What started as an admiration for Korean popular culture quickly grew right into a profession dream for Siddhi Konduskar, one which at all times pointed her towards South Korea.
A Mumbai native with a bachelor’s diploma in movie and media manufacturing, she spent 5 years working in India earlier than transferring to Seoul to check Korean language and literature.
Since then, the journey has been fulfilling for Konduskar, now holding two diplomas from Korean institutes in schooling, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship, and constructing a profession within the nation’s thriving leisure trade with expertise as a artistic producer at two well-known media firms.
However reaching this level was removed from straightforward, a actuality shared by many worldwide graduates in Korea.
“Probably the most difficult half has been the disconnect between how my work in India is perceived right here versus again house,” Konduskar advised The PIE Information.
“I’ve spent years constructing a profession within the Indian music and movie trade, working with manufacturing homes, artists, and types. However in Korea, firms – particularly Korean ones – are usually very inflexible due to their hierarchy system. Regardless of your background, they count on you to begin from under and work your approach up.”
Many (employers) categorical willingness to rent foreigners, particularly in sectors dealing with shortages, however execution stalls when HR anticipates communication or cultural points
Kyuseok Kim, IES Overseas
The disconnect Konduskar describes was additionally echoed by Han Sang-shin, director of Korea’s Nationwide Institute for Worldwide Training (NIIED), who advised the Korea Instances, in a current interview, that worldwide college students and employers stay “disconnected”, caught in an underdeveloped system with no clear pathway linking them.
“Mismatch is among the most irritating issues. Worldwide college students are desirous to work and corporations want personnel, but either side are struggling to navigate a maze of unclear processes, restricted outreach and institutional silos,” acknowledged Sang-shin.
Previously yr, Korea’s worldwide pupil inhabitants has surged by practically 15%, from 208,962 in April final yr to 275,580 in Could this yr, as per Ministry of Justice information, with worldwide college students now making up over 20% of enrolments at 12 universities nationwide.
Furthermore, a Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) survey of 805 worldwide college students discovered that over 90% hope to remain and work in Korea after finishing their research.
“Worldwide college students can add worth in sectors the place international connections are important. Industries resembling worldwide commerce, leisure, and healthcare stand out,” mentioned Jeesuk Kang, a better schooling skilled in Korea and director of educational relations at ETS.
However whereas alternatives exist and curiosity in working in Korea is excessive, the KBIZ survey discovered that two-thirds (66.7%) of worldwide college students mentioned acquiring an E-7, or Specifically Designated Actions visa, was troublesome, limiting their entry to profession alternatives.
Whereas the E-9 visa gives a neater pathway for low-to-medium-skilled worldwide employees, securing an E-7 visa, for professionals in fields like IT, engineering, design, schooling, leisure, analysis, and commerce, and depending on Korean employer sponsorship, stays much more difficult, with Konduskar noting that “many employers are both unaware of the method or reluctant to tackle the perceived ‘additional work’ of hiring somebody with no everlasting visa”.
“Even well-prepared graduates with internships and TOPIK 4–5 typically lose alternatives when employers hesitate over the E-7 course of, wage flooring, or documentation. College students report that provides have been rescinded as soon as HR realised the compliance burden,” defined Kyuseok Kim, IES Overseas Seoul’s centre director.
“Many (employers) categorical willingness to rent foreigners, particularly in sectors dealing with shortages, however execution stalls when HR anticipates communication or cultural points. Worldwide graduates typically testify to microaggression and unstated doubts about whether or not a “foreigner” can combine totally right into a staff,” acknowledged Kim.
Procedural uncertainty solely provides to the issue, Kim defined, noting that smaller companies typically lack experience on visa guidelines, job codes, and wage thresholds, and worry compliance dangers, main them to favor home hires even when worldwide candidates are certified.
He added that whereas worldwide college students may contribute vastly to high-knowledge sectors like AI, semiconductors, and digital industries, “lingering biases and restricted institutional assist proceed to make companies hesitant to embrace various expertise”.
With South Korea’s fertility price at simply 0.75, among the many world’s lowest, and its working-age inhabitants projected to halve by 2070, many younger Koreans are shunning sectors like building, manufacturing, and agriculture, now dominated by migrant labor, in favor of white-collar careers, intensifying competitors for each home and worldwide graduates.
“Korean graduates are already dealing with an intense job market, and plenty of employers favor to rent native candidates as a result of it feels much less dangerous,” famous Konduskar.
“Home graduates typically get promoted sooner as a result of they intuitively perceive Korean work tradition, whereas worldwide staff could discover themselves caught except they always show their worth.”
Whereas Kang acknowledged that there are already “greater than sufficient” Korean job seekers out there, he burdened that increasing internship alternatives for worldwide college students is simply as essential as creating pathways to full-time roles.
“First, Korea doesn’t have a particular visa class for internships. Second, worldwide college students on pupil visas face restrictions on the variety of hours they’ll work. Throughout summer season or winter breaks, for instance, firms could want to rent worldwide college students, however there is no such thing as a clear visa pathway for this,” acknowledged Kang.
“That mentioned, the trade supporting worldwide college students and expertise in Korea is creating shortly. Over time, I count on insurance policies and techniques to enhance, making internships and employment extra accessible.”
A silver lining, nonetheless, is that organisations just like the Nationwide Institute for Worldwide Training (NIIED) are stepping up, partnering with main job platforms together with Saramin, JobKorea, and Wished Lab to increase entry to employment alternatives for worldwide college students.
NIIED can also be collaborating with no less than 11 worldwide pupil councils throughout Korea to assist pupil settlement, utilizing them to share info and promote its packages, as reported by The Korea Instances.
The measures come as South Korea’s worldwide pupil dropout price reached 7.1% and unlawful stays 17.6% in 2023 — points tied to broader systemic gaps, in accordance with Sang-shin.
South Korean universities, which purpose to host 300,000 worldwide college students by 2027, may even must take a extra proactive function in supporting them, in accordance with Kang.
“To higher assist worldwide college students, universities ought to contemplate constructing devoted profession assist models inside their worldwide places of work. This might require extra assets, however it could ship a powerful sign of dedication,” Kang acknowledged.
“One other thought is to create a ‘expertise ebook’ that highlights the highest 10–20% of worldwide college students looking for employment in Korea. Such a ebook may embrace their GPA, extracurricular actions, trade pursuits, and language certifications, and be distributed to main HR departments. This might make it simpler for employers to find certified worldwide candidates,” he advised.
