Foreigners seek local jobs despite culture gap
From left, Seoul National University students Davin Schmidt, Lee Euna, Scott Whelden, Tunamal and Linda Chu gathered at a cafe to prepare for jobs at Korean companies. By Kim Do-hoon
In recent years the number of foreign students studying in Korea has been growing. While there were 22,526 foreign students in 2005, there were more than 83,000 last year.
Since the mid-2000s, when Korean products such as Samsung Electronics’ televisions and LG Electronics’ mobile phones were gaining popularity overseas as premium goods, the number of students has grown by 10,000 annually.
Many are hoping to land jobs at major Korean conglomerates. Foreign students are studying hard to prepare job applications, including writing resumes in Korean.
At the end of May, a group of foreign students gathered at a cafe near Seoul National University. They were being coached on how to write job applications in Korean by a 21-year-old Korean student majoring in media information at the same school.
The students meet regularly once a week to prepare their job applications.
The students include Tunamal, a Mongolian senior majoring in social welfare; Battogtokh, a Mongolian junior majoring in business management; Linda Chu, a Korean-New Zealander senior majoring in economics; and Scott Whelden and Davin Schmidt, who are majoring in business management.
Lee Euna, who consults with the foreign students, was born and raised in Indonesia. She came to Korea after graduating from high school there. Yet compared to other students she is more fluent in Korean.
“Unlike Koreans who have strong connections through close ties to alumni, it is difficult for foreigners to gather information,” said Battogtokh. “We are able to collect [job-related] information through this meeting.”
While Lee teaches other students to write better resumes in Korean, Whelden and Schmidt help others to get better scores on the official English proficiency tests, including the Toeic.
But the focus changed toward job application preparations as graduation drew near.
Tunamal has been practicing for a year to write her personal introduction for job applications in Korean.
Tunamal and Battogtokh both came to Seoul right after graduating from high school in Mongolia.
“I have dreamed of coming to Korea ever since I first laid eyes on Korean electronics goods and Korean pop culture,” said Tunamal. “Many Asian foreign students in Korea think that to become Asia’s best one needs to work at a Korean company.”
Battogtokh added: “An Asian is recognized as talented when he works for Samsung in Korea.”
The foreign students say that they have no plans to apply for the special recruitment slots Korean companies offer to foreign students here in Korea. Instead they hope to compete directly with Korean students.
For that reason they are studying writing resumes in Korean.
They believe that they will not suffer from disadvantages in terms of career promotion against native Koreans if they can prove they are competitive when being recruited.
Although the number of foreign students in Korea has grown and the number of those hoping to work here has gone up as well, the number of spots in Korea for foreign students is extremely small.
Even on the Internet it is hard to find any information on hiring foreign students in Korea.
Some students say they had hoped that Korean companies would have a separate recruitment Web site offered in English.
According to a survey of 1,003 Korean exporters conducted by the Korea International Trade Association, only 12 percent hire foreign students.
Korean companies have been gradually increasing their recruitment of foreign students, but compared to the surging number of students coming to Korea the opportunities are slim.
Some students say they have searched the Internet to try to find intern programs, but it has turned out to be a waste of time.
“Foreign students who came to Korea with high hopes may end up with huge disappointments once they fail to get a job here,” said Park Heung-soon, a Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry official in charge of the human resource development department.
“We need a policy that will increase the number of foreign students studying in Korea while also offering jobs - instead of just drawing students to study here.”
Some of the foreign students are also worried about whether they’ll be able to handle the Korean corporate culture after they get a job.
Whelden said he was worried about working in Korea because of the rigid and vertical relationships between a superior and subordinate in Korean corporate cultures.
“I’m worried that I might be disregarded because I grew up in a newly emerging economy,” said Lee, who grew up in Indonesia.
The two Mongolians said they were concerned about the heavy drinking involved in the Korean corporate culture.
Some who are already working in Korean companies say these firms need to make changes if they want to become leading global enterprises.
The biggest problem is seen as a lack of communication.
“Shouldn’t there at least be English documents?” said a 30-year old European worker who joined a Korean company last year and complained that language represents his biggest job stress.
Due to the lack of documents in English, the European said his workload has nearly doubled.
“Korean companies are becoming global enterprises, yet it is difficult to get adjusted to the language and the Korean way of working,” the European said.
Some complained about the authoritarian working environment. They said that Korean companies tend to focus on rank rather than ability. In addition, it is difficult for new recruits to express their opinions.
“The middle management are so rigid in their thought that it is difficult for foreigners to utilize all of their abilities,” one foreign worker said.
Some complained about the glass ceiling within organizations. They say foreigners are excluded from being involved in important issues and therefore the opportunity for promotion is very limited.
“While working at Korean companies, I have never met a foreign executive,” another foreigner worker said. “I believe there is a glass ceiling that prevents foreign workers from getting promoted.”
Others cited excessive after-work gatherings as being stressful.
A 29- year-old German said employees elsewhere in the world would normally lose their jobs if they came to the office with a severe hangover from drinking heavily the night before.
“From a global point of view, it is really hard to understand how Korean companies accept employees who are still drunk the next day because of excessive drinking the previous night,” the German said.
