Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ABC KID]

Yesterday, I heard a recent story of an unemployed, unmarried Korean woman aged 34. She telephoned in response to a job advert.

Conversation One went something like this:

Shop manager: Hello
34 years old Korean woman: Hello. I'm calling about the full-time job.
Shop manager: How old are you?
34 years old Korean woman: I'm 34
Shop manager: Are you married?
34 years old Korean woman: No.
Shop manager: You're not the sort of person we're looking for (Conversation abruptly finished)

Next day she telephoned again using a different cell phone.

Conversation Two went something like this:

Shop manager: Hello
34 years old Korean woman: Hello. I'm calling about the full-time job.
Shop manager: How old are you?
34 years old Korean woman: I'm 34
Shop manager: Are you married?
34 years old Korean woman: Yes.
Shop manager: You could be okay. Do you have experience? When can you come for an interview?


I've heard of similar incidents several times in Korea. Why do unmarried Korean women have it so tough when it comes to finding a new job if they hit their early-thirties?

[Horangi Munshin]

I'm guessing the employer doesn't want to give any leave for a possible wedding in the future and maternity leave etc. Or there could be a completely mental reason.

[mateomiguel]

another corollary: why don't they just lie, lie, and lie some more? If my job was dependent on irrelevant crap like if I was married or how much soju I drank in my life, you bet I'd make myself out to be a polygamous alcoholic, if only for the reason that its so STUPID for people to base their job requirements on irrelevant things they deserve to be lied to.

[Bryan]

An unattached woman with no kids should have more time to devote to her job than a mother with a family. I think this 'story' is not a real one, since people with business sense realize what I just wrote. In fact, a sneaky way of not hiring you is asking the question "Are you planning to start a family?" The correct answer is "No" if you want to impress an employer who needs your time and energy.

[BigBuds]

[peppermint]

The expectation there is still that an unmarried woman will quit when she gets married. Clearly the boss doesn't want to have to train another girl in in six months. That and there might be the assumption that if a woman couldn't get married by age 30, she must have a face like a boot.

Welcome to the fifties, er Korea!

[definitely maybe]

the way i've been led to understand it is:
- under thirty and unmarried is good for a job or whatever else
- over thirty and unmarried is bad and potentially subject to a grab bag of fun social stigmas.

my wife was 29 korean age when we got married, so she escaped all that. however, i guess it's not really an even trade considering she married a . . . gasp . . . foreigner!

[Zolt]

Funny, my girlfriend seemed to tell me it was the other way around: getting married basically destroys any hope for a career. Last year, after losing our 2nd accountant in the year to family life, my company specifically looked for a 30-something single woman. (Who they hired but may leave soon because she's getting her CPA and a job at an auditing firm)

In the end, no matter who you hire, you can never be sure of keeping them for long, so discriminating on this kind of thing is just a waste of time.

[simone]

It's because the job pays so crappy that they don't want the woman to expect to be able to make a living out of it. Turnover for crappy jobs is so high, and it would make sense for a young woman to jump ship at a better opportunity.

If married, though, she only needs 'pin money'. Also, she's more stable. Less likely to jump ship.

Plus, around my office, if you go back to work as a married woman, you're basically cleaning lady track... the women who make it into executive positions never ever take any leave. They're back at work after two months mat leave, by choice.

They might expect the unmarried woman to have too high expectations of the job.

[yingwenlaoshi]

Shouldn't it be the other way around?

[Draz]

[Young FRANKenstein]

[simone]

[nautilus]