By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Kim Min-sun, 27, a senior at a prestigious university in Seoul, postponed her graduation by one year last year because getting a job was not easy. She is graduating in February, but the situation is tougher.
``Conglomerates prefer experienced men and recruit a very small number of college graduates. I applied to a medium-sized firm, but executives there did not give me a job, saying I was overqualified and thus was likely to move to a bigger company soon,'' she said.
Many college graduates have had similar experiences to Kim's, with the job market getting tighter amid the economic slowdown. According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, only half of the nations college graduates are likely to get jobs this year, the lowest level in 11 years since the Asian financial crisis.
The ministry estimated Sunday that about 556,000 people will graduate from colleges and universities this year ― in February and in August ― and about 54 percent of them, or 305,000, are likely to get employed.
The figure is down 21 percent from the average year.
``Companies reduced or froze recruitment and it will directly affect the employment of college graduates. We presume the number of those getting jobs this year will drop by 80,000 compared with last year,'' a ministry official said.
Contrary to the declining figure, the number of those going on to graduate schools or becoming jobless is expected to soar. About 10 percent of total graduates are likely to enter graduate schools, a 3 percent rise from the average for the last three years, while 25 percent are expected to end up unemployed.
The ministry also forecast that a growing number of students will be on leave of absence. ``Since 2000, about 4 percent of undergraduate students have temporarily left schools. But the ratio may reach 15 percent, a similar level as 1998 and 1999 when the Asian financial crisis hit the nation and students had to leave schools temporarily because they were unable to pay their tuition,'' the official said.