Yet young talents like Tunamal say Korean companies remain attractive.
“Although there are some differences in culture, my goal is to get a job at a Korean company,” Tunamal said. “And whichever company I go to I hope to contribute to the development of the company with creative ideas that are different from those of Koreans.”
By Kwon Hee-jin, Han Eun-hwa [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]
한글 관련 기사 [중앙일보]
외국인 화이트칼라 1만 명 시대 (下) 한국 취업 꿈꾸는 외국인 유학생들
“외국인 유학생 8만 명 … 자기소개서 작성만 1년 준비”
서울대 외국인 유학생 취업 동아리
이 자리엔 이씨와 투나말뿐 아니라 몽골 출신의 바톡토흐(21·경영학과 3년), 미국인인 스콧 웰든(27·경영학과 2년)과 데이빈 슈밋(26·경영학과 2년), 뉴질랜드 교포 린다 주(22·여·경제학과 4년) 등 6명의 서울대생이 모여 있었다.
서울대의 외국인 유학생 취업 스터디모임이다. 이은아씨의 경우 국적은 한국이지만, 인도네시아에서 태어나고 자란 ‘준외국인’이어서 모임에 끼게 됐다.
이들은 매주 한 번씩 모여 취업 정보를 나눈다. 바톡토흐는 “선후배 관계가 돈독한 한국 학생들과 달리 외국인은 인맥을 통해 정보를 구하기가 매우 어렵다”며 “이렇게 뭉치는 것도 부족한 정보를 조금이나마 더 확보하려는 노력”이라고 말했다.
이은아씨가 다른 친구의 한글 자기소개서 지도를 하듯, 서로 취업 준비를 돕기도 한다. 토익(TOEIC) 공부를 지도하는 건 영어가 모국어인 멤버들의 몫이다.
어느 기업이 인턴을 구한다는 정보를 입수했는데 지원 마감일이 다음번 정기 모임 전이라면 서로 문자메시지를 보내는 식으로 정보를 교환하기도 한다.
이 모임은 2009년에 만들어졌다. 처음엔 취업준비 모임이 아니었다.
한국어로 하는 수업을 따라가려고 같은 강의를 듣는 외국인들이 뭉친, 순수 학점 스터디 모임이었다. 졸업이 다가오면서 지난해 중반부터 모임은 취업 준비 위주로 바뀌었다. 다만 아직 2학년인 미국인 웰든과 슈밋은 취업보다 수업 관련 스터디에 중점을 두고 있다.
지난 1년간 이들은 자기소개서 작성을 연습하고 면접 준비도 했다. 투나말은 그동안 취업을 준비하면서 이것저것 기록했던 노트를 보여줬다. 거기엔 자기소개서를 쓸 때 자주 실수했던 단어와 각 기업의 인턴 채용일자 등 취업과 관련된 사항이 빼곡히 적혀 있었다.
투나말과 바톡토흐는 몽골에서 고교를 졸업한 뒤 바로 유학을 왔다. 유학을 온 이유는 한국 기업에 들어가기 위해서였다. 한국 기업 입사를 꿈꾸게 된 동기는 한국 전자 제품과 한류에 빠져서였다.
투나말은 “전자 제품과 한류 때문에 한국을 동경하게 됐다”며 “최소한 아시아 최고의 것을 배우고 익히려면 한국 기업에 들어가야 한다는 게 상당수 아시아 국가 유학생의 생각”이라고 말했다.
바톡토흐는 “‘한국의 삼성에 다닌다’면 ‘아시아에서 인정받는 인재’라고 여기는 게 몽골의 분위기”라고 전했다. 그는 “한국 기업에서 짧은 시간 안에 세계 최고가 된 저력을 배우고 싶다”고 덧붙였다.
이들은 외국인 유학생 별도 채용이 아니라 일반 대졸 신입사원 공채를 통해 국내 기업에 들어가겠다고 했다.
한글 자기소개서를 열심히 쓰고, 한국어로 면접을 볼 준비를 하는 것도 그래서다. “한국인과 경쟁할 정도의 한국어 실력과 한국 문화에 대한 소양을 갖춰야 입사한 뒤에도 업무나 승진에서 차별 받지 않을 것”이라는 생각이다.
다들 한국 기업에 입성하는 게 목표지만 걱정도 있다. 웰든은 “한국 기업은 상사와 부하 직원의 관계가 딱딱하고 수직적이라고 알고 있다”며 “이런 문화 때문에 과연 한국 기업에 취업하는 게 잘하는 일일지 고민된다”고 털어놨다.
인도네시아에서 자란 이은아씨는 혹시 신흥국 출신이라는 이유로 직장에서 무시당하지 않을까 걱정이라고 했다. 투나말과 바톡토흐에게는 세계에 명성(?)을 떨치고 있는 한국 직장인들의 술자리 문화가 부담거리였다.
투나말은 “문화가 이질적인 부분도 있지만 어쨌든 한국 기업 취업은 당면한 인생의 목표”라며 “어느 회사를 가든 한국인과는 다른 시각에서 창의적인 아이디어를 많이 내 회사의 발전에 이바지하고 싶다”고 말했다.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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