By Kim Jae-heun
Twenty-six-year-old college graduate Lee Do-hyun is busy every day attending private academies to study for an English test and computer certification exam. He has been doing this since he graduated from university early this year.
Attending private institutes as Lee is doing is common among college students here. A survey conducted by JobKorea and Albamon this month revealed that 39.2 percent of third- and fourth-year college students have been or are receiving private education to enhance their chances of finding employment. Among those taking certification tests, 71.7 percent said they feel uneasy when they are not going to an academy.
“After companies began to adopt blind hiring systems, certificates have become more important in deciding who gets the job. These days a TOEIC score is a basic qualification and you also need a high mark on the TOEIC Speaking Test,” Lee said. “Qualifying for computer certificates will definitely give me an advantage because everybody else has scores for TOEIC and TOEIC Speaking Tests as well.”
Over 51 percent of the students receiving private education were studying for English tests.
“There are more companies demanding high TOEIC scores than companies that do not. My TOEIC score is in the high 800s and I will keep going to the academy until I get it over 900,” Lee said.
The top score for the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test is 990 and it is not very rare to run into people with perfect scores out on the recruiting scene.
A bank official in charge of human resources said the importance of language scores has grown significantly in the last year.
“Before, the language scores did not matter much. But after we adopted the blind hiring system, we began to value the language test scores a lot because they are almost the only objective factor to gauge an applicant's abilities,” the official said.
The survey also showed university students spend over 2 million won ($1,763) a year on private education.
Many of the students said they depend on their parents to pay for private education. But a considerable number of students work part-time jobs to handle the fees, with 22.5 percent saying they pay for private education on their own.
“I am lucky my parents can afford my private education with no burden. But some of my friends feel bad asking their parents for tuition so they work part-time jobs,” Lee said.