Most Young Jobseekers Spend Money to Pad Resumes

More than half of young jobseekers spend at least W200,000 a month to pad out their resumes and improve their chances in an increasingly competitive employment market (US$1=W1,122).

For many young jobseekers, who have no stable income, that is very expensive.

Job portal Saramin polled 500 jobseekers last week, and 51 percent said they spend more than W200,000 a month to boost their skills and stand out in the job market. Some spend W500,000 to W1 million and a handful more than W1 million.

The respondents estimated that they have spent an average of W3.56 million to prepare to land a job -- mostly to learn skills at private crammers, get certificates and to improve their appearance for job interviews.

As competition grows red-hot, spending is soaring.

Some 79.8 percent said their expenditure on padding out their resumes is a burden, and 84.1 percent of those who have been looking for jobs for more than a year said the amount is taking a serious toll on their finances.

They turn to various sources to come up with the money. Some 52.2 percent said they use their own funds, 41.2 percent ask their parents, 35.6 percent work part-time jobs, and 10 percent said borrow money from banks or friends.

But 59.8 percent feel they are wasting their money. Some 42.8 percent said the money they spend learning new skills has no direct correlation to their careers, and 39.1 percent that the new skills are not helping them land jobs.

Some 52.5 percent regretted spending money on TOEIC or other English proficiency tests. But 51.8 percent also said they have no choice but to spend the money because not doing so made them feel too anxious.