Int'l students face barriers in seeking employment in Korea

International students face many challenges in gaining work experience during their studies in Korea, such as work-hour limits, restrictions from applying to internships and visa rules.

International students face many challenges in gaining work experience during their studies in Korea, such as work-hour limits, restrictions from applying to internships and visa rules.

Under the Immigration Control Act Enforcement Ordinance, international students with D-2 student visas or D-4 language trainee visas are limited to part-time, hourly, unskilled jobs such as store clerk and library assistant. There are also heavy restrictions on getting a tutoring job. For D-4 visa holders, students can only pursue internships and part-time jobs six months after entry to Korea. International students with Korean language proficiency TOPIK level 4 are subjected to fewer work restrictions than those without.

In addition to immigration visa restrictions, some schools may also have policies against their international students working during the semesters. For example, Sungkyunkwan University's policy states, "Any internship not related to acquiring credits is not allowed" on its website. For international students at Korea University, D-2 visa holders must submit various documents to get permission from the university's Global Services Center and the immigration office to work outside the university. The policies vary, however, depending on the course of study.

While these restrictions make it harder for international students to gain work experience and earn money, they exist to protect international students. The work-hour limit ensures students have time to study. The approval requirement by both the school and immigration is to make sure students' labor rights are not violated.

For many international students, the frustration is usually centered on the work permit.

"I feel like the problem is not about getting the job, but actually the ability to do it due to the visa permit," Angie Cahyaningtyas, an international student from Indonesia, said. "I actually had a chance to work for a broadcasting company as a radio announcer last year, but I had to give it up because I couldn't get the visa approval because I'm a scholarship student."

As an international scholarship student, she said that it's very frustrating that there are restrictions about the fields of work they are allowed to do because her field of expertise is in communications, but right now, she is studying international relations, so she can only apply for jobs related to international relations.

"We all know that work experience matters a lot when it comes to applying for jobs," Cahyaningtyas said.

Although getting internships is hard, that isn't the only work-related experience needed to land a job.

"Actually, I don't care about internships, Jeong Jung-hoon, a senior recruiter for a Korean e-commerce company, said. "Most of the time, interns never get to experience any real work like projects or client interactions."

"Compared to internships, I care more about real skills and certifications."

He added that it is very difficult for international student applicants to appeal to recruiters, especially if they have no other experiences. The few that are hired are fluent in Korean.

Jeong added extracurricular experiences also help boost a candidate's chance of landing a job as they show a candidate's willingness to engage in career development and sometimes demonstrate their command of the Korean language.

Despite the systemic barriers, there are programs for international students through which they can gain experience.

One of them is AIESEC, an international youth leadership organization with cohorts in many universities worldwide.

AIESEC Korea has an Incoming Volunteer for Youth (IVY) Program that allows international students to collaborate with domestic students in sustainable development projects during the winter and summer breaks.

During the summer 2022 IVY Program, there were 14 projects hosted by different universities around Korea. The projects are conducted in English and are usually four to six weeks long.

After completing the program, volunteers receive a certificate that can be used as supplementary material when applying for jobs or scholarships.

Another program is the G50 K-Academy which is planned and operated by the Financial Industry Promotion Agency and the Naeil Shinmun.

Running from May to December 2023, this program focuses on five themes: administration, Korean culture, the demilitarized zone, tech and finance. Participants are given chances to discuss and write articles about them, publishing them in newspapers of their home countries.

Although participants are required to be able to speak and write in Korean, all the participants are international students.

The American Diplomacy House Academy (ADH) at the U.S. Embassy in Korea recruits university students every year to participate in their ADH Program. The program runs for 10 months, with students participating in planning and conducting public affairs projects, listening to lectures from experts around the world and participating in various diplomacy programs.

For students interested in launching startups, student competitions such as the Promising Student Startup Team 300 is one option. Jointly hosted by the Ministry of Education, Korea Research Foundation and the Korea Youth Entrepreneurship Foundation, its Value-UP track specifically assesses the business ideas of international students.

International student teams of three to five can apply, and 10 teams will be selected to advance to the final Challenge K 2023 competition. Students will be competing for 1.5 billion won ($1.15 million) in prize money and additional startup support.

The National Institute for International Education's website and social media pages also have posts related to different international student program recruitments hosted or supported by the institute.

International students can also refer to their universities' bulletin boards, websites and social media pages of the organizations of their interest, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Unesco.

BY STUDENT REPORTER SAMKI YUNG [kjd.kcampus@joongang.co.kr]