Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
KB links jobseekers to companies
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KB Financial Group Chairman Euh Yoon-dae, second from left, talks with high school seniors during the group’s job fair at COEX, southern Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap
By Kim Rahn
By Kim Rahn
KB Financial Group held the country’s biggest job fair Monday to help people of various age groups ― from high school graduates to elderly retirees ― find work.
Some 20,000 job applicants visited the 2013 KB Good Job Employment Fair held at COEX in southern Seoul, in which more than 250 businesses took part.
It was the fifth such event. KB has held the fair since October 2011, offering about 46,000 job opportunities. The group said some 2,000 people were expected to land jobs through Monday’s fair.
“I hope this fair will provide opportunities for both companies and jobseekers. I also wish this effort by KB to create jobs can expand to all of society,” Education Minister Seo Nam-soo said in a welcoming address.
Group Chairman Euh Yoon-dae said, “It is satisfactory that we have offered more than 46,000 job opportunities through these fairs. KB Financial will keep helping jobseekers realize their dreams, supporting companies and contributing to the country’s economic development.”
The participating companies provided a variety of jobs that met the diverse needs of people in almost all age groups.
They were categorized into four types of businesses ― for people interested in job opportunities at trading companies, there were firms recommended by the Korea International Trade Association; for those wanting overseas construction work, the International Contractors Association of Korea recommended companies; those who want to work at venture startups were helped by the Korea Venture Business Association; and the Korea Industrial Technology Association provided assistance for those seeking jobs at R&D companies and institutions.
A separate booth named “KB Hidden Star” offered information on promising medium-sized companies, whose potential is guaranteed by the financial group.
Some 50 consultants also offered tailored information on retirement to people wanting to migrate to other countries or wanting to move to rural, farming regions.
KB Kookmin Bank, the financial group’s flagship subsidiary, held job interviews for students who will graduate from vocational high schools at the end of the year. In 2011, Kookmin signed an MOU with the education ministry to employ vocational school graduates, the first bank to do so here.
People who completed KB Good Job Employment Academy courses were given priority for interviews by the participating firms. The five-week courses, organized by the financial group earlier this year, offered education on marketing and management as well as resume writing, presentation and job interviews.
Some 33,000 individual jobseekers and 12,000 companies have participated in the courses, launched in 2011 to relieve the labor shortage at small- and medium-sized companies.
The first job fair was focused on small and medium businesses, while the second introduced live video interviews between university student job applicants and officials of the recruiting firms. For the third fair, job opportunities were expanded to cover all age groups, and the fourth event was organized jointly with the Ministry of Defense to provide job information to military officers facing retirement.