Internships, language studies, community service are all expected by Korean employers, placing significant stress on students who wish to explore their more creative side
The typical image of Korean university students having a fun drinking night during summer vacation is long gone. Instead, university students are hitting their school libraries to study for language proficiency exams, computer licenses and civil service examinations.
With the job market becoming increasingly more competitive by the minute, college students feel the pressure to focus their attention on landing internships, obtaining a good score on language exams and doing a study abroad program.
Admittedly, this is not a situation uncommon throughout the world. What is different in Korea, however, is the degree to which the university students are dedicating their time and energy to focus solely on the job prospective. Teetering dangerously between doing something just for the sake of doing it and pursuing their hearts' desire, more and more confused students in Korea find themselves in an exhausting cycle.
According to an official in Ewha Woman’s University Career Development Center, the Center receives more than 500 interested applicants within the first two hours for every internship announcement posted.
Honorary professor Horace H. Underwood from Yonsei University claimed (during a seminar held in June 2006) that there are approximately 160,000 Korean university students going abroad each year in comparison to the 10,000 foreign students coming in. A TOEFL Academy in Jonggak station, (T-Plan Academy) has a total of nine TOEFL classes a day, with an average of 120 students per class.
“I have done a total of seven internships during my college years,” says Jung Yeon Park, a senior in Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. “Most of the internships I did were with foreign companies. But I don’t have a single line on my resume that I did based on what I truly loved; literature and writing.” Park is not an exception when it comes to filling her vacation time with pursuing job prospects.
While many students admit that their efforts evolved around increasing their TOEFL scores may be futile in the long run, they cannot help continue to focus on it. “I know that I have to do what makes me happy,” says Yeong Hae Yoon, a student in Political Science Ewha Woman’s University. “But it’s scary knowing that if I don’t do what everyone else is doing, I’ll fall behind.”
Students who make these choices aren't the only ones to blame. Many believe that the rote-learning based education system and the symmetrical employment standard imposed by many conglomerates in Korea, also has an impact. The recruiting-by-mass system that many companies, such as the three biggest conglomerates in Korea (Samsung, LG Group, and CJ Corp) practice, does not give much room for the creativity that students seek to express.
“The format for resumes is assigned by the company and there’s even a specific slot for language proficiency exams, community service hours, internship experiences,” says Joo Hee Bae, Public Relations Manager for MTEK Vision. The symmetrical employment standard could be one of the reasons for the current trend whereby students padding the resumes in the three orderly patterns: internship, language, study abroad experience.
The Korean education system may also play a role. “Every Korean student is given a goal – to enter the top universities in Seoul – from when they are in elementary school,” says Ji Yeon Kang, a sophomore in Hanyang University. “It does not come as a surprise to find everyone so lost after they’ve entered university. They are suddenly unleashed into freedom from which they have to come up with their own goals to go after.”
But do densely filled-out resumes with various internships really get you the job you want? Regina Walton, a student in Ewha GSIS program, recalls her experience working as an employee interviewing and screening applicants. “I see Korean students so desperate to catch all kind of opportunities – even the things that they have no interest in. But we can see through that in a second. It may get you to the interview but that’s as far as it goes.”
Colby Yoon, a consultant and headhunter at Legal Financial Research Korea, says, “Internships, test scores help - along with studying abroad as it gives the employer a basic gauge in terms of the area of interest and bilingual ability of candidates.”
While it is important and helpful to obtain the often required abilities by many companies, Mr. Yoon suggests that, “students for now [in university] concentrate more on schoolwork and enjoy doing what they like. Rather than doing things that might look good, think long and hard about what one wants to do once out of school.”
Difficult as it may be to not get swept away, students who have committed to what they truly enjoy are happier and more productive. “I guess my friends and I know how important it is find good stable jobs- but we want to enjoy our college years when we’re in college,” says Ko Im, a student in University of Pennsylvania. “If we pursue what we like and try our hardest to excel in that, maybe that could a career option. But why start containing ourselves so early with worries of job prospective?” Interested in communications, Ko has worked at various media-related jobs, such as working as a DJ for the local radio station, writing for the local newspaper and her university daily.
Rather than engaging in these various activities as a means towards the end (better employment), perhaps doing what one enjoys and striving to excel in that field will be a more worthwhile preparation for the future.
