Jong Kwang Ha graduated with the class of 2012 with a B.S. in Management. He is currently working at LG Chem, the largest chemical company in South Korea and 10th largest in the world.
There are four main business areas at LG Chem: Petrochemicals, Energy Solution, Advanced Materials, and Life Sciences. Jong Kwang is in ESS Battery as an overseas marketing representative for North America in particular. His role consists of predicting market demands, analyzing the market environment, establishing sales expansion strategies, and measuring the performance results of marketing activities within the organization.
Jong Kwang is a Mason Fairfax student who decided to spend an exchange semester at our Korea campus. During his stay, he was able to visit the Career Development Center (CDC) office and prepare for the competitive job recruitment process in Korea. He applied through Job Korea, a well-known online platform, and passed the initial document screening, interview, aptitude test, final interview, and then a health screening.
The recruitment process in Korea, especially for major conglomerates, is highly intensive and challenging. Jong Kwang attests to this, saying, “I prepared and submitted the documents carefully and prepared for the interviews by referring to online resources and other materials. As an international student who studied abroad since high school, the aptitude test (similar to the Korean SAT) was very difficult.” However, with the help of the CDC, he was able to draw a clear analysis of what they were looking for and stand out as a candidate.
During his time in college, Jong Kwang focused on finding his own specialty. He invested in discovering and developing his interests as he thought about what he wanted to do in the future. He regularly attended special lectures provided by the school and visited the CDC office. As a result, he was not only able to widen his understanding of various fields, but was able to use his background knowledge to answer the broad range of questions that were asked in his two interviews.
“Use your network actively,” he says. “Contact faculty, staff, and upper classmen or alums—they won't reach out to you first.” He also adds, “Don’t worry too much. Remember, college life is too precious to be over-worried about the future!” He is open to any questions students may have, especially for those looking to work at a private company in Korea. Feel free to reach out to him!
September 29, 2019
