▲ Photographed by Kang Sang Ji. KU held a job fair at Hwa Jeong tiger dome.

Amid ongoing economic recession coupled with ever growing unemployment rate, getting a job is to job seekers as water is to a man lost in a desert. But it is still bleak prospect that is waiting for most job seekers, hovering without trustworthy information and reliable mentors to get advice from. But the job fair, named 2013 Career Odyssey Festival, was held from September 3 to 5 at Hwajeong gym of Korea University (KU), and it proved to be quite helpful – approximately 200 business corporations took part and provided man-to-man consulting and employment if the candidate is competent enough.

Being the largest job-searching fair ever among those having been held in universities, this job fair was packed with well-known moguls: Samsung, Posco, Hyundai, just name a few. Not only attended Korean companies but foreign corporations – ten corporations like Bloomberg, General Electric (GE), Dong Yang (DY), Japan Gasoline Company (JGC) and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) – joined the fair.

“As you know, it is seldom, if not at all, chance for a student to have an access to this information. But as school actively pushes for such meeting that connects students and their potential employers, it has become much easier to collect information needed in getting a job. As you see now, all you should do is browse this place” said Sun Woo Young (’05, Chemical Engineering), one of job seekers who gathered there.

He also added he did find it helpful, saying “it was much easier to compare corporations, and I was greatly benefited from the real life experience of the consultants there.” Hesitant to step further, he proceeded into the crowd, just to make one big step into the “real world.”