Nowon-gu Hosts 'Specialized High School Job Competency Festival'

September 11, 10 AM?1 PM at Sangsang Irum Center... Job consulting and motivational lectures by experts from Samsung Electronics, YG Entertainment, and Seoul National University Hospital... September 12, 1 PM at Nowon Children's Theater... YouTube influencer 'Draw Andrew' with 640,000 subscribers invited

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it will hold the '2023 Specialized High School Job Competency Festival' over two days on the 11th and 12th.

‘Specialized high schools’ are institutions that operate specialized curricula aimed at nurturing talent and professional workers in specific fields. Currently, Nowon-gu has a total of eight such schools: ▲Gyeonggi Mechanical Technical High School ▲Kwangwoon Artificial Intelligence High School ▲Future Industry Science High School ▲Seoul Dongsan High School ▲Seoul IT High School ▲Yeongsin Nursing Business High School ▲Yeomgwang Girls’ Meditech High School ▲Induk Science and Technology High School, the largest number among Seoul’s autonomous districts.

However, the employment rate of specialized high school graduates has been steadily declining, and most current students are attending school without setting concrete goals regarding their career paths and professions.

In response, the district decided to hold the ‘Specialized High School Job Competency Festival’ for current students. The aim is to help students choose jobs that match their interests and aptitudes and strengthen their employment capabilities through job consulting and various experiential programs.

About 300 students from the eight specialized high schools in the area are expected to participate in the festival.

The first day’s event will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sangsang Irum Center (Nowon Career and Job Experience Support Center). The ‘Job Consulting’ session, which runs for two hours starting at 10 a.m., will select six fields based on the major areas of each participating school: ▲IT/Semiconductors/Mechanical/Electronics (Samsung Electronics) ▲AI/Big Data/Fintech (IBM) ▲Gaming (WEBZEN) ▲Hospital/Healthcare (Seoul National University Hospital) ▲Entertainment (YG) ▲Broadcasting/Media (KBS), with consultants from each field participating.

At noon, Geum Doo-hwan, CEO of the Barun Employment Research Institute and author of ‘I Don’t Know My Dream but I Want to Get a Job,’ will give a special lecture to help students establish employment strategies. Additionally, various experiential booths will be operated, including job stress tests, art therapy counseling, personal color analysis, and calligraphy business card making.

The second day’s event will feature a special lecture and talk concert at 1 p.m. at the Nowon Children’s Theater. The speaker is Andrew Draw, author of ‘Lucky Draw,’ a YouTube influencer with 640,000 subscribers who delivers encouraging messages to young people through videos on self-development and personal branding. In this lecture, titled ‘How to Pull the Levers of Life Until You Find Your Own Path,’ he will share his experiences and know-how with the students.

The district is promoting the ‘Employment and Startup Club Support Project’ to strengthen self-directed employment capabilities tailored to the talents and aptitudes of specialized high school students. This year, eight clubs from seven schools were selected. The fields include early childhood teaching materials and educational tools, cafes, carbon-neutral product startups, and practical skills development in future technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and 3D printing. A total of 20 million KRW, fully funded by the district, will be invested, with up to 2.5 million KRW provided per team.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “We planned the specialized high school tailored job competency festival to help students find the goals they truly want and provide a foundation to achieve them. We will spare no support to help students in the educational special zone of Nowon accomplish their aspirations and build a foundation for youth activities in the region.”