Online survey

Scholastic background important employment criterion

By Seo Jee-yeon
Staff Reporter

An online survey found that a majority of Korean companies still regard scholastic background as an important employment criterion, while job seekers call for companies to disregard it in evaluating their qualification.

Incruit, an online recruitment information provider, said yesterday according to an online survey of 360 human resources managers of local companies, 57 percent of those surveyed said scholastic background of job applicants is important in making hiring decisions. Only 14 percent said they regard it as less important than other qualifications, while the rest of the respondents considered its importance equal to those of other criteria.

Good scholastic background in the job market indicates acquisition of diplomas from prestigious universities in Korea. Just 5 percent of Korea's college graduates hold diplomas from first-class universities.

Meanwhile, when asked why employers check scholastic background of applicants, 57 percent said they think it is an objective indicator of their competence for job posts.
About 25 percent answered that those who graduated from prestigious universities tend to show better work performances, while 18 percent favoured graduates from first-class universities due to their ability to utilize the existing alumni network.

ëThe tendency to focus on school background in hiring is still prevalent in Korean companies. They need to develop ways to better evaluate qualifications of job applicants from various aspectsí, said Lee Jung-ju, president of Recruit, another online recruitment information provider.
Meanwhile, many job seekers think they are being discriminated by companies which heavily rely on academic background in making hiring decisions.

According to the latest survey by recruiting firm Power Job, discrimination based on academic background ranked first among the types of discrimination job seekers have experienced during their job search, with 85 percent of the 705 respondents voting for it.

ëIn our recent survey on things job seekers wish from the new government, ban on an array of discrimination in hiring, based on such factors as school background or gender, topped the list with 43 percent, followed by creation of jobs with 35 percentí Incruit said.
jyseo@koreatimes.co.kr