Amid ongoing economic recession, coupled with an ever-growing unemployment rate, getting a job is, for job seekers, as water is for a man lost in a desert. But it is still a bleak prospect that is waiting for most job seekers, hovering without trustworthy information and reliable mentors to get advice from. But a job fair, named the 2013 Career Odyssey Festival, was held from September 3 to 5 at Hwajeong Tiger Dome at 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 was competent enough.
Being the largest job-searching fair ever among those having been held at universities, this job fair was packed with well-known conglomerates–Samsung, Posco, and Hyundai, just to name a few. Not only did Korean companies attend but also foreign corporations– ten corporations such as Bloomberg, General Electric (GE), Dong Yang (DY), Japan Gasoline Company (JGC) and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) joined the fair.
"As you know, a chance for a student to have access to this information is seldom given, if not at all. But as KU actively pushes for such a 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 the job seekers who gathered there.
He also added he did find it helpful, saying, “it was much easier to compare corporations, and I 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.”

▲ KU held a job fair at Hwajeong Tiger Dome.Photographed by Kang Sang Ji.