Seocho-gu Plays Key Role as Stepping Stone to Employment Success through 'Specialized High School Customized Employment Support'

Operation of 'Visiting Employment Competency Enhancement Education' for Specialized High School Students in the Region... One Dedicated Employment Support Officer Hired at Each of Two Specialized High Schools for One-Stop Employment Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Jo) is operating a “Visiting Employment Competency Enhancement Education” program at two specialized high schools in the area (Seocho Culture, Arts and Information School, Seoul Electronics High School) to improve students’ employment capabilities, providing customized employment support such as hiring and dispatching “Employment Support Officers.”

The district’s “Visiting Employment Competency Enhancement Education” program is conducted once each in the first and second half of the year by professional instructors who provide employment education to specialized high school students on topics such as labor law, job application documents, and interview preparation.

From the planning stage, the program conducts a preliminary needs survey on overall matters such as education dates, content, and methods for each school to create a school-tailored program.

First, on the 11th, a lecture on “Youth Labor Law” was held for 190 students of Seocho Culture, Arts and Information School. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the class was conducted in real-time online using the Zoom program in an ontact (non-face-to-face) format.

In particular, to provide systematic education to youth, labor attorney Hyekyung Shin, a member of the “2021 Youth Labor Rights Education Instructor Group,” conducted the lecture, teaching not only labor law but also how to write employment contracts and how to respond to unfair practices, thereby supporting students with practical help for employment and labor sites.

After the education, a survey of the students showed high satisfaction rates of 86.7% and 84.3% for the program and instructor, respectively. Many students commented that since labor law is usually difficult to access, receiving education through examples on wages, employment contracts, working and break hours, and severance pay would be helpful for future employment.

Soohyun Kim (17), a third-year student at Seocho Culture and Arts School, said, “Before employment, it was very good that the instructor came directly to the school to provide information on basic but never properly taught topics such as the four major social insurances and wage standards.” She added, “I hope there will be frequent opportunities to experience various types of lectures that can enhance employment capabilities in the future.”

Going forward, the district plans to operate the first half-year education for students of Seoul Electronics High School in July and conduct a preliminary needs survey for each specialized high school in the second half of the year to operate employment competency enhancement education.

Along with this, the district is also running the “Specialized High School Employment Support Officer” project by hiring and placing one dedicated employment support officer at each of the two specialized high schools to support student employment.

The “Specialized High School Employment Support Officer” program, part of the Seoul-type New Deal Jobs, has been operating at Seocho Culture, Arts and Information School since January this year, and Seoul Electronics High School is expected to start after the ongoing recruitment process is completed by the end of May.

The employment support officers assigned to each school reside at the school five days a week, eight hours a day, providing one-stop employment support services including employment counseling, consulting, and job placement for specialized high school students.

Additionally, to help specialized high school students improve their employment skills and develop into field-customized talents, the officers support the development of employment programs and the discovery of companies in cooperation with school teachers. They also plan to visit training sites and monitor working conditions during field training periods to protect trainees’ rights.

From March last year for 10 months, 60 employment sites including beauty hair salons, coffee shops, online marketing agencies, and medical device manufacturers were discovered, achieving results such as 325 field training monitoring visits and 1,301 employment counseling and placement cases.

Youngjoo Cho (54), who has been working as an employment support officer at Seocho Culture, Arts and Information School since last year, said, “I try to be a reliable mentor who helps students struggling with employment recognize their self-esteem and value and find their own career paths.” She added, “I feel a great sense of fulfillment and joy whenever I hear that students have found jobs where they want to work in various places.”

Seocho-gu Mayor Eunhee Jo said, “We will continue to systematically support employment support programs so that specialized high school students can develop employment skills and grow into field-customized talents.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.