WantedLab to Host Korea's Largest 'Recruitment-Linked' Hackathon

Total Prize Money of 100 Million KRW Including 30 Million KRW for 1st Place, 'Badge' Given for 1 Year with Hiring Preference for Outstanding Participants

Main banner of the 'Hae, Career' hackathon event. [Photo by WantedLab]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] A hackathon with a total prize of 100 million KRW, offering internship opportunities to new job seekers struggling to build experience, is being held.

WantedLab Co., Ltd., which operates the AI-based career platform Wanted, announced on the 13th that it will hold the "Hae, Career" hackathon competition for university (graduate) students who find it difficult to secure internship opportunities due to the severe employment crisis caused by COVID-19.

A hackathon is a compound word of hacking and marathon, where participants such as planners, developers, and designers form teams and, like running a marathon, generate ideas over a long period within a limited time, creating prototype-level results such as IT services or business models.

According to a survey conducted by WantedLab in September targeting 1,000 university (graduate) students nationwide about difficulties in preparing for employment, 42.4% of respondents answered that "the need for relevant experience and practical work" was a challenge. This is interpreted as new job seekers feeling the so-called "Geumteon" era, where even internship opportunities require prior experience.

Accordingly, WantedLab planned this competition as a "recruitment-linked" event. To this end, top IT industry professionals from companies such as Woowa Brothers, Yanolja, TikTok, LINE Friends, Ably, and Wanted will participate in evaluation and judging.

Outstanding participants in the competition will be awarded a "badge" displayed on their Wanted resume for one year based on their performance. The badges, provided in gold, silver, and bronze forms, enhance applicants' competitiveness and give them preferential treatment when applying for internship postings opening in December. The total prize money is 100 million KRW, with 30 million KRW for the first-place team, 10 million KRW for the second-place team, and 5 million KRW each for the third and fourth-place teams.

Any university (graduate) student interested in IT service planning and development can participate regardless of major or grade. Teams of four must be formed, including at least one member each for development, design, and planning (marketing), and a team assignment will be given. Participants will undergo document screening, then an online preliminary presentation on October 27-28, and advance to the offline 1-night, 2-day hackathon finals starting December 4. The finals will be produced as a web entertainment video and released on the tvN D STUDIO YouTube channel.

Lee Bok-gi, CEO of WantedLab, said, "We prepared this hackathon to support the happy career journeys of university students with outstanding potential," adding, "We will explore various ways to match not only experienced workers but also excellent new talents with companies."

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