Hyundai Motor received applications for 132 departments in its open recruitment for new hires this September, with 58 of those in research and development (R&D). The R&D roles are highly specialized, covering areas like high-performance vehicle project management and development, robotics business management, battery design, cell development, and control systems. For example, candidates applying for high-performance vehicle project management are preferred if they have a background in mechanical, automotive, or industrial engineering, knowledge of high-performance vehicles, experience in automotive or aerospace competitions, and leadership roles in such events.
One applicant, Park (27), noted, “Hyundai is now one of the most sought-after employers, but the qualifications they ask for have become nearly impossible for new graduates to meet.”
This shift is part of Hyundai’s transition to a rolling recruitment system in 2019. While they previously held two major hiring rounds each year, they now recruit four times annually. Other major conglomerates, including LG, SK, and Lotte, have followed suit in recent years.
In South Korea’s high-growth era, companies hired large groups of young graduates through mass recruitment and trained them internally. However, with intensifying global competition, firms now prefer rolling recruitment to hire specialists who can contribute immediately, rather than generalists requiring extensive training.
As mass recruitment phases out, job seekers are facing greater challenges. They must monitor job postings year-round and wait for openings in their desired fields. Additionally, positions are becoming more specialized, and companies increasingly favor experienced candidates over recent graduates.
Jang (27), a graduate of a prominent private university in Seoul, has applied to large companies 30 times this year—twice to Hyundai, twice to Lotte, and others. He remarked that rolling recruitment has forced him to submit more applications than before. Adding to his frustration, some job postings didn’t include roles in his desired field. As a business major aiming for finance, he found that a large platform company posted a job opening earlier this year with no finance-related positions available. Now, he is casting a wider net, applying for roles in marketing, public relations, and sales.
Outside industries like automotive and shipbuilding, the economic downturn has further exposed the downsides of rolling recruitment. Many companies have quietly reduced their hiring, and this practice of recruiting fewer people over multiple rounds has made it harder for job seekers to secure jobs. According to a survey by HR firm Incruit, 70% of large companies planned to hire in double digits in the second half of last year, but that figure has dropped to 46.2% this year. Kang (26), another private university graduate, commented, “Every company has different requirements and schedules, so I’m constantly checking job postings and submitting applications. It feels like we’re living in an era of ‘application spam.’”
With rolling recruitment now the norm, many companies are increasingly favoring “experienced new hires.” Kim (27), a senior at a private university in Seoul, was surprised when she attended an interview last year at Company A. Of the six candidates, four were already employed full-time elsewhere and had applied for this job as “new hires” after working for about a year. Kim didn’t get the job, and it left her wondering if she too should gain temporary experience before applying again.
A survey by the Federation of Korean Industries found that the proportion of “experienced new hires” at Korea’s top 500 companies increased from 22.1% in 2021 to 25.7% in 2022. Lee Ji-man, a professor at Yonsei University’s School of Business, noted, “While rolling recruitment has its advantages, the responsibility of training young talent, once handled by companies, has shifted to job seekers. This has led to a rise in private education costs as individuals try to build their resumes.”
