Financial Firms' Intern Positions Swept by STEM Majors... "Where Can We Gain Experience?" (Comprehensive)

Most Commercial Banks Do Not Offer Internships
Rarely Available Internships Mostly Focus on Digital and IT
Financial Firms Cite Changes in Hiring Methods and Workforce Demand

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] The private financial companies' internship system, known as 'Geumturn,' is disappearing. Opportunities to gain field experience at central headquarters or branches have virtually vanished. Especially with downsizing and a preference for digital talent, liberal arts graduates preparing for employment are lamenting that they have lost their place.

According to the financial sector on the 14th, among KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup Banks, only Hana Bank and Nonghyup Bank officially operate internship programs. The other financial companies have not operated internship programs for several years or have replaced them with external activities such as supporter programs.

The youth internship system started mainly in public institutions during the Lee Myung-bak administration in 2008 to address youth unemployment. Subsequently, private companies, including commercial banks, introduced internship programs en masse to align with government policies, creating a boom.

This year, financial companies that selected interns limited the application fields to digital and IT sectors. Hana Bank, which recruited university student interns in August, restricted the positions to the digital field. Initially, Hana Bank recruited interns under a common category supporting branch and headquarters tasks without any major restrictions.

Last year, alongside the digital field, interns were selected in the funds/trust and corporate finance/investment banking (IB) sectors, introducing major restrictions. Applicants had to hold degrees in engineering or natural sciences for broad categories, or for corporate finance/IB, only those majoring in business or economics in the middle category could apply.

This time, there were no separate major restrictions, but possessing digital expertise was included as a preference. Those holding high-level certifications such as Information Security Engineer or Advanced Data Professional (ADP), or majors in engineering or natural sciences, were given preference. Outstanding interns are exempted from document screening, written tests, and the first interview stage when applying for the second half's new graduate recruitment.

Even when rare internship announcements appear, most focus on digital and IT

On the 12th, at the NongHyup Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, Kwon Joon-hak, the bank president (5th from the right), Kim Yong-taek, the labor union chairman (4th from the left), and Lim Dong-soon, the vice president of HR and Business Support Division (3rd from the right), took a commemorative photo with new employees after the appointment certificate ceremony.

Nonghyup Bank, which handed out appointment letters to 5th-grade new employees in an internship format the day before, also limited recruitment to digital, IT, and card sectors. The card sector involved data and system development roles such as artificial intelligence (AI) and simple payment systems. There were no restrictions on education or major, but a bachelor's degree in science or engineering and related certifications were preferred. The document screening included an online coding test, making it difficult for most liberal arts graduates preparing for employment to apply.

KB Kookmin Bank has not had an internship system for several years and operates a 'University Student Digital Supporters' program instead. Selected students can go to branches, but reviews indicate that rather than assisting existing senior employees, they mainly help activate digital services for the elderly.

In financial sector employment communities, voices are emerging that internships are now mostly for science and engineering majors or involve simple tasks, making it difficult to build experience. Kim Sang-hyun (28, pseudonym) said, "I don't know where to gain the job competencies and experience that banks value," adding, "The coding and AI written tests are difficult even for majors, so there is practically nowhere to apply."

As a result, the IBK Industrial Bank of Korea's internship program is gaining popularity among job seekers. It consistently operates a systematic internship program and, despite being a policy bank, offers opportunities to learn general financial tasks similar to private banks. When recruiting 250 experiential interns on the 20th of last month, 4,707 people applied, resulting in a high competition rate of 18.83 to 1.

Financial companies explain that changes in recruitment methods and manpower demand have led to changes in internship operations. A representative from a commercial bank said, "The internship system was largely established to give job seekers opportunities when banks recruited hundreds of people through open recruitment," adding, "As open recruitment has decreased and irregular hiring methods have taken hold, the internship system has also disappeared."

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