By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Today's job seekers climb all over each other to show off everything from strong academic records and diverse voluntary activities to attractive certifications. But the country's top employers' recent recruitment trend highlights one value they're looking for most ― English proficiency.
Incruit, a job placement Web site, analyzed what set apart individuals who landed a job and who didn't in the first six months of this year, and found that those who were hired at leading local companies generally had a higher score on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a tool widely used by employers to assess candidates' language proficiency.
Successful new hires scored an average of 779.8, out of a perfect 990, according to the data ― nearly 28 points higher than those who are still jobless.
Incruit surveyed a total of 4,814 men and women, who were active job seekers in the January to June period.
``Our assessment shows that the English test score was the only outstanding factor that differentiated candidates from success and failure,'' said Ko Jin-hee, a career consultant at Incruit.
Strong academic records, voluntary work, internships, awards and certifications didn't turn out to be decisive, as a large number of candidates who were rejected had such credentials, the data show.
A similar evaluation done previously indicates that English proficiency is one of the skill sets most valued during recruitment, but figures show that candidates ― whether successful or not ― are improving their scores across the board.
The difference in TOEIC score between those who were hired and those who weren't was 54 points in February of this year, while the gap was wider in February last year with 61 points, based on a previous Incruit study.
``The standard of English proficiency has changed,'' said Ko. ``Job seekers can no longer outshine their competitors with mediocre skills because everyone is getting better.''
She stressed that test scores aren't enough to assess language proficiency, which leads companies to put more emphasis on speaking evaluations.
An increasing number of major employers, including Samsung, LG, POSCO and SK, have started to require applicants to submit Oral Proficiency Interview-Computer (OPIC) and TOEIC Speaking scores for a better understanding of their communication skills.
jhan@koreatimes.co.kr
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