Job Postings Emphasize "Competencies," but Application Forms Still Focus on "Credentials"

Application Forms Fueling Over-Specification
"Only Qualifications Relevant to Job Requirements Should Be Requested"

Although companies state in their job postings that they will select talent based on competencies, it has been found that, in reality, their application forms require an average of more than 10 qualifications, including educational background, foreign languages, and certifications, through a section for listing “specs.” As a result, there are concerns that young job seekers are inevitably being pushed into a competition over credentials.

According to the “Analysis of 142 Job Application Forms from the Top 1,000 Companies by Sales for the Second Half of 2025,” released on January 2 by the Education Spring Foundation, companies demanded an average of 2.3 “specs” in their job postings for the second half of last year (June to October), but the average number of specification fields required to be filled out in the actual application forms reached 12.7.

The most frequently requested item in the application forms was “educational background,” with 95.1% of the companies surveyed requiring applicants to list their “highest level of education.” This contrasts with the job postings, where only 72.5% indicated that they considered educational background. In addition to “major” (95.1%) and “name of alma mater” (93.0%), there was also a field to indicate “admission or transfer status” (73.9%). For graduate school applicants, 9.9% of companies required them to write the “name of the laboratory or professor.”

Furthermore, many companies required applicants to enter their gender (78.2%) and date of birth (89.4%), and six companies (4.2%) even included a “family relationship” field asking about the relationship with immediate family members and whether they live together.

Regarding “foreign languages and certifications,” some companies allowed applicants to add an unlimited number of entries, which was criticized for fueling the phenomenon of “over-specification.”

While only 24 companies listed specific languages such as English or Chinese as qualification or preferred criteria in their job postings, 134 companies (94.4%) required language test scores in the actual application forms.

The same was true for certifications. Only 11 companies required job-related certifications in their job postings, but regardless of relevance, 137 companies (96.5%) required applicants to list their certifications. Only three companies-SGI Seoul Guarantee, Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, and Cuckoo-specified the required languages and certifications for the job in the job posting and made entry optional on the application form.

The Education Spring Foundation stated, “Job seekers review job postings to build their competencies and credentials, but are then taken aback by application forms that require them to list every possible credential,” adding, “The process should be improved so that only the qualifications necessary for the job requirements stated in the job posting are requested.”