- Why do you want to work for this company?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Do you think you have leadership qualities?
- Do you speak Korean?
Live Korean Class – Vocabulary about job interviews
Interviews for Top Jobs at Teach and Learn in Korea
TaLK Scholar Interview
I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Teach and Learn in Korea
Interview
Went through 2 interviews, one at the Korean embassy and one Skype interview. They asked basic questions to get to know you and why you chose to work in Korea.
- How would you handle living in a rural area?
TaLK Scholar Interview
I applied online. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at Teach and Learn in Korea in Nov 2012
Interview
Submitting the application and essay are the easiest part. You also need a lesson plan, two letters of recommendation, and a background check. The background check takes the longest. I had two interviews, one over the phone with two interviewers, and one over skype with the seoul office. For the first, the interviewers just ask you basic questions about yourself, I’m pretty sure they just want to hear you speak in English. For the second interview they ask you questions that pertain to actual work experience and situational questions (like what would you do if you were here and ‘this’ happened.)
- Introduce yourself. I’m not sure why but this one threw me.
Popularity of the Korean language
Interested in learning the Korean language? Want to ace the Korean language interview?
Then check out this article about the Top 30 Korean language Interview questions and answers.
If you are a kpop or a kdrama fan, then you might have definitely heard these phrases before. Due to the increase in viewership for kdramas and kpop, the demand for the Korean language has escalated quickly. May it be just humming to the tune of a BTS song or using small Korean phrases while talking casually. As a result, the Korean language has definitely created its own mark and generated a spark of interest in the masses!
In the past, the reasoning behind asking these questions was to determine whether the person would fit the company’s culture, Ahn said. In Korea, he said, these questions also weren’t considered paticularly personal. Questions about things like drinking capacity were also asked to those in certain fields, such as construction or sales, where drinking is more or less part of the job.
Google was once infamous for giving job applicants brain teasers (though those were later discontinued and Google even admitted these questions didn’t help to find good employees). In South Korea, job applicants have traditionally faced a slew of baffling questions. And like Google, employers are starting to doubt their value.
And women in South Korea—which was ranked 111th (lower than China, India, and Japan) in gender equality according to a 2013 gender report (pdf) by the World Economic Forum—have an additional set of questions to worry about:
Tistory, a South Korean blog, compiled a list of questions (link in Korean) from various job search sites that seek to prepare job applicants for the “personality section” of the job interview. They included some standard interview questions such as ”Why do you want to work for this company?” or “Do you think you have leadership qualities?” but some of them (link in Korean) delved into areas that seem far afield from normal job responsibilities. They include:
Nowadays, however, stricter privacy laws (pdf), the fear of annoyed interviewees taking their frustrations to the internet, and more objective competency measurements, have made companies less inclined to ask those questions.
But how about first learning the Korean language?
Henry Harvin has designed a special course for those who are interested in learning the Korean language but have no previous knowledge about it and the course trains you to express clearly in the target language among the Korean masses. Consequently, you will be able to form sentences and communicate efficiently too.
Learning a foreign language definitely becomes a blessing in disguise. It enhances and improves your CV and you have better job opportunities in the corporate world too. Consequently, you can also connect to the masses and interact with them. Henry Harvin designs the course in an efficient manner to attain a particular level of proficiency in the Korean language.
FAQ
How can I impress a Korean interviewer?
Be on time – set a positive tone for the interview. Make a good first impression – pay attention to dressing and grooming well. Don’t talk about money at first – this can be addressed after the interview. Be confident, but not arrogant – Koreans want to see that you’ll fit …
What are 10 good interview questions and answers?
- Tell me about yourself.
- Walk me through your resume.
- How did you hear about this position?
- Why do you want to work at this company?
- Why do you want this job?
- Why should we hire you?
- What can you bring to the company?
- What are your greatest strengths?
How do you write an interview in Korean?
- Tell me about yourself.
- What do you know about our company?
- Why do you want to work for us?
- What unique qualities or abilities would you bring to this job?
- What are your major strengths and weaknesses?
- How long do you plan to stay at our company?
