I’ve only been in Seoul for about three days, but it’s been great so far! The food is just as good if not better than I remember, and the area of the city we’re staying in is quite walkable which is great. Public transportation is also super easy to use here, so overall no complaints! I haven’t started my internship yet, but I’m excited to!
My internship placement is at the Korea Volunteer Agency (KVA), which is a fairly small but growing organization in Seoul whose aim is to provide Korean students with global professional skills as well as increase their English language proficiency. The organization works with multiple abroad partner organizations to place students into volunteer and internship placements that align with their future career goals, in industries like social welfare, environmental campaigning, nursing, and more. The industry of the company itself is self-described as Staffing and Recruiting, as this company connects prospective interns with companies abroad. In South Korea, this industry is fairly large, as competitiveness is high particularly for job-hunting as well as educational and occupational success. Due to the intense work culture of South Korea, this industry is full of companies who work with different types of companies and people with different levels of experience.
Korea is a very professionally and educationally competitive country, making this industry quite competitive as well. Many students in South Korea seek study or work abroad activities in order to elevate themselves among other students and workers. This means that the industry of placing these students abroad is alive and well, with so many competing options, abroad placement companies must have unique features, programs, etc to get students to choose them.
In order to be successful in this industry, good advertisement and marketing skills are quite important. Ultimately, the companies whose names are well-known will get the most traffic so-to-speak, so marketing and social media is extremely important. Korea is a very technologically advanced and inclined country, so online media is extremely accessible for most people and highly effective for reaching large audiences. In this industry, companies must take advantage of social media for reaching younger audiences and promoting studying and working in other countries. Using social media to demonstrate the fun experience of being abroad while also highlighting the ways in which it puts students above others who don’t study or work abroad is effective for getting students to take advantage of the programs offered.
Additionally, the company must be able to connect well with foreign companies in order to create partnerships for Korean students to travel safely and comfortably to the English-speaking countries they aim to work in. Therefore, a good skill for workers in this industry is the ability to research. Specifically for KVA, part of the job description for interns is to research programs abroad that KVA could contact and send Korean students to. This also requires a degree of English language skills for employees so that they can read through these various global websites and speak to the employees of other companies.
An aspect of the Korea Volunteer Agency specifically that draws students in is the English mock interviews. The ability to have native English-speaking employees to assist Korean students with possible interview questions and answers is really beneficial to the company’s success as well as the success of the students working or studying abroad. So, once again, the skill of having English-speaking employees is really important in this industry.
In Korea, the skill of knowing how to speak English is incredibly valuable. Most companies require a certain score or higher on the country’s English proficiency exam in order for your resume to even be considered. Also, many young Korean people enjoy knowing English as it allows them to understand more media like movies, shows, memes, music, etc from the West. Therefore, the experience of being abroad is highly coveted by many Korean students, and the industry is constantly growing and changing to adjust to the wants and needs of the Korean students.
Because South Korea is quite a globally-intertwined society as far as media and entertainment, cars, and technology; Korea is heavily intertwined with the US, and many Korean people love to travel internationally. Therefore, this industry of helping students work abroad is very large and important. Korea also has many people who can speak English as it is taught in school, so compared to other countries and combined with the strong work ethic in South Korea, Korean students are likely to be successful working and studying in English-speaking countries.
Also, there is a growing need for social welfare workers both in Korea and abroad due to issues like the growing older-adult populations, increased poverty, and social problems due to climate change, as well as the existing need due to things like mental illness and physical disability. Because the Korea Volunteer Agency has a large focus on this area of work, the company is likely to have many students utilize their programs as opposed to other unrelated ones in the upcoming future.
