I was recently contacted by someone putting together a China conference regarding my speaking on where to locate a business within China. I quickly made clear I was not the right person to give this talk, but it did get…

Certainly HR Departments should not be asking stuff like “Why did your parents get divorced?” or “When you studied abroad, did you live with a relative or by yourself?”, as friends of mine were asked in Korea (at chaebol interviews).

well, it wasn’t too long ago that many of the chaebols had a fortune teller sitting in on interviews, according to more than a few executives i’ve spoken with.

HR is improving rapidly in some areas, but nothing changes in others. unfortunately, HR does not have the strength to determine more than rough hiring guidelines that boil down to upper level managers (oftentimes simply older dogs) making the call on what questions and behavior are appropriate.

of course, there is an upside to all of this. acting innapropriately initiates the new recruits in innapropriate behavior and the korean HR bokanovsky process continues successfully-stability reached.

Except for people in technical/professional fields, it doesn’t seem like Korean people go goo goo over SNU degree anymore. (point in proof, the election of President Roh Moo Hyun)

Go to Hyundai or the Ministry of Finance and Economy and see how their new hires break down. Last I checked, it was ridiculously stacked in favor of the big schools. Far more disproportionate than what you would see in the West (where there are dozens of first-rate schools across the United States, let along respectable schools in other countries).

How should HR departments hire? How do HR departments in the West choose new hires? There is a whole academic field dedicated to HR:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.....Management

Certainly HR Departments should not be asking stuff like “Why did your parents get divorced?” or “When you studied abroad, did you live with a relative or by yourself?”, as friends of mine were asked in Korea (at chaebol interviews). Getting rid of photos and age requirements on job applications would be steps in the right direction, too.

Sonagi - I think you are splitting hairs. “a few in every class” * number of classes = oodles.

The US doesn’t give a rat’s ass about its international standing because public school teachers are too focused on their students passing state tests.

Please explain to me how the Yank kids can do so “Badly” on the standardized test yet still be the leading inventers in the world?

Well, the way it was explained to me once before is that out of all the school systems in the world, the US is the only one that doesn’t give a rat’s ass about their international standing. In fact, if US students get poor international rankings, that’s a way for the educational system to get more funding. So, in some cases, mediocre or poor students are encouraged to take the Math standardized tests while Math club students don’t even know it exists.

It sounds like it could be true, and if so, I’m glad. I love being part of a country that DOESN’T compare itself to other countries incessantly.

It just seems like if you have to choose from a goof off from Korea University as opposed to a goof off from a regional university, you are better off hiring a goof off from Koryodae

Why hire either one with so many unemployed university graduates looking for work?

Which is silly, because I can easily find hundreds of sharp, great young people who graduated from “lesser” universities. And oodles of idiots from Seoul, Yonsei, Korea universities.

I didn’t find “oodles of idiots” among the students I taught at Yonsei and Korea, but I did encounter a few in every class and wonder, “How the heck did you get in here?” I have met oodles of sharp, great young people who graduated from “lesser” universities.

Except for people in technical/professional fields, it doesn’t seem like Korean people go goo goo over SNU degree anymore. (point in proof, the election of President Roh Moo Hyun)

It just seems like if you have to choose from a goof off from Korea University as opposed to a goof off from a regional university, you are better off hiring a goof off from Koryodae.