Korean Job Discussion Forums

[JZer]

[JZer]

Furthermore a family member of mine is president of HUSQVARNA USA. He did not go to any fancy school.

[Yaya]

So JZer, if everyone followed your suspect advice, they'd succeed, eh? Forget going to Harvard, instead learn everything on the street and in life? NOT!

Look, I am NOT saying NOT going to an Ivy League school dooms one to failure, but well, there is a reason why it's so damn hard and competitive to get into the top schools, and that most Koreans with ambition opt to go there. Good for your relative who is president of whatever company you listed, but the numbers say otherwise.

But back to the original post. Korea has a glut of holders of overseas MBAs. Many are doing less than expected work or unsatisfactory jobs. I used to work for a Seoul bank's investor relations team, and many of the peeps there who had MBAs had no great advantage in the promotion system, but of course, the ones with the more prestigious MBAs or advanced degrees (as in FOREIGN and 99% U.S) got preference in promotions. Then again, it was a state-run bank so it could've been different at a private bank.

I do have an Italian friend who speaks five languages who is considering an MBA in Korea or China (he's completely fluent in Chinese). His main priority is to do his MBA in a city he wants to be in, and he says he wants to stay in Asia. To his advantage, he's basically set for life and doing an MBA in either China or Korea will cost much less than in the West.

[JZer]

[Yaya]

Going to Harvard will also expose one to the geniuses out there. Competing against Ivy League talent is DEFINITELY better than against minor league talent like at the Univ. of Central Florida. I'm sure Central Florida attracts bright students, but well, Harvard and the Ivy League are what they are.

Sure, you have the stories of the guy who went to a small college making it as a pro athlete, but that's the rare exception and NOT the norm. Yeah, I guess LeBron James would've gone to the University of Akron instead of Ohio State or another big name school just to prove us wrong, right? NOT!

[Ozabout7or8]

If you haven't developed the skills or abilities that make you who you are by your mid 20's it is too late.

An Ivy League grad education is no better than any other GOOD programme out there. For most it is simply a badge to get a job, which rightly or wrongly alot of the time works. So the money is not wasted if you want it as a badge. Because that is the way the employment world works.

Doesn't mean that Ivy league education was any better than any other good programme out there, of which there are thousands. People have a need to rank things and pick the best. You will find that for most capable students, there is very little difference between any of hte top 1,000 grad schools other than distance from where they are (I am specifically excluding Korean ones at this stage).

[postfundie]

[Yaya]

[postfundie]

[Yaya]

[gruegoo]

Ok things are getting personal, which was not my intention when I started posting to this thread again. The same arguments are being stated over and over again, so lets just agree to disagree.

Regarding Korean MBA's or Non-Korean MBA's with work placements in Korea, can anyone talk about their experiences?

I'm planning on a work placement in Korea and maybe even an exchange with Yonsei and I'd like to get a feel for what it would be like. Is it difficult to work in a Korean company without being completely fluent? (This is of course assuming the company knows it's a work placement from an English program and that my Korean level is about intermediate)

[postfundie]

[JZer]

[pavement burns]

To add fuel to the fire...?

This is for the guy who thinks you have to get with the "Ivy League" in your twenties or else? Risk and uncertainty which will effect the big pay-off? Do your research and planning and it will not matter where you study but how you plan for and manage risk, uncertainty, change, negotiation, education, and decision-making at any age and any escuela. It is more about what you put in to your education not where that matters to what you get out. Korea has a batch of risks and uncertainties unique to this nation which can and might effect earning potentials in future education-wise or not.

Korean Trends

ECONOMIC TRENDS: A first trend is in employment where service industries are seen to be rising to 76% of workers as of 2010 from a rate of 72.8 % as of 2004 (Lee, Y.H., 2004: 16) with managers, technical staff and professional categories increasing while semi and low skilled labourers percentages are falling. In addition nearly half the working population is employed in irregular or short term positions, be they temporary or daily contracts which continue to grow implicating not only continued educational programs for youth but necessarily increased retraining programs for aging or mature workers. Further globalization is projected to require more workers with, �analytical, communication and collaboration skills� than currently available (Ibid, 2004: 19). Also a polarization of jobs available in the top 30% and bottom 30% pay ranges has seen a continued reduction in middle income positions which may be a future impediment to continued economic growth. Youth unemployment in itself is also seen to be double the average OECD members at 7.9% as of 2004.

A second trend reveals that interest rates and currency exchange rates with the US dollar will continue to be effected by global considerations such as the price of oil which has affected a downturn in industrial output since the end of 2006 decelerating exports due to weak US demands however supporting continued export trade volumes increases with Europe (Chan, 2007). This trend is considered difficult to determine due to persistent variability however Korea�s policy is described as �independent or free floating� with little interventionist practices according to IMF classifications and there appears little evidence to suggest indirect influences (Frankel, 2003; Bubula & Otker-Robe, 2002 in Willet & Kim, 2006: 6 & 7).

DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS: A first trend is the declining birth rate found to be one of the lowest in the world at an average of 1.1 children per woman as of 2006 according to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) (The Korea Times, 2006). Local initiatives to increase the rate of births include parental tax breaks, benefits in the area of social insurance and childcare subsidies. However a United Nations Population Division report in 2000 concluded that the only viable solutions included drastically increasing immigration rates beyond past levels with the dire warning that, "projected population decline and population ageing will have profound and far-reaching consequences, forcing governments to reassess many established economic, social and political policies and programmes, including those relating to international migration." (UN Population Division, 2000 in Wickramasekera, 2000:14). The report also definitively states that international migration is the only option which will effectively reduce declines in the short to mid term to maintain minimum support ratios.

A second trend directly linked to the first is a growing proportion of older workers in the nation which reveals that the percentage of elderly in the population was 9.1% in 2005 increasing to 10.9% by 2010 and to 37.3% by 2050 (Gey, 2006). This trend implicates worker retirement ages and it is suggested prior to 2050 the retirement age should be raised to 85 to mitigate increases in life expectancy which suggest that workers within the next two decades will need to work until the age of 75 and increase senior work support programs due to pension and traditional support services collapse (Staines, 2006).

http://crossculturalreviews.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html

[Yaya]