Vietnamese International Student Overcomes Employment Barriers in Korean IT Companies, "Thorough Localisation and Job Competence are the Keys"

Recently, as the domestic IT industry actively seeks to hire global talent, a Vietnamese international student who studied at a Korean university has proudly joined a leading IT company in Korea, drawing attention. This success story is expected to serve as a practical milestone for many foreign students dreaming of employment in Korea.

Nguyen, who majored in Computer Engineering at a university in the metropolitan area and recently joined a famous IT company in Pangyo as a software engineer, cited overcoming language barriers and building a thorough job-focused portfolio as the keys to his employment success. He focused on developing his communication skills from the beginning of his studies abroad, achieving the highest level in the Korean language proficiency test, and he stated that he did not neglect practicing applying his major knowledge in real-world scenarios.

In particular, he actively participated in various projects both on and off campus to understand the unique organisational culture and work style of Korean companies. He explained that participating in hackathon competitions with Korean students and completing a practical IT boot camp demonstrated his ability to communicate and collaborate smoothly with team members, which received high marks during the document screening and interview stages.

When asked about the difficulties he faced as a foreigner, he pointed to the use of technical terminology during the technical interview process. While programming languages are universal, explaining them in Korean and persuading logically was another challenge. To overcome this, he consistently organised what he learned by running a technical blog in Korean and made intense efforts, such as asking seniors in the industry for mock interviews.

He urged junior international students preparing for employment in Korea not to stay within their own national communities but to interact with people from diverse backgrounds. He also emphasised that what companies expect from foreign applicants is not just simple diversity but job competence at a level equal to locals and the integration of a global perspective, and he stressed the need to develop one’s own clear technical strengths.

Industry insiders in the domestic IT sector predict that the demand for excellent foreign technical talent will continue to increase due to the declining population and the shortage of developers. The successful employment case of this Vietnamese senior clearly shows that anyone, regardless of nationality, can knock on the doors of the Korean IT industry if supported by a clear sense of purpose and a thorough localisation strategy.