Correspondent
The Hiring Process in the United States
I am a Korean-American who left Korea in my second year of junior high school to go to the US, where I finished high school and got my college degree. Now in my tenth year of residence in the United States, I work for an American employer. Perhaps the uppermost concern of college graduates, whether in the United States or in Korea, is getting a job. Whether you live in the US or Korea, taking that first step towards your career is always difficult. You have to leave the small community that you have grown used to and start socializing within a much larger society, and you have to quickly learn things that you didn’t learn in school. As such, I would like to take this opportunity to describe how different the hiring experience I encountered in the United States is from Korean hiring practices from the standpoint of a fresh college graduate.
First, unlike in Korea, it is not required to attach your photo to the résumé whether in the United States or Korea. In the US, job applicants come from diverse ethnic backgrounds and the photo non-requirement is designed to thwart racial discrimination in hiring. Furthermore, in Korea, employers hire only twice a year during the open hiring seasons, once in the first half (mid-February) and a second time in the second half of the year (mid-September). In the US, however, hiring is done on a “need to” basis. College graduates in the US apply for jobs through job fairs and job search engines like Indeed. Hiring on a need to basis is attractive to applicants because there are no deadlines. But employers do not always announce the results of hiring, which can leave applicants biting their nails in anxiety.
My experience was no different. After passing through the initial round of the résumé review stage, followed by phone interviews and face-to-face interviews, the wait for the results was agonizing. I cannot recall the countless times I checked my email and the messages left on my mobile phone and read other people’s interview experiences. When I interviewed for an intern job in Korea, I was notified about when the results of the interview would be posted, so I did not have to check my email or SMS.
Unlike in Korea, US job applicants have the opportunity, in the form of something called a Follow-up email, to express their gratitude to prospective employers for providing them with the interview opportunity.
As described above, the US and Korea have very different hiring practices, but I am posting my reflections in the hope that they will be of some benefit to my Korean friends and other college graduates. To all jobseekers out there, keep your spirits up!
First, unlike in Korea, it is not required to attach your photo to the résumé whether in the United States or Korea. In the US, job applicants come from diverse ethnic backgrounds and the photo non-requirement is designed to thwart racial discrimination in hiring. Furthermore, in Korea, employers hire only twice a year during the open hiring seasons, once in the first half (mid-February) and a second time in the second half of the year (mid-September). In the US, however, hiring is done on a “need to” basis. College graduates in the US apply for jobs through job fairs and job search engines like Indeed. Hiring on a need to basis is attractive to applicants because there are no deadlines. But employers do not always announce the results of hiring, which can leave applicants biting their nails in anxiety.
My experience was no different. After passing through the initial round of the résumé review stage, followed by phone interviews and face-to-face interviews, the wait for the results was agonizing. I cannot recall the countless times I checked my email and the messages left on my mobile phone and read other people’s interview experiences. When I interviewed for an intern job in Korea, I was notified about when the results of the interview would be posted, so I did not have to check my email or SMS.
Unlike in Korea, US job applicants have the opportunity, in the form of something called a Follow-up email, to express their gratitude to prospective employers for providing them with the interview opportunity.
As described above, the US and Korea have very different hiring practices, but I am posting my reflections in the hope that they will be of some benefit to my Korean friends and other college graduates. To all jobseekers out there, keep your spirits up!
Gwon Yunseon
(Country of Activity: America)
(Country of Activity: America)
