License or Certificate is Powerless at the Employment Market

Even a certificate of qualification was not appreciated by the popular industry sector.

About 200 people possessing a domestic or foreign CPA license applied for the recruitment posting of SK Telecom at the end of last year, but all failed. An accountant who applied that time regretted it, saying, “I expected one or two people to be selected, but everybody failed. If I knew this, I would rather hide the fact of possessing a license.” Applicants possessing a CPA license mainly applied for the accounting-related post, and the failure rate was especially high.

It is considerable that those who have professional licenses, including accountant, lawyer, and US-based MBA licenses, are failing at the employment market due to keen competition for jobs. In particular, this trend prevails in some popular industries.

A Professional License Is Not a Certified Check for Guarantee–

An accountant or lawyer license, which once had a high employment guarantee, recently is not showing its true character in popular industries, including public-owned enterprises or telecommunications companies.

KT Corp. recruited only two out of 98 accountants who possess a domestic CPA license and who applied for the recruitment of new employees last October. Two out of 43 AICPA bearers finally passed the process of screening new recruits at KTF Co., Ltd.

The trend of professional’s license bearers failing the screening process can be seen in other fields.

Four people who passed the judicial examination applied for a public recruitment posting of the Korea National Oil Corporation in last December, however they all failed the first round of screening. A human resources person of the Korea National Oil Corporation said that “we recruited four law majors, but all the successful candidates of the judicial examination, who received 10 additional points for that, failed the screening process due to low English scores.”

An AICPA license was once seen as a certified check for employment in popular industry sectors, but this trend is not true now.

A total of 21 U.S. MBA holders applied for jobs at LG-Caltex Oil Corporation, but none succeeded.

It is obvious that applicants from overseas who have studied abroad make little progress in highly preferred enterprises. In the case of LG-Caltex Oil Corporation, there were 365 applicants who studied abroad and obtained at least a bachelor’s degree, but only one person made it to a final interview.

In the case of LG Chemicals Ltd., only six out of 354 overseas graduates passed through the needle hole of recruitment as well.

Enhance Working Ability Instead of Acquiring a License–

Experts first analyzed that professional’s licenses that the nation approves of officially are not appreciated because the competition in some popular industry sectors is so high.

In reality, the competition rate for new recruits in KTF was 160 to one, the highest in the domestic telecommunications industry. In case of LG-Caltex Oil, which is well known for giving the highest salaries, the competition rate for entering the company was 300 to one.

In addition, experts pointed out that even a national license has nothing to do with the working ability necessary at a work site. SK Telecom explained that “Applicants who possess a CPA license have to work in accounting or finance-related divisions, but the number of recruits was too small in this section.”

Jang Seong-ji, a managing director of the public information team of Gumho Asiana Group, said, “A recent trend is that we don’t hire those who possess a professional’s license but fail the personality test.” A person in charge of recruitment of LG Electronics also explained that “It is very rare to receive additional points due to a license; other factors such as rich experience and harmonization power are much more important.”

Wi-Yong Jung Jung-Eun Lee viyonz@donga.com lightee@donga.com