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Permalink Reply by William Sisson on March 28, 2011 at 11:36am

Let me first add that when applying to Korean companies, there is a typical Korean style that is generally used – templates can be found on the web. Also, Koreans don’t use cover letters but rather a Self-Introduction letter that at times can be many pages long. It is an autobiography and includes everything you have discussed below. When applying to mutli-national companies, the typical one-page cover letter and two page CV are the norm.

 

CV:

1. First off, I assume that additional to a pro picture, naming ones nationality and civil status is obligatory / benefical on a CV directed towards Korean HR personnel, right? Yes
2. Would one also list association memberships (at least in the CV, not in the resumée), especially how about political association memberships (in political parties or youth organizations)? Except for that they probably can't make any use of these entries anyways, is naming association memberships commonplace or not happening usually? I'll remove them anyways, but I'd be curious to hear about it from Koreans or the HR people here working in Korea... (No. In some companies what political associations you belong(ed) to and are associated with can be seen as a negative. Leave it out)
3. How about "further interests"? For applications in the EU you almost better leave it out (esp. people overdoing it in this area), but is sth. personal important / welcome in Korea? This might sound like a stupid question, but hey there are so many different opinions around that I think it's valid to discuss this part. (Describing you future goals in relation to your career path is OK to add as long as they are relevant to the position and the company. i.e. If you are applying for a position that is associated with the Finance Industry and you mention that your goal in the next five years is to own your own restaurant – will not work and it should be dropped. However, this is not discussed on the CV/Resume but rather on the Self-Introduction. See below)

 

Cover letter: 

(Koreans use a Self-Introduction letter or autobiography; not cover letters unless it is for multi-national companies)

Except for the usual cover letter advice, I came up with the question, if it wouldn't actually be wise/helpful to explictly name some of the recruiters "fears" - which are especially plentyful against foreigners - and assuring the person/company, that certain issues won't pop up. I.e.:

OK ready here we go…

1. Naming the fact that you are already accustomed to the Korean culture and food (i.e. no shock) and that you do know and are willing to live and integrate (!) in this environment (i.e. also in the corporation) and that you will still perform excellent for the company (I wouldn't mention the last half of the sentence, as this should be derivable from the first part.). (Koreans like to know that foreigners are “accustomed to their culture” now prove it – i.e. how long you lived in Korea, what areas did you travel to etc…)
2. That you will pay for all your expenses on your own (except for what is contractually agreed). (Be careful if you make this type of statement. Housing is a fine example – if you agree to pay for your own housing be prepared to have between $5,000 and $20,000 for the deposit plus a monthly rental fee including living cost - $500 ~ $1,000 on average.)
3. That you will not run away (loss of trained human resource) but rather plan to come back and work in South-Korea (i.e. potentially in the company you apply to), i.e. that you got a long-term plan! ( Having a long-term plan is good. Even mentioning “running away” would send up a red flag. Most of the “runaways are either teachers who have a bad experience or people fleeing from the police. Professionals do not run away.)
   1. Naming that you are willing to travel for business purposes. (Good – I would also mention if you have any limitations for international travel – i.e. banned in China, Russia or other nations.)
   2. Naming that I don't need a work visa from the company?! (this whole issue is unclear to me as of now, I'll post my questions about this soon...) (This statement has me VERY curious as this is a HUGE hindrance and obstacle in employing foreigners in Korea.)

 

Other points on the cover letter:

• What do you think about explicitly mentioning "Western(er) qualities" (and using this term!) in the cover letter? I don't want to appear arrogant, but rather emphasize that I'm e.g. able to work efficient and so on. (Only if the position has to with working with overseas clients would I even mention this. Koreans are well-aware that you have some Western qualities or they would not even look at your resume Many Koreans have lived, studied and worked overseas for many years – they do not need to taught Western Culture. Remember you are coming into Korean culture and YOU are the one that has to adjust – not them).)
• 
• When applying in my home country I of course never had to think about mentioning or emphasizing the country or the characteristics of its people, but when applying in Korea, would you think it is wise to point out that you're aware of the differences and appreciate those. I wouldn't mention much, just e.g. that I can relate to the Korean (hard) work ethic and maybe that I would also be willing to do development/training on the weekends to brush up my skills ( A willingness to learn is a good thing – mentioning or emphasizing the country or characteristics is not good. – Would you want someone from Korea coming to your country and explaining to you about “your culture?” Keep is simple and simply say you are willing to learn and leave it at that.)
• Also maybe that I'm willing to work overtime (while I found a way to put this aspect into the cover letter without explicitly naming it :)), as this seems to be usual in SK? (There is no such thing as “overtime” in Korean companies. Working 12+ hours, weekends and holidays to “get the job done” is the norm Be prepared to adjust.)
• All in all you notice that quite a bit of the whole writing seems to be needed to address the Korean specifics! (And thus prolongues the cover letter a bit, hopefully still only one page.) This of course also means that my cover letters would have more parts that stay always the same, whatever company I apply to. ;-) Basically the core question here is, if this is advisable / needed at all?
• Even when you write cover letters to multi-national companies in Korea or your home country ; you should customize each of them. They cover letter should have three basic paragraphs:

