Rising Trend of Informational Meetings Sharing Career Experiences at Startups
Used to Find Talent That Fits Company Culture
The 'Coffee Chat' culture is emerging in startup recruitment. Coffee Chat is a compound word of 'coffee' and 'chat,' literally referring to a casual conversation over a cup of coffee. It usually means an informational meeting where job seekers meet industry professionals they have been curious about, share career experiences while having coffee together. During a Coffee Chat, participants can naturally talk and ask about the company culture or working style. From the company's perspective, it allows them to hear candid stories that do not come up in traditional interviews. This is why startups are actively using Coffee Chats recently to find talents who align well with their company culture and values. Some have even launched Coffee Chat as a service.
Woowa Brothers announced that from the 30th of this month to the 13th of next month, they will hold 'Ransen JOBdam,' a program where job seekers interested in the company and current employees in relevant roles can freely communicate. Inspired by the Coffee Chat culture, Woowa Brothers employees answer questions and provide consultations to job seekers via online video meetings. In Ransen JOBdam, participants can freely ask and communicate about topics that are difficult to grasp concretely before joining, such as desired roles, Woowa Brothers’ working methods, team culture and atmosphere, and future career paths. They received over 600 applications for the current job openings at Woowa Brothers, showing high interest. Park Ilhan, Head of Organizational Culture Innovation at Woowa Brothers, said, "This is to enhance mutual understanding through free communication between current employees and job seekers and to proactively secure talents suitable for company roles," adding, "It is a time to learn about Baemin’s work culture and vision."
Bucketplace, which operates 'Today’s House,' actively uses Coffee Chats in their developer recruitment process. Mainly when hiring experienced developers, key leaders responsible for Today’s House participate and have detailed conversations about company culture and development roles. Honest discussions take place about what the company focuses on when hiring developers and the development team’s mid- to long-term goals?topics developers are curious about. In fact, there have been cases where senior developers, after having Coffee Chats, gained a positive impression of Today’s House and pursued job changes. A representative from Today’s House said, "Coffee Chat is recognized as a key channel to meet developers, and there is an active atmosphere encouraging it within the company."
Career social networking platform RocketPunch connects job seekers or those preparing for career changes with current mentors through the ‘Chwijun Company’ campaign. They have regularized Coffee Chats. Hundreds of job seekers participate every month, and mentors voluntarily apply through RocketPunch for matching. RocketPunch explained that there is no difficulty in securing mentors from the ‘Nekarakuba’ (Naver, Kakao, Line, Coupang, Baedal Minjok) group. About 40 mentors participate in each cohort. Employees from Korea’s leading IT companies become ‘sasus’ (mentors) for job seekers and conduct Coffee Chats.
An audio conversation platform connecting current employees and job seekers has also emerged. The service is named Coffee Chat. Users can connect one-on-one anytime, anywhere through the app. Park Sangwoo, CEO of Coffee Chat, said, "Coffee Chat is overcoming the limitations of the existing career market and information asymmetry."
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