[K-Women Talk] Mothers Who Recommend Public Enterprises: Are You Ready to Support Your Child for Three Years?

[Asia Economy] "I am a job seeker majoring in design in the provinces, looking into small design companies in Seoul. My dad and mom keep telling me to go for public enterprises, but do they even know the competition rate?" This is a story posted by a job seeker on a community site. Comments like "If you don't go to public enterprises, you can't get in," and "There are hundreds of public enterprise study groups, Seoul run" were posted. Parents who don't understand the reality of employment and children who refuse to accept such parents as advisors. This is a common scene these days.

Many parents recommend public enterprises to job seekers. But is it okay to treat public enterprises so lightly? In 2021, the highest competition rate for public enterprises was a staggering 715 to 1, and even local public institutions recorded a brutal competition rate of 63 to 1. The higher the competition rate, the more thorough preparation is needed. It is even harder if the job is not one that hires many people, such as facility management or maintenance. You have to be prepared for your parents to support you for 1 to 3 years after graduation. Isn't it natural for children to ignore words spoken without this realistic understanding?

How much information do we gather in our lives? YouTube seems ready to feed all the world's knowledge. Investors who followed US interest rate hike news now understand even the tendencies of Federal Reserve (Fed) members. Retirees who used to watch virtual tours of country houses now know about newly built houses in remote areas. However, knowledge or literacy about employment and job duties, which children must pursue as a lifelong career, is close to zero. They are either trapped in outdated information from 30 years ago when Moses was job hunting or naively believe that sending their children to a good university will guarantee employment at a prestigious company.

If you are a parent who confidently says, "This is not about me," try answering the following three questions. 1. What is the job that hires the most liberal arts students? 2. What is the job that hires the most STEM students, and what do they do? 3. For public enterprise recruitment, is writing a good self-introduction letter enough to pass the first document screening? The answer to question 1 is sales and sales management. The answer to question 2 is design and process engineering, that is, technical jobs necessary for mass production in factories. The answer to question 3 is NO. Public enterprise document screening requires quantifiable scores such as technical, computer, and language certificates, and no matter how well you write your self-introduction letter, you will be rejected if you do not meet the required score.

If you can answer even one of the three questions, you have the basics. If you cannot answer any, it is difficult to communicate with your job-seeking child. Parents who have experience working in companies and cooperating with various departments tend to have a higher understanding of employment and job duties. Since STEM jobs are overwhelmingly more numerous, parents who are STEM company workers are the happiest case. Surprisingly, parents in professional jobs like doctors or teachers, or self-employed parents who have not worked in companies, may have lower job understanding.

Parents' understanding of employment and job duties becomes a great support for children going through the lonely period of job preparation. Returning to the first case: "Gaining experience at a small design company is good. IT or game companies also hire in the design field, so it might be better to choose your first company or job with a mind to transfer later." If you can advise like this, it would be ideal. Even if not, just not insisting that a triangular child only apply to square companies is a support.

"You see as much as you know" is not a phrase only applicable to travel. Take a little time to build knowledge and literacy about the jobs and duties your child will choose by focusing on humanities and general education. Show interest in others' jobs, read newspapers and books, and watch YouTube content about "employment, job hunting, and job duties." Just starting will reveal quite a lot.

Lee Sook-eun, CEO of Lee’s Bookstore

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