On September 10, Lee Jungsoo, executive director of 'Peopleworks Search Farm', gave a special lecture through the online video conference application Zoom for Sookmyungians. The special lecture was titled ‘Foreign Companies and Me’, and it was offered through the Department of German Language & Culture, College of Liberal Arts. More than 80 Sookmyungians participated in this lecture to explore possible alternative career paths. The one-hour lecture introduced the speaker, detailed foreign companies operating in Korea, in particular German enterprises, what students should prepare in order to apply to a foreign company, and necessary hard and soft skills students should hone. After the speaker had finished talking, students were invited to questions related to foreign employment. Following a brief self-introduction, the lecturer provided information on the proportion of female workers at German foreign companies. The lecturer said that most female workers were working in the administration department, but their numbers in the engineering sector were increasing. The lecturer also detailed the ratio of new recruits to experienced workers and salaries offered at foreign companies. This was followed by information on the characteristics of foreign companies. The speaker stressed that foreign companies have a freer atmosphere compared to Korean companies and they also pay less attention to hierarchy than Korean companies. However, she said that if a staff were to ignore teamwork, they would have some problems at work. She said that foreign companies focus on a work-life balance, but some staff might still be required to work all night if they fail to complete their assigned tasks. In other words, students should not create false work fantasies about foreign companies. Finally, the talk offered advice on how to prepare to get a job at a foreign company. She recommended having various work experiences associated with the job they would be applying to at the company. The lecturer also advised to participate in relevant internship experiences. The speaker presented various websites that could help students to find jobs and explained how to search on those sites. Lee Songhyun, a student from Division of Business Administration '20, said, ''At first, I just applied to the lecture because I was curious about foreign companies, but it was beneficial to learn about them in more detail such as what I should consider before applying to one and what competencies foreign companies consider important.'' As Lee Songhyun states, Sookmyungians interested in working at a foreign company were able to obtain the information they needed from this special lecture. They will be able to expand their capabilities to the fullest extent and be best prepared to apply to foreign company.
