Project with Job Seekers, SKT's 'Open Collaboration Class'

Park Wooyoung SKT Manager and Job Seeker Seo Changdae
Gaining Job Experience by Collaborating on Projects with Industry Professionals... ESG Talent Development

Park Woo-young, SKT manager (left), and Seo Chang-dae are explaining the Open Collaboration class. Photo by SKT

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] "Through SK Telecom's 'Open Collaboration Class,' I learned app planning from industry professionals that I never imagined, created success stories, and developed new dreams. I want to contribute to society through ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and demonstrate my capabilities."

On the 26th, job seeker Seo Chang-dae (27) spoke about his experience participating in the 'Open Collaboration Class.' Seo and SKT manager Park Woo-young participated in and operated the Open Collaboration Class, respectively. Since June, SKT has been running the 'Open Collaboration Class' in partnership with the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Youth Foundation, targeting unemployed youth to directly experience ESG projects while receiving career coaching and employment counseling.

Using SKT's metaverse platform 'ifland,' they collaborate with professional coaching companies to provide counseling, and industry professionals mentor ESG projects. On the 30th of last month, Class A, which Seo belonged to, held a final presentation showcasing project outcomes such as 'Good Shuttle,' which assists commuting for workers with severe disabilities, and 'NowIC,' an AI service for the visually impaired.

Manager Park explained, "Youth participate in projects that require opinions from the MZ generation, offering ideas on the concerns of current professionals and mentoring through the verification stage on how to materialize them. Satisfaction is high because it is not a one-sided teaching from professionals but a form where participants implement and communicate their own ideas." He added, "Large corporations tend to focus on creating large-scale services, but participants point out details from a new perspective, which has been well received internally."

Resource Circulation Platform App Planned by Seochangdae

Seo created a new resource circulation platform. It introduces and connects face-to-face and non-face-to-face resource circulation campaigns, guides nearby campaigns, and encourages continuous participation. It was evaluated as comparable to outputs from actual departments and was recognized as a representative excellent case within the program. This experience also earned him the grand prize in the Ministry of Employment and Labor's 'Youth-Friendly Company ESG Support Project' essay contest.

Seo said, "I thought about how to get people to take action and created the platform. It wasn't just planning; I received funding through the Open Collaboration Class and collaborated with an outsourcing company to develop the app."

Although discouraged by repeated job rejections, Seo gained confidence by participating in the Open Collaboration Class and independently created a new ESG platform after the program ended. It is called 'Sseutech,' a waste investment platform app. He even went as far as registering as a business owner.

Seo said, "App-tech (app investment) is very popular these days, and I am developing an app that recognizes 21 recyclable materials through AI deep learning image classification and converts them into money via scrap dealers and others. I haven't decided whether to seek employment or start a business yet, but I have gained confidence that I can do well in whatever I choose. It is a great asset."

The Open Collaboration Class is significant not only because it provides job seekers with opportunities to build their credentials but also because it fosters ESG talent equipped with practical skills in the long term.

Manager Park said, "While every company is focusing on ESG, when thinking about what to start with to practice ESG, there are many question marks. From the perspective of young professionals, they would be curious about how to promote ESG projects, so we created a natural opportunity. From a corporate standpoint, there is a high demand for ESG projects linked to business beyond just responding to ESG evaluations."

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