Saramin Survey of 796 Job Seekers
Six Out of Ten Plan to Get Jobs Unrelated to Their Majors
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Four out of ten job seekers and half of those majoring in humanities and social sciences regretted their choice of major.
Job matching platform Saramin revealed on the 23rd that 38.1% of 796 job seekers surveyed responded that they regretted their choice of major.
By major, the percentage was higher in the 'Humanities and Social Sciences' (49.8%) and 'Arts and Physical Education' (42.5%) fields. The rates were relatively lower in 'Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences' (25.9%), 'Information Technology (IT) and Engineering' (30.7%), and 'Life and Chemical Sciences' (32.4%). The top reason for regretting the choice of major was 'It did not suit my aptitude' (43.2%, multiple responses allowed). This was followed by 'The field has few job openings' (36.6%), 'Expected future income is lower than other majors' (33.7%), 'There are not many future career options' (28.4%), 'The future and vision of the major field are not bright' (24.8%), and 'It is not a highly specialized major' (19.5%).
The timing of regret was most often 'Around the time of starting job preparation' (38.9%). This was followed by 'When I started studying major subjects in earnest' (25.4%), 'When I had difficulty finding a job despite applying' (22.4%), and 'Right after entering university' (8.9%). More than half (61.3%) regretted their choice of major due to employment issues. Among them, 63% planned to find a job without utilizing their major. The reasons included 'The major did not suit my aptitude' (34.6%, multiple responses allowed), 'I needed to find a job quickly' (33%), 'I wanted to work in a field unrelated to my major' (31.4%), 'There are not many fields to enter after graduation' (20.9%), 'I could not sufficiently build knowledge in my major' (19.4%), and 'Income is low if I find a job related to my major' (17.3%).
The biggest difficulty in finding a job without utilizing their major was 'Losing out in competition with major graduates' (50.3%, multiple responses allowed). Other difficulties included 'Restrictions in qualification requirements' (47.6%), 'Slow understanding and learning of specialized knowledge and skills' (42.9%), 'Prejudice against non-majors' (33%), and 'Lower salary compared to major graduates' (13.1%). Among them, 90.4% had experience lowering their employment conditions when finding a job unrelated to their major. They reported accepting disadvantages in 'Salary level' (52.9%), 'Company type (size)' (31.9%), 'Employment type such as contract work' (26.7%), 'Location such as distance and region' (22.5%), 'Working conditions such as overtime and weekend work' (22.5%), and 'Company recognition' (19.9%).
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