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Does Studying Abroad Mean Success in the Job Hunt?
By Yu Yajing, Guest Reporter
Studying abroad is an essential, and maybe the quickest, means by which students can begin the journey of becoming global citizens. It is a great way to not only build personal relationships with foreigners, but at the same time it can make your resume more colorful, build intercultural communication skills and allow you to gain a lot of experience that sets you apart from others. It may be a wish most students have while in high school or in college. While many young hopefuls envision themselves spending a semester learning outside the classroom, they also worry about their future.
Korea has developed rapidly for the last one hundred years, especially the South Korean pop culture, which has swept not only through Japan, China and Southeast Asia, but also expanded to the rest of the world in a phenomenon called Hallyu, or Korean Wave. Thanks to revolutions in communication technology, the Korean Wave is moving faster. The term Hallyu was coined in mid-1999 by Chinese journalists surprised by the rapid growth in popularity of South Korean entertainment and goods in China. It began with the popularity of Korean TV dramas across Northeast and Southeast Asia. The growing success of Korean dramas was soon matched by Korean movies, popular music, food and language.
The foreign student always is asked questions like this: Why did you come to Korea? Chinese students who come to South Korea to pursue higher education learned much about this country through South Korean television dramas they had watched back in China. Their majors vary from business administration to electronic engineering, including the Korean language and literature, and journalism. Many of my friends, who speak fluent Korean, hope to work in business dealings with Chinese-South Korean trade when they return to China after graduation. There are also some students who wish to become Korean language teachers, journalists and diplomats.
Yao Shuaixing is a freshman from Henan province majoring in business administration at Chonnam National University. “700,000 Chinese students and scholars have gone abroad to study in 108 countries and regions all over the world, covering almost all disciplines. With the encouragement of the government, more young people are leaving China to study abroad. English is so widely used all over the world that you will find that most people can speak English these days. As Korea is close to China, more and more Korean companies come into China for huge business opportunities. I can easily foresee that Korean language ability will be an essential requirement in the job market", said Yao, who hopes to get a job with one of the best South Korean conglomerates such as Samsung or LG in China. Although she is learning Korean very diligently, she says she has some difficulties with the use of honorifics.
As we know, China and South Korea are becoming increasingly important partners in many areas, and the role of Chinese students studying in Korea will be greater and be more useful as this partnership continues to grow. These students are a new generation of China, born after China opened itself to foreign investment and the global market, which has made the country one of the world's fastest growing economies.
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