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  • 1. Specific greetings to the HR, Hiring Manager or Recruiter; mentioned the position title and company name and location.
  • 2. The second paragraph is where you actually match your skills to the specific requirements and qualifications located on the job description. If you are able to show the HR person that you your skills sets are in-line with what the position is asking for you are one step closer to being granted an interview.
  • 3. Simply close, thank the person for their review and consideration for reading your cover letter and resume ( Many people do not read cover lteers because the majority of them only contain basic information found on the resume and you are one of 100+ resumes that the HR person must review. You have about 20 seconds to make an impression. You have to give the HR person a reason to read your cover letter. Simply being a foreigner is not good enough.)

 

What I of course can't assure the potential employer of (in writing) is:

• ...that I will not "disturb the harmony", if he really believes foreigner working for the company would be able or willing to be that destructive. ( If you mentioned this point to me at any time in the interview or resume screening process; I would tell you to have a nice life and send you packing. Harmony in work and business is very important. If you mentioned that “you can’t assure disrupting the harmony” you don’t belong in Korea or Asia.)
• 
• ...that as a foreigner not speaking Korean on a conversational level, this won't lead to the need of mutual adjustment to each other. ( No worries here. I am also an expat who has very limited Korean skills; but have survived well.)
• ...that I will be able or willing to go binge-drinking and eating lots of meat with the boss (this is what most of my current Korean friends warned me about *lol* What is your experience with that?). I would of course never mention that anyways. (Socializing with coworkers and clients is a way to build team cohesion and inclusion. If you are not into heavy drinking – them don’t drink that much. Drink slow, eat more and control yourself. Actually a good trick it to become the one who “serves or pours” for your other co-workers and boss. It shows respect but also allows you to control the amount that is served to you. As far as eating meat that is your issue. I have been a vegetarian for 14 years and everyone knows it. If we go out for BBQ; I eat salad and side-dishes. No questions; No problems.)
• I won't mention the salary issue, still I'd basically willing to do my internship for next to nothing in renumeration, which leads to my next point: ( IN traditional Korea resumes – you salary level IS mentioned. However, this is based on your previous experience. Before you start “demanding salary remuneration” understand where you actually stand in the Korean business environment. Just because you are a foreigner who can speak two languages will not and in most cases justify a higher salary. It is based on your previous professional working experience. If this is for an internship – expect to be paid next to nothing)
• Even though it's imho a bit ridiculous to believe that a foreigner would be unable or unwilling to do proper work (when having equal qualifications to a Korean), I would happily give a "money back guarantee". *lol* Of course this idea isn't totally serious, sadly the fear of incapable foreigners (if you only know English teachers... ;)) is? (Do not mention. Red flagged as a negative not as a positive. – For example if I read this and had a “project that needed you skills” say for only 6 months – why not hire you for the 6 month project them demand all my money back. Just don’t mention it.)
• ...that he will not lose credibility, if his English might be worse than mine. ;-) I heard this could happen and basically as of the fear of losing authority through this, some employers don't hire foreigners! What is your opinion / knowledge or experience concerning this?
• (This concept is changing as many SMEs are realizing the need to hire foreigners in order to expand outside of Korea. Credibility is not the factor – internal communication is. But many Koreans are fully bi-lingual and have no problems communicating)
• ...I of course can't convince him of my excellence (except for my grades), if he (mostly) judges my ability by his knowledge of my university ('s renown). Because he obviously won't know the university, like he will know all those universities in Seoul.
• (Don’t be so sure. I can almost guarantee that if they are even thinking about bringing you on-board; your university, past employment and associations will be investigated – even if simply via the internet. They will know all about you by what you tell them in your résumé, cover letter (self introduction) and if you are lucky your interview.

...in case someone feels offended, please replace "he" with "she" in your mind. ;) Got no time for gender neutral wording....

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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on March 28, 2011 at 1:15pm

William - You have single-handedly moved this discussion into the "elite" rank. Thank you!  I'll be linking this one into our Get a Job topic central page soon, too.

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Permalink Reply by Philipp Grunwald on March 28, 2011 at 1:21pm

Thanks Steven, I'd be happy if this is necessary for others! :)

For the elite rank: It wouldn't be there without my fine questions. ^.~

 

Also, I already have to state here that the above points need a bit of comment / clarification by me, because there were a few points in which Mr. Sisson did misunderstood my intention..

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Permalink Reply by Philipp Grunwald on March 28, 2011 at 2:26pm

Dear Mr. Sisson,

first of all a big thanks for the detailed and helpful answers, a huge help!

I’ll try to briefly add my comment to a few of your answers, where imho necessary:

For the CV template, I’ll try to find the best and link them here on KBC, maybe some others will also join, so that we could collaboratively distill this to the one or two templates really relevant!

