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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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 Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| spaceman82 wrote: |
Can I ask how you went about making this transition and what you did to set yourself apart as an applicant (other than your Korean language studies)? Did you have a related undergrad major, go to grad school, etc.? |
My first year in Korea I was 25 and I wasn't really thinking about plans "down the road" - during the second year, I started thinking about whether I'd want to stay for another year or start making other arrangements (law school back in the states was going to be the contingency plan). About that time, I randomly met some people who worked at a (foreign) bank in Korea and after they gave me their cards I ended up going on the website and seeing an international graduate program that looked like a great way to get into the industry while satisfying my passion for travel.
While I did have the requisite background (econ/math majors in undergrad and grad school), the acceptance rate into the program was low single digits among similarly qualified applicants, and the interviewers took a very keen interest in my experience abroad and study of Korean. I have absolutely no doubt that the Korean factor sealed the offer for me, as I discovered later that most of the other Westerners also had international experience/Asian language skills.
I think people are misconstruing what myself and others are saying. It is unlikely that Korean skills alone will help you advance significantly in your professional endeavors (though IMHO it will greatly enhance your overall experience in Korea, as well as make you really learn a lot about a very different culture, which obvious brings with it residual benefits for your personal development)...however, if you DO have other skills/expertise to bring to the table, and you're hoping to do something in Korea or even overseas in some capacity that could relate to Korea, the language skills could certainly be the factor that gets you the job over the next applicant.
I live near Silicon Valley now and someone I know at a gaming start-up was telling me how nice it would be if they had a Korean speaker at their company, since there is a lot of interaction with Korean clients...and even if they had someone there who could help them understand gaming manuals, etc. how that would be very helpful. And one of the employees had to go to Seoul a few weeks ago (to meet with a large company everyone in Korea knows), which meant they had to deal with the logistics of sending someone to an unknown country, hiring an interpreter...imagine how much headache could be saved by sending someone who knows the city and the language. |
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