9:30 am.

The first few days of orientation will be a lot of procedural tasks such as filling out forms to set up your bank accounts, a medical check for your visa, as well as a visit to the Jeju Immigration Office to process your visa application. You will also have plenty of time to learn more about Korea International School Jeju (KISJ), and to set up your classroom. 

In addition, the Middle Level Leaders (MLLs) will be on campus to assist you with information and support so that you are successful and ready to begin your new teaching opportunity within the Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) community. 

6. Moving to Jeju Island

There are a few ways that new teachers bring personal items to Jeju Island.

Purchase excess luggage for their flights

Send things via the postal service (mail)

Use a shipping company

Korea International School Jeju (KISJ) cannot assist with arranging the transportation of your personal items. Please contact a shipping provider to make that arrangement yourself. 

You will need to have physically arrived in the Republic of Korea before your packages or shipped items otherwise you may incur customs duties. 

To declare your belongings, you will need some documents such as your passport, your Residence Card and a confirmation of employment. Usually, your shipping company will communicate with you to arrange this with you. However, if additional assistance is required, our Faculty Assistant Officer can help. 

To receive your packages or containers safely and without customs duties, you must arrive in the Republic of Korea before your items arrive.

Your contract will include information on shipping and relocation allowances. Please see the benefits section of your contract for more information.

The relocation allowance will be provided to you in KRW (Korean Won) on your arrival in Jeju. The relocation allowance is provided to help with your settling in expenses as well as to provide some financial support for the costs associated with obtaining your visa (documents needing to be apostilled, postage, etc.).

The shipping allowance will be paid in your first payroll on 25th August.

7. Housing