 

I already saw the self-introduction letter, it reminds me at an English/German essay request. ;-) This is a surprising amount of effort to put into an internship application, but ok. It seems I’ll have to do a lot explanation in there. ;-)

CV, #3^rd point: This was not about my career goals or path, but rather about my personal interests! E.g. swimming, hiking, chess, cinema, meeting friends and travelling, or whatever. I hope you understand now. Not sure though, but if you look in the CV’s posted here by other members you see that those “further interests” often span ½ - 1 page of the CV. *lol* My question would be what your experienced advice would be how Korean employers relate to this CV section. Also thanks for the word of warning, I won’t just go down another road, but yeah some people need to have this spelled out in writing. ;)

Cover letter, #2^nd point: Are you sure? Quite frankly, I heard that the rent system described by you (dunno the Korean name) isn’t very prevalent anymore! Also, why should the company cover such high costs (as they then have the risk of obtaining it back from the landlord) EVER?! They would be crazy to do so. ^.^ I think both the company and I know sufficient options of shelter. If everything else fails, I’d pay for a guesthouse (I even know one including ironing service ;-)), which would cost me around 500 EUR per month. Additionally I know several friends that organized themselves a flat in the area (I don’t plan on that), so I think this fear is a bit over the top?

Cover letter #4: How do you mean “banned from”? I’m maybe naïve, but why should China etc. ban me from visiting their beautiful country ;-) as long as I’m no political activist?

Cover letter #5: Visa, I referred you to my new post, yet what would be interesting to me still: What huge obstacles arise specifically, where do you see actual problems / risks?

“Other points” #1/2: I fully understand your point and you are definitely right about it! I appreciate your critical approach a lot (it’s rare to find in people :-)) yet would it really be bad to mention something along the lines of “I highly respect the rigorous work-ethos of the Korean people“ ? Sure it’s not absolutely necessary and I could be an evil liar ;) but I would mention this as my opinion, but not to look down on them! But you are right, there is a risk of misunderstanding.
I also have to add though that I sure _have to_ mention Korea and the Koreans in my “self introduction” if I really want to explain and convince them about the reasons of my decisions!
I mean I can’t just ignore this at all, as then they’ll wonder why the hell I am applying imho!

Other point #3: I know that working overtime is the norm in Korea! But indeed my question was, if you’d consider it sensible to explicitly state to the Korean employer that I am definitely (whatsoever) willing to work what is the Korean norm but not the Western norm! Again: It’s his “secret fear” and the general question is, if our attitude should be to just apply and hope for the best (i.e. that he’d assume the best) or if we can/should / actually do make it easier for him through explicitly ‘invalidating’ his fears or if this won’t work or rather isn’t advisable!
  

Concerning the „What I can't assure the employer “:
Here you misunderstood me quite a bit! I don’t know how I should put it differently... It is not about what I am unwilling to do *lol*, but rather the opposite!! My question again is how to invalidate these potentially upcoming “wrong”, negative assumptions about foreigners in general!

I.e. point #1: My point is trying to start out from the viewpoint of a conservative, partly “stubborn” Korean employer, who assumes all what I just mentioned. Now I did actually state that I personally don’t yet see a way to convince him that I’ll indeed have none of the feared negative impact on the company, at least not in the cover-letter! Of course this takes a whole new direction now you mentioned the self-introduction letter!
Still the question is, can and should there be done anything about this? Very extreme example: I read this one newspaper article about an Indian getting insulted in the public transport by a rascist Korean. “Luckily” I’m not Indian ;-) but there could still be negative sentiment. My opinion here is just that I’m not responsible to invalidate any negative sentiments of this (!) kind – or rather I think it’s impossible to break this psychological barrier, if someone just got this opinion through his parental home and/or the Korean media. Opinion?

#2^nd point: Was almost an expectation from my side. I don’t worry about my survival but rather hope (only hypothesizing from the worst-case view) that the employer is aware of the need to work together carefully and leniently, as the potential for misunderstanding is higher imho.

 #3^rd point: The part was very interesting! Indeed I expect that to work out, what I didn’t expect to work out, is the meat issue. Indeed I’m Vegetarian, didn’t want to mention it directly. ;-) I just heard that at least Koreans get bullied by their bosses for being Vegetarian sometimes, of course we might just be lucky as foreigners and don’t get a full backslash. ;-) But what I mean is that I again see the potential for disharmony, if the boss would be really authorative and conservative! Of course this is only worst-case thinking and based basically on speculation and one newspaper article, I find it important to clarify this though, this time to elevate our “foreigner fear(s)”! :-)

Last point: I think you misunderstood me here a bit. Of course they should and are allowed to investigate! Either they are pleased with my track record or not. I welcome any questions and hopefully my answers will be fine for them. ;-)

 

Thanks again! Best regards,

 

 

Philipp Grunwald

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