Companies value global mindset, creativeness

By Kim Tong-hyung

Staff reporter

Creativeness and a global mindset are most critical for career and company success, according to a recent survey of the country’s largest conglomerates.

Job Korea, an online job-search service, based its report on study of 43 of the country’s 50-largest companies, and about 60 percent of the firms reviewed included keywords such as “global touch,” “global competitiveness” and “creativeness” in their descriptions of ideal employees, according to the website.

“Pioneering spirit” was used by 51 percent of the companies, Job Korea said, while about 49 percent of them also stressed “specialization” and “expert knowledge.”

“Teamwork” and “innovation” were qualities stressed by 26 percent of the companies, while 23 percent of the companies emphasized “passion” and about 21 percent of them “morality.”

Samsung Electronics, the global technology giant and kingpin of Korea Inc., describes its ideal employee as a “creative, pioneering person with specialized knowledge and global capability.”

SK Energy, the country’s leading refiner, wants employees to have an “international perspective fitting for the global era,” while auto giant Hyundai Motor is looking for the whole package of “pioneering spirit, creativeness, global mindset, passion and teamwork.”

POSCO, the country’s leading steel maker, is looking for men and women that are “global, creative and assertive.”

“Korean companies have traditionally valued their ‘injaesang,’ or description of ideal employees in recruiting new workers. The current descriptions reflect the efforts by the companies to strengthen their global positions in key markets,” said a Job Korea representative.