Chonnam National University (CNU) provides a number of programs for its students to help them find their job and progress their career as an international or Korean student. However, most international students do not know that there are different types of job programs on campus. Many of them have said that they need career and employment support programs specifically designed for them since they would have a lot of difficulty in joining those programs even if they knew about them. The Chonnam Tribune looked into the programs and events that the university offers to support foreign students’ career development and employment, and listened to their opinions and requests on current job support programs.

Lack of Programs for International Students
The Office of International Affairs (OIA) of CNU offers suitable guidance in English for events and programs related to career development and jobs for international students. Office of International Affairs (OIA) Staff Member Kim Hye-bin said, "We arrange programs and events for international students to prepare for employment, such as one-on-one consultation and startup related activities. Six programs operated throughout the first half of 2022, with events such as the 2022 Job Fair for International Students organized by KOTRA and the Education and Trade Ministries." According to her, the reason why it is difficult to design many career support programs is because of the student D-2 visa, which has many restrictions, and a low rate of participation. However, we found out that the number of programs is increasing every year with an increased student interest in the programs. The job fair application rate was high, with 42 students participating in the fair that took place on Oct. 21 in Seoul.

When questioned about the future, she replied, "The result of an online survey we conducted among international students from Jul. 27 to Aug.  9 shows their increasing demands for such programs. Thus, the OIA is planning to expand its internship and educational programs." Even though there are now just occasional programs scheduled each semester and no long-term continuous programs in place, the OIA has a strong interest and devotion to establishing the ideal programs for foreign students.

Job Support Programs Difficult to Access
Employment Support Office (ESO) of CNU provides plenty of programs that support students’ career development. Students can also have a career-counsel from professional counselors or professors. However, all these programs organized by the office are not available in English. Foreign students are facing the challenge of a language barrier when joining these programs and activities. Besides, many foreign students do not even know our university runs these programs and also they are only in Korean. Feride Seyidova (Junior, Faculty of Business Administration), who got her internship last year, said, “I got information about the internship from my professor. There is almost no information we can find in English, which makes it extremely hard for us to find the specifications about the job proposals. We have to prepare to get a job in Korea, but we don’t know what and how to prepare for it. That is one of the biggest problems.”

Regarding the programs, ESO Team Manager Jeon Guk-seok said, “It is not an easy decision to secure a budget and then prepare and promote the programs when we do not know how many international students there are who are looking for jobs in Korea. Moreover, programs for international students should be conducted in English but we do not have enough workers and budget for it.” He added that international students who can understand Korean during the program can participate in the programs. In spite of the circumstances, there should be more advertisements or information written in English so that international students can get to know these programs even though the information is all in Korean.

The Need for Relevant Information and Programs
During the first week of October, the Tribune asked four international students about job-related programs in order to have a better understanding of what they are going through and what they want. The students responded in Google forms that they were looking for internship programs to gain work experience that is relevant to the job they are targeting in Korea, and they needed to take part in job-related programs that are right for their specific major. Their answers are almost the same as the result of the abovementioned survey: 54 percent of 95 survey respondents said they had difficulty in obtaining job-related information, and 67 percent said the university’s top priority should be to develop programs based on field experience and practical training in order to improve the effectiveness of employment and start-up support programs.

CNU offers a number of employability support programs for its students, but many of them are only in Korean, thus it is difficult for international students to participate in those programs. Fortunately, international students can still learn Korean and join the job-related programs if they can speak a certain level of Korean. However, there are real problems such as visa limitations, which make it hard to bring in a lot of English job programs for them. In addition to that, many students do not know various programs built for students due to a lack of information. Therefore, it appears that authorities need to provide information in English even for those programs operated only in Korean. Based on the survey results, they also have to develop programs and activities designed to assist international students to improve their employability and to work in promising Korean companies. 

By Hong Ji-u, Student Editor / Gutema Saron Samuel, Tribune Reporter