By Kim Jae-won
Applicants for state-invested public companies will not have to submit resumes from as early as next year.
The government said Thursday that it is seeking to adopt a process of conducting “blind” job interviews at 295 state-run companies and institutions, that exclude details of schools that applicants attended, GPA and English language skills.
Instead, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance plans to introduce an audition-style interview which will test the ability of jobseekers to present their visions and dreams that will then be evaluated by votes cast by employees.
Applicants are encouraged to use a wide range of methods, including video clips and power points, to appeal to interviewers.
“We will recommend state-run companies to reflect wider aspects of applicants through social network services, replacing resumes and CVs,” said Kwak So-hee, an official of the ministry.
The government’s move to change the method of hiring at state companies comes as private firms are adopting a range of unique job interview formats.
For instance, Hyundai Motor unveiled in June a new form of interviewing called “street casting” in which the automaker’s human resources officials visit college campuses and approach students.
However, observers say that it is too radical to exclude all consideration of skills from interviews.
“We need employees who are fluent in foreign languages to prepare for international seminars and cooperative programs. It does not make sense to exclude evaluation of such skills in the interviews,” said the director of a state-run company on condition of anonymity.
The director said that it would be better to adopt such new interview styles for applicants to specific posts, such as strategy teams which require creativeness and innovation, rather than applying the same technique for vacancies throughout an entire institution.
Observers say the new type of job interviews will change the atmosphere of state-run companies drastically which have long been dominated by employees who mostly graduated from top schools in Seoul and had good GPA scores.
State companies are popular among college graduates as providers of “dream jobs” due to the stable job security and high salaries.