By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Kim, a 20-something staff member at LG Electronics, likes her employer for the most part, but says one thing bugs her ― random e-mail scans to check if they're written in English.
``It's pretty crazy if you think about it,'' she said, ``but we're obliged to sharpen our English skills, just like we're obliged to report to work on time and meet project deadlines.''
At the leading home appliance and consumer electronics' firm, employees have to be prepared to make reports to top management and write any documents of significance in English, she said.
``Knowing the language is an absolute must in working here,'' said Kim, a U.S. college graduate who speaks English fluently. ``If not, workers ― no matter how smart they are ― have trouble doing everyday work.''
While the language is a necessity at the Korean firm, Chang, a 30-something professional who works for a U.S.-based consulting firm in Seoul, oddly lacks pressure to speak or write English.
``No one has actually posted a rule saying English only,'' she said, adding that English proficiency helps in fast promotions, but isn't mandatory. ``Talent comes first.''
This ``talent first'' recruitment policy may be why foreign firms are reportedly less strict about English than Korean firms.
Online employment site Incruit asked 322 human resource managers at domestic and foreign firms and found that Korean firms demand the highest score on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), the most popular English test employers require applicants to take.
Local companies had a cut-off point of 729, while overseas firms set the bar at 720. The perfect score is 990.
``It's no surprise now. English is the business language,'' said Lee Long-hwan, the head of People-N-Job, an online job search portal specializing in foreign firms.
He said non-Korean firms are less obsessive about it because they believe that as long as the employee understands the basics, they'll follow along and pick up the language naturally.
Ki Eung-joo, a headhunter who previously worked as an HR manager for a major conglomerate, says local companies are tasked to become more ``globalized,'' which calls for a stronger need for English proficiency.
``Human capital significantly powers a firm to branch out,'' she said, adding that local and foreign firms have differing burdens in globalizing.
The Incruit survey showed that more than 50 percent of employers weed out sub-par applicants through TOEIC scores.