International students, top Korean companies flock to 2024 Global Talent Fair in Seoul

International students eagerly waited in line in front of company booths at the 2024 Global Talent Fair on Tuesday, meeting hiring managers for interviews and busily asking questions about potential opportunities.

Visitors look at jobs available for international students at the 2024 Global Talent Fair held in Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

International students eagerly waited in line in front of company booths at the 2024 Global Talent Fair on Tuesday, meeting hiring managers for interviews and busily asking questions about potential opportunities.

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) hosted the 2024 Global Talent Fair at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, which is taking place from Tuesday through Wednesday.

There are 400 companies attending the job fair, with around 100 companies such as Amorepacific, Kia and Samyang Roundsquare setting up booths in the Job Fair for International Students section of the event.

According to Kotra, around 2,500 international students are expected to visit the job fair during the two-day period.

"I'm interested in seeing an overview of the jobs Korean companies have to offer," said Thea Soleillicup, a student visiting the job fair. "My major is in science and engineering, but it's very hard to find jobs that fit my major, so I want to see what's offered."

Universities such as Jeonbuk National University, Inha University and Pusan National University also brought their international students in groups to explore available opportunities.

Visitors look around the Job Fair for International Students section of the 2024 Global Talent Fair [NEWS1]

Those who submitted their résumés in advance and were selected by attending companies were invited to job interviews at the fair. Job seekers who didn't get selected for interviews could still visit, meeting company officials and recruiters at the event. On-site registration for the job fair was also available.

As one of the biggest international student job fairs, many companies have been attending the event to scout foreign talent.

"We are looking to hire people for our business support and research and development fields," said a hiring manager for Hankook Tire & Technology. "This is our third time participating in the job fair, and we hired one person last year and three the year before. We plan to hire around three to five if there are good candidates.”

"We are looking for people with at least TOPIK level 5, as the candidates will be working with Korean people, but we are also looking for people with good English and other foreign language proficiency since we are a global company with a lot of overseas offices."

There were also companies such as LG U+ that attended for the first time.

"We are a domestic business and used to focus on hiring Koreans, but the world is becoming more global, and we've found data showing that a lot of international students are coming to study in Korea," said a hiring manager for LG U+. "We thought this could mean that there could be highly competent international students we could work with, so we've attended the job fair to see if that is true."

The company is looking for AI scientists and AI engineers during the job fair.

Companies such as Hansae and Samyang Roundsquare are also conducting interviews on-site while opening positions online through their company websites. Kia promoted its global career talk, which will be hosted for international students on Sept. 13.

Apart from job interviews, the job fair also offers various career-related talks. International students who found jobs in Korea will be giving a lecture on Tuesday, with companies such as Samyang Roundsquare, Hansae and Amorepacific set to hold recruitment information sessions on Wednesday.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]