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Recently, most news and newspaper stories have been saying that the economic situation is getting much worse. Because of this situation, many companies are downsizing and thus employing less people. There have also been stories of people being fired from their jobs. As a result, people are looking for positions that offer guaranteed job security; and most of these seem to be in government sponsored public enterprises. Also most of public enterprises employ people by open invitation of applications for employment. So applicants for corporation can compete with other competitions only on their ability not any other factors, for example : gender, age and graduate school. In addition that, such enterprises provide good welfare, nice pay and guaranteed terms of office. However, because of the above mentioned benefits, the competition rate for getting into these places is very high.
The Post has found a graduate who, in spite of the high competition rate, managed to secure a position at the Korean Land Corporation. Her name is Son Seung‐yeon. She entered Dongguk Universitiy(DGU) in 1999 and graduated in 2003. Her major was Mass Communication. Let's listen to her success story.
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| Son Seung-yeon |
After she graduated from DGU, Seung yeon worked as a writer on EBS and KBS. Interestingly, during her time as a university student, she showed no interest in working for a corporation. She wanted to find work related to her major. However, when she started work as a writer, the reality soon proved very disappointing. Finally, it all got too much for her. After 2 years, she stopped work as a writer. She said: “It was very different from my expectations. I had no time to rest and found no real happiness in my job. I think it was a very important turning point in my life. I realized that job satisfaction is part of the key to happiness.” With this thought in her mind, she took six months off for travelling so as to consider her next move. This gave her time to realize that working in a secure corporation might ease her anxiety over the future. So after returning, she studied all day in the library. There was good reason for this. “Generally, she said, a corporation requires employees to have a good grounding in management policy. And since my major wasn’t management, I needed to study extra hard. There was no solution other than complete study immersion.” After she had studied for about six months, she applied for a position at the Korean Public Land Corporation.
The exam process
There are four steps to entering a corporation such as Korean Land. The first step is to attain a good English Toeic test score. She said that she scored 960 in her toeic exam. She added that this step was not too difficult. When she was a university student, she studied for one year at Michigan State University as an exchange student. She said “I improved my English skills not only through reading books and attending lectures, but through directly experiencing an English speaking culture.” She added that “Because of this experience, maybe scoring above 950 was not such a hard thing to do.”
If you pass the first test, the next step is the major test. She said that for this step there was no other solution other than to study hard. In her case, she searched online for essays and also read useful tips on how to prepare. She saved a lot of time by using such information.
The third step is an aptitude test. She said that her experience in applying for other corporations helped her pass with relative ease. One thing she noticed was that the questions asked at her aptitude test were similar to the ones asked at other corporation interviews. Previously, for example, she had applied to such places as The Welfare Services and The Health Management Corporation. This experience helped her a great deal. She added that “Score of Solving question is more important other than test score, one way of scoring high is that solving questions again and again. I did it”
The last step was an interview with a five person interview board composed of, among others, the vice president and the recruiter. Most of corporation use blind interview at this step. She said that she was very shy and quaked at first interview. However, she interviewed with executives again and again(Say again, she applied another enterprises) She could adjusted interviewing mood. Also before blind interview, she made group by internet Cafe and studied together with other person prefer for interview. She practiced with other person very much time. “I could acquire confidence thorough practicing. I think that confidence is very important. If you don’t have confidence, you can’t answer for that question. In addition you can’t say anything even if you know,” She added “Of course, it is very hard. But I think that every person can do it like me”
Final advice for DGU Students Seeking a Job.
First you should consider what kind of job you want. In my case, I realized this fact quite late. So I advise that DGU students think seriously about the kind of job they want. They should also plan their goals in a concrete way. Concentrate on the particulars so that all possible angles are covered. For example, how much time, on a daily basis, should one give over to studying. They may think this is not important but it is. Select carefully and then focus on that selection. Finally, they must not worry too much. I know that the economic situation is getting much worse and that there is no good news for job applicants. But there are no solutions other than making oneself into an effective candidate. However, people need to be patient. I also experienced failure many times. Companies will eventually recognize your abilities. So do your best!
Kim Ji-heon
Post Reporter
Kim Ji-heon kim556@dongguk.edu
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