Seoul City to Pilot 'Campus Town-Style Employment Academy' at Three Major Universities

Introduction of 'Campus Town-type Employment Academy' for Practical Talent Development
Pilot Operation at Yonsei University, Korea University, University of Seoul, etc... 4th Industrial Revolution Competency Training and Internship Programs
Recruitment of Specialized Educational Institutions Starting June

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is operating a ‘Campus Town-type Employment Academy’ to address the employment difficulties faced by university students and the recruitment challenges of 4th Industrial Revolution companies. Starting from the second half of this year, a pilot program will be launched at three universities?Yonsei University, Korea University, and University of Seoul?aiming to nurture 300 talents, 100 from each university, through curricula tailored to each university’s specialized fields.

According to Seoul City on the 23rd, this educational program will run for six months and consists of two competency training courses by field: ▲ ‘4th Industrial Revolution Technology Talent Development Course’ for science and engineering students, and ▲ ‘Digital Transformation Talent Development Course’ for humanities students. Graduates of these competency courses will participate in a two-month internship program to gain practical experience in corporate workplaces, thereby developing skills that are genuinely helpful for employment over the total six-month period and accumulating field experience.

The education will focus intensively on eight new technology fields through collaboration between excellent private educational institutions selected by Campus Town (via open competition) and universities. In particular, 20% of the entire curriculum will include special lectures on 4th Industrial Revolution employment and entrepreneurship, led by university professors.

The ‘Campus Town-type Employment Academy’ operated at the three universities will be managed by private specialized educational institutions. Through consultations between Seoul City and the universities, the universities will provide classroom and seminar room spaces for the courses. Students will be selected for the courses through open competition, including level tests and AI interviews, in accordance with the basic plans established by the universities.

After completing four months of competency training by field, a two-month internship program will be conducted to allow students to gain practical experience in corporate workplaces. The internship is divided into ▲ corporate internships where students gain experience at large and medium-sized companies, and ▲ startup internships where students participate in practical processes from business planning to execution.

Even after the six-month regular course, close follow-up management will be conducted to connect students to employment and entrepreneurship through various startup mentoring and employment linkage programs promoted by Seoul City. Students will participate in an ‘Education-Student to Company Matching Program’ to enhance employment possibilities by joining employment linkage programs discovered by the participating educational institutions. Additionally, students will join the ‘Campus Town Startup Mentoring’ program, which builds a job network through communication between startup companies and students, promoted under the existing Campus Town project.

Seoul City will begin recruiting excellent private specialized educational institutions to operate the ‘Campus Town-type Employment Academy,’ introduced for the first time this year, starting in June. Each pilot university will recruit educational institutions from June, finalize selections, recruit students and finalize detailed curricula in July, and begin competency training by field from mid-July.

The city plans to form and operate an advisory committee for the ‘Campus Town-type Employment Academy,’ composed of about five university professors, to continuously monitor the pilot operation this year and discover appropriate business models for full-scale operation in the future. Together with universities, the city will conduct thorough performance evaluations and analyses, reflect improvements, and officially operate the ‘Campus Town-type Employment Academy’ from 2023.

Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of Seoul City’s Economic Policy Office, said, “The Campus Town-type Employment Academy will lower the barriers to employment and entrepreneurship felt by university students through collaboration between university educational infrastructure and excellent private educational institutions. We will strive to restore the ladder of employment and entrepreneurship growth by nurturing Seoul-style future talents tailored to corporate demand through a 4th Industrial Revolution employment and entrepreneurship support program utilizing the expertise of universities and the private sector.”