[K-Women Talk] To A, a Third-Time Job Seeker Crossing a Daunting River

"Last year, I made it to the final interview, but this year I was rejected even at the document screening stage." A, a job seeker attempting for the third time, said that receiving results less than half of last year's document acceptance rate made them feel like walking a path with no end in sight. Although A is a humanities major, graduated from a prestigious university, has top language scores, and even has internship experience-albeit in a different company and industry-getting through the document screening has become a challenge.

According to statistics from September, the employment rate for young people aged 15 to 29 was the lowest among all age groups at 45.1%, having declined year-on-year for 17 consecutive months. The drop was even steeper in manufacturing, construction, and distribution industries, which are favored by young job seekers, and the 45.1% figure was only maintained thanks to jobs in healthcare, hospitality, and leisure sectors. Given this reality, nearly 500,000 young people are now classified as "simply resting," and most third-time job seekers are inevitably seeing lower document acceptance rates than last year.

Ironically, the longer you prepare for employment, the lower your chances of success become. This is the opposite of the college entrance exam, which tends to favor students who try multiple times. For long-term job seekers, who must play an increasingly disadvantageous game as time passes, how can they cross this daunting river? Let's summarize the advice from field experts and experienced seniors.

First, check whether you are hastily expanding your applications horizontally across too many industries. Even for the same overseas sales position, the core nature of the work in semiconductors and steel is fundamentally different, requiring different competencies from job seekers. For semiconductors alone, it takes considerable time to acquire basic knowledge for interviews, such as understanding the eight major processes and identifying key clients and competitors. If you failed at Samsung Electronics, it is better to research and apply to first- or second-tier vendors or component suppliers in the semiconductor field, rather than switching to POSCO. With a deep understanding of an industry, you can study individual companies in a short time.

To do this, it is crucial to grasp the ecosystem of the industry, and the book "Industry Map of Listed Companies" is recommended. This book classifies about 2,400 domestic companies into 25 industries and provides a one-page map of each value chain. In fact, a friend who had only targeted finished car manufacturers saw this industry map and applied to a first-tier domestic car body manufacturer-and succeeded. Since there are many B2B (business-to-business) companies in manufacturing, there are numerous hidden gems that even specialists have never heard of. If you are a long-term job seeker, try targeting companies in the same industry as those you previously applied to, but at the lower end of the value chain.

The same applies to public sector jobs. If you have prepared extensively for the National Competency Standards (NCS) but failed, it is not effective to jump to private companies. Instead, a better strategy is to expand vertically to NCS-based positions such as staff at national/public hospitals or university administrative offices.

Second, though it may sound odd, take on "physically demanding" part-time jobs. If your job search is dragging on, it may be because you lack a memorable "standout" experience for interviewers. Humanities majors, in particular, may feel small when asked, "Do you have any relevant experience?" A powerful weapon to overcome this is part-time work that required physical endurance. Regardless of industry, grit, responsibility, mental fortitude, and physical strength are important qualities, and experiences such as warehouse loading and unloading, volunteering for seniors, or manual labor at construction sites can have unexpected power. Seniors say that gaining confidence from having endured tough work helped them in their job search.

Lastly, ask yourself, "Did I really apply to 100 places?" Were there places you skipped because you were tired of rejection or because they were in provincial areas? Due to severe job mismatches, some companies post multiple job ads but still struggle to find applicants. Before getting discouraged by requirements such as "looking for new hires with experience," approach your job search with the mindset of "I would even go to Dokdo to gain experience," and opportunities will surely open up.

Lee Sukeun, Publisher of Framework for Employment