How Open Is ‘Open Recruitment?’

Last year, Korea Exchange Bank held a preliminary document screening and a secondary interview for employee recruitment in the name of “open recruitment.” During their interviews, in order to dispel prejudices, the applicants’ personal information was not revealed to interviewers in the form of a “blind interview.” The 2002 job recruitment followed similar steps with a screening and interview, but there were limits to those who can apply such as “those born in 1975 and younger” and “college graduates or graduates-to-be”, and interviewees could review the applicants’ personal information.

More Women and Fewer from Prestigious Universities –

The “women wave” hit it hard. The number of women accepted in 2002 was 92 out of 328 (28.0 percent), but last year it soared to 61 out of 130 (46.9 percent).

In particular, in the latter half of last year’s job recruitment, in which 9,116 applied for 30 openings, a ratio of 300:1, something “extraordinary” happened as 17 women were admitted, a figure greater than that of men.

Fewer people from prestigious universities were admitted. The rate of successful applicants from the top five universities dropped from 55.5 percent in 2002 to 39.2 percent after the “open recruitment.”

Not Much Change for Local University Graduates –

The share of admitted local university graduates has hardly changed, from 11.2 percent in 2002 to 10.8 percent last year.

In terms of accepted applicants, the top five universities remain fairly constant. In 2002, the order was Korea University, Yonsei University, Seoul National University, Sogang University, and Sungkyunkwan University. Last year, it was Korea University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Yonsei University, Seoul National University, and Sungkyunkwan University. Except for the fact that Hankuk University of Foreign Studies replaced Sogang University, not much has changed.

Even though the academic background of applicants is not the top priority, in the end, the admitted are from the top schools anyway.

Jin-Young Hwang buddy@donga.com