As one of the most prestigious institutes of Korean technological and scientific scholarship, KAIST has encountered very little trouble in a very relevant yet little-discussed educational problem: securing its students’ employment after their graduation. Indeed, even as youth unemployment in Korea continues to fester, KAIST graduates have continued to make their contributions to society by taking up a variety of careers from working as researchers and employees to entrepreneurs and artists. The irony was perhaps that until last year, there were no organized efforts whatsoever to introduce KAIST students to the occupations available in the job market. Now in its second year, KAIST’s annual career fair has been a tremendous success both for students and participating companies.

Can you introduce yourself and your organization?
Hello, my name is Hyun Ho Heo and this is currently my sixth semester at KAIST. I am the leader of the Career Fair Organization Committee (CFOC), which began preparations for this year’s fair in July during the summer holidays. The CFOC is divided into four divisions or teams: Coordination and Planning, Public Relations, Facilities and General Management. The Coordination and Planning team is in charge of organizing the events – lectures, job counseling, etc. - taking place during the fair and the Public Relations team is responsible for putting us in contact with companies that want to participate. The Facilities team takes charge of obtaining the facilities and equipment necessary for the event while General Management oversees and manages the entire operation.

This is only the second KAIST Career Fair. Can you introduce us to its inception last year?
Originally the career fair was one of the public pledges that Plus+, the former student council, made in their election campaign. Hence it was first held in September last year when Plus+ was in office with the participation of 26 businesses in total. It was intended to be an event that would enable KAIST students, who are normally isolated from big businesses and job opportunities on campus, to have the occasion to connect with various career fronts and professions besides research. I think it gives students a broader perspective on what they might want to do after graduation and hence enables them to prepare for their future career paths. It was also intended to be a festival – a chance for people to have some respite from the rigorous world of academics and simply have fun. The response from both students and companies so far has been enthusiastic. Despite the participation costs, a lot of companies have expressed interest in being involved.

What events are planned for the fair this year?
One of the biggest differences between last year’s fair and the one this year is simply: scale. While there were 26 businesses participating last year, this year almost 50 different companies and employers have joined us for the occasion. From my knowledge, the Creative Learning Building will house booths for companies established by KAIST graduates such as Nexon and KME, while the KI Building will have booths for major corporations like Doosan, Samsung and others. For every job fair there is an opportunity for students to connect with their prospective employers, and the bulk of events during this year’s career fair will certainly be geared towards providing that experience. There will be booths that provide career advice, booths for entrepreneurial counseling and lectures by CEOs and entrepreneurs. On the flip side there will also be lectures detailing employment and labor laws. Yet we have also taken care to include events that will enable students to have fun while deliberating serious life decisions: we have caricature booths, raffles to give out iPads and much more. This was all possible through the participation and publicity fees paid by the companies interested in recruiting KAIST students.

What problems have you encountered in organizing this event?
Although all operations are on schedule and running smoothly, many of our members have had little or no experience in organizing events of this scale. Especially, there have been very few people from last year’s CFOC to advise us in detail on how to conduct this affair. Yet the organizations that are co-hosting this event have been immensely helpful at every turn, particularly the Organization for University-Industry Cooperation’s (OUIC) Technology Business Incubation Team (TBIT), the Student Development Center, the Graduate Student Association (GSA) and of course the Undergraduate Student Council. Thus, despite our inexperience we have been able to do everything satisfactorily and on time.

Do you have any hopes for this year’s career fair?
I am glad that so many businesses and students have shown interest. My only hope would be that the students are able to gain useful knowledge and experience from it. That alone would make our efforts during the last two months worth all the trouble. Thank you very much.