By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Lee Hee-san, 31, recently got his first job at a construction company. He had taken English language training in Canada, did internships at corporations and studied current affairs every day to get the job. ``I never expected the whole procedure to take this long, of course, now I feel compensated,'' he said.
He is not the only one to get a first job at a relatively older age. In his ``study group'' there are several more people his age waiting to be hired.
As getting a job becomes more difficult, the average age of new employees is getting higher.
According to research by recruitment Web site Incruit, 23.8 percent of 1,081 people over 30 answered that they got their first job at over 30 years of age. The figure has doubled since the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
These days, studying for each company's employment tests, English examinations and getting field experience to stand above competitors takes at least a year. According to the National Statistical Office, it takes an average 11 months to get a job after university graduation.
As the age level goes up, the portion of people getting jobs before the age of 24 has halved from that of 1998. Only 11.3 percent were able to get a job before 24 years of age, and 65 percent got jobs between 25 to 29 years of age. The figure means than women, who usually graduate from universities at 23 to 24 years of age, wait about a year to be hired.
The average age of those who got their first job was 28.5, for women 27.7, while it was 28.8 for men. All figures increased since the pre-Asian financial crisis.
The hike in age affects lifestyles of people. Young people tend to marry later. Another national statistic shows that men marry for the first time at 30.9 and women at 27.7.
Oh, a stock analyst, got his first job at 30. He said there were so many things he had to prepare for just to get the job and that he had spent about two years preparing. Now that he has worked for his company for two years, he said he could finally think about marriage as he has some savings. ``But I haven't got a date. May be few years later will do.''
``The fact that doors are open to people who are in their 30s is quite encouraging,'' Lee Gwang-suk, the head of the recruitment company, said. ``But the reason for the aging new employees is because there isn't enough jobs for everyone, and that is a big problem.''