SECURING INTERNSHIPS is a near-requisite for all university students due to the growing competitiveness of the post-undergraduate job market. It takes work experience to compete with other candidates, and to help its students build a formidable résumé, Yonsei University offers platforms such as the Career Yonsei website and the Underwood International College (UIC)’s Career Development Center (CDC). Career Yonsei caters to domestic students whilst the UIC CDC focuses on the UIC student body—many of whom are foreigners. Language plays a large role in distinguishing the two platforms, and whilst the UIC CDC is more inclusive for international students by offering its services in English, the platform still has many shortcomings. 

On Career Yonsei

   Career Yonsei provides a wide range of services with the purpose of securing career opportunities for students. These services vary from employment information to preparatory courses for national examinations. The center collaborates with external organizations like the Youth Center, the Korea Employment Information Service, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. A rough estimate of over a thousand job listings are posted on the website, with another several thousand listings for “specialized” activities such as competitions, lectures, ambassador-work, and volunteer-work. Students can apply for “employment mentoring” through the website and ask professionals career-specific questions. An available option for students yet unclear about their future is the “career direction setting”—a feature on Career Yonsei’s website that suggests career options based on preference. 

   In an interview with The Yonsei Annals, Kim Yun-jae (Sr., Dept. of Psychology) relayed his experience with Career Yonsei. Kim, an active user of the platform, checks the website every day and applies for new internships on a monthly basis. When asked about his general impression of the platform, he responded, “[Career Yonsei] is relatively easy to use.” One of the main advantages of Career Yonsei is its website design which simplifies hundreds of job listings and services, but Kim commented that its simplicity is also limiting. “It would be very helpful to hear people’s experiences and tips related to the job,” Kim said before explaining how other job-hiring platforms offer this feature. He also mentioned that job listings in Career Yonsei are not divided by industry or type of employment, and the platform should look into changing this design flaw. Another notable constraint is that the website interface is entirely written in Korean with no available English translations, as such most international students may find it difficult to navigate the website. 

On the UIC CDC

   To curve Yonsei Career’s language barrier, the UIC CDC was designed with UIC students or English-speakers in mind. Similar to Career Yonsei, the website carries a regularly updated job and internship catalog. Most of the offered opportunities seek English and Korean-speaking students that may or may not have international backgrounds. In addition to the employment listings, the UIC CDC hosts a series of lectures by alumni and professionals. Lecture topics vary from career introductions to more personal accounts of career-induced anxiety. Special workshops that teach résumé writing and job interviews are also regularly conducted by professors. Moreover, students may apply for private meetings with CDC professors regarding their careers, or contact CDC teacher’s assistants (TA). On paper, the existence of the UIC CDC should be highly advantageous for UIC students as it offers more specialized career options and services in comparison to Career Yonsei. Its English interface and international opportunities should be great for both overseas Korean and foreign students. However, these advantages seem to be eclipsed by several of its issues, mainly its outdated system and obstacles specific to international students. 

   Student A[1] (Jr., UIC, Nano Science and Engineering) told the Annals that the flat stylistic choice of the website was “objectively outdated” and that it was difficult to navigate in comparison to Career Yonsei. “It is just black text on a white background,” they said. Aside from the website’s aesthetics, Student A listed communication as another point of concern with the UIC CDC. They described their personal experience with contacting the CDC TAs as “difficult.” After two weeks’ worth of slow email exchanges between the Sinchon CDC TA, they said, “[The CDC TA] finally referred me to a professor that ended up never even responding.” They explained how they were forced to solve their own problems and contacting the CDC left them more confused than before. “I am glad that [UIC students] have [the UIC CDC] in the first place, but it could help out so much more than it currently is by making a few changes,” Student A concluded. 

   Another long-standing issue in the UIC CDC is its insufficient utility for international students. The Korean job market is notoriously difficult for many foreigners to enter. A 2021 study on the careers of international graduates reported that 75% of foreigners that attained a master’s degree in Korea did not find employment in the country[2]. This circumstance is systemic, and it may be the reason why UIC CDC should actively help international students overcome this barrier and successfully secure internships or jobs through its system. Yet, when asked about the difficulties of acquiring an internship as a foreigner, Oda Falch (Soph., UIC, Econ.) told the Annals that she was not able to rely on the UIC CDC. “I could not find a single internship that did not require proficiency in Korean so it made me lose hope,” she said. Falch explained that she had been looking “on and off” for internships since the previous year and continued, “I ended up reaching out to companies by myself since the UIC CDC was not that helpful.” This issue for international students has persisted for several years, and Falch believes that small alterations to the website could make a large impact. “There should be a separate category for internships and jobs that do not require a proficiency in Korean,” she said before describing how it would also be helpful if students could reach out for one-on-one aid when writing a job application. 

On Yonsei’s Perspective

   The Annals reached out to the UIC CDC Director, Kim Hyun-sang (Prof. & Academic Advisor, UIC, Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Div.), about the center’s overall system. When asked about the existing flaws of the UIC CDC, Kim explained that UIC’s diverse student body makes it difficult to appease everyone. “There is no one-size-fits-all measure because the career preparation process is different depending on their needs,” he said after describing how the career targets of students may range from international to domestic opportunities. Kim also shared his sentiments about the scarce internship and job listings for international students, and said, “Attaining decent professional opportunities [for international students] is very difficult. To help them out, we invite international graduates who work professionally in Korea.” The UIC CDC also encourages students to learn the Korean language, but Kim conclusively admitted, “There is little we can do for international students since there are limited career choices for them in Korea.”

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   Yonsei University’s career platforms are helpful tools for the student body, but they are far from perfect. The UIC CDC, in particular, is unhelpful for international students in effectively securing internships and jobs. Simple changes can immensely improve the system, however, only time will tell if the center will heed to these adjustments. 

[1] Student A preferred to remain anonymous for the protection of their private information.

[2] Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training