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College students sit in on a lesson on how to give a good job interview.
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Job market toughest for this demographic
In the midst of growing unemployment among recent college graduates, those who majored in liberal arts or social sciences have it the worst. They hold the lowest unemployment rates, and if they are employed, a considerable number of them hold part-time or contract work. The Hankyoreh performed a survey on Aug. 1 among 40 graduates from social science departments and another 40 graduates from departments of electric engineering, all of whose scores on the university entrance exam were in the top 15 percent nationwide. The results of the survey showed that the rate and quality of employment for liberal arts and social studies graduates were largely behind those science and engineering majors. According to the results, 33 out of 40 social science majors were holding a job, but 30.3 percent of those included irregular work. On the contrary, in the case of electric engineering majors, 37 were at work, recording a 92.5 percent rate of employment, and all except one had regular jobs. Their wages also were notably different. Electrical engineering majors received 26 million won (27,400 USD) annually on average, 35 percent higher than social science majors' average annual salary of 17 million won (approximately 17,900 USD)."It is the same for all university graduates. Liberal arts and social science majors, except those who majored in business management or economics, suffer an increasingly bad employment environment," said Bae Jun-seong, 27. Last year, only 500 out of 4,500 employees in Samsung Electronics and 400 out of 2,600 in LG Electronics were liberal arts or social science majors. Prof. Lee Myeong-jin of Kookmin University said, "With the development of information infrastructure, jobs for those who majored in liberal arts and social studies have declined in number. It is time to consider a reform of the educational system under which liberal arts and social science majors can take more practical courses." Regardless of their university major, a considerable number of those surveyed were preparing to change their occupation due to low job satisfaction, according to the survey. Six, or 16.21 percent, of 37 electric engineering majors who succeeded in getting jobs have already left their companies and another 15 were considering doing so. Out of 33 social science majors who got jobs, 11, or 33.3 percent, have moved to other jobs more than one time and another 17 are thinking about changing their occupation.
