Revelations of False Credentials Shake South Korea
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Published: September 1, 2007
(Page 2 of 2)
Cheating has always existed but experts say it has almost certainly increased over the past decade as South Korean companies, squeezed between high-tech Japan and low-cost China, have cut back on hiring.
“Before the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, there were enough jobs for everyone,” said Lim Min-wook, a manager at Saramin, one of the country’s leading recruiting companies. “Graduates from first-tier schools landed top jobs and second-tier school graduates got the next best jobs and so on. But nowadays, there aren’t many jobs, period.”
Although some companies conduct aptitude tests to detect the best job candidates, the reliance on academic degrees persists.
Joo Tae-san, the chief executive of Maxmovie, an online movie and performance ticketing company, said he had no choice.
“There is no other way to verify a person’s competence,” he said. “Calling former employers or professors for comments and recommendation letters isn’t helpful because they will either not comment or only praise the person.”
Despite the weight assigned to academic degrees, South Korean companies have never systematically verified them, a task more difficult with foreign degrees.
This was underscored by the case of Lee Ji-young, the host of a popular English-learning radio program for seven years.
The public network Korea Broadcasting System hired her without checking her background, which she said included degrees from the University of Brighton, in England.
But she pushed things a little too far. After landing the radio job, she kept playing up her fabricated academic background in interviews and a book. Her luck ran out when an anonymous caller tipped off reporters.
Ms. Lee was forced to resign. In a farewell message posted on her radio show’s Web site, she explained that she had come to Seoul from her rural hometown and that she had tried but failed to enter college.
Lying worked, but proved difficult to undo. “I wanted to stop,” she said, “but a long time had passed.”
Sign In to E-Mail or Save This Print Single Page Reprints Share
DiggFacebookNewsvinePermalink
Published: September 1, 2007
(Page 2 of 2)
Cheating has always existed but experts say it has almost certainly increased over the past decade as South Korean companies, squeezed between high-tech Japan and low-cost China, have cut back on hiring.
“Before the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, there were enough jobs for everyone,” said Lim Min-wook, a manager at Saramin, one of the country’s leading recruiting companies. “Graduates from first-tier schools landed top jobs and second-tier school graduates got the next best jobs and so on. But nowadays, there aren’t many jobs, period.”
Although some companies conduct aptitude tests to detect the best job candidates, the reliance on academic degrees persists.
Joo Tae-san, the chief executive of Maxmovie, an online movie and performance ticketing company, said he had no choice.
“There is no other way to verify a person’s competence,” he said. “Calling former employers or professors for comments and recommendation letters isn’t helpful because they will either not comment or only praise the person.”
Despite the weight assigned to academic degrees, South Korean companies have never systematically verified them, a task more difficult with foreign degrees.
This was underscored by the case of Lee Ji-young, the host of a popular English-learning radio program for seven years.
The public network Korea Broadcasting System hired her without checking her background, which she said included degrees from the University of Brighton, in England.
But she pushed things a little too far. After landing the radio job, she kept playing up her fabricated academic background in interviews and a book. Her luck ran out when an anonymous caller tipped off reporters.
Ms. Lee was forced to resign. In a farewell message posted on her radio show’s Web site, she explained that she had come to Seoul from her rural hometown and that she had tried but failed to enter college.
Lying worked, but proved difficult to undo. “I wanted to stop,” she said, “but a long time had passed.”