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서울대 ‘학생 세일즈’ 나섰다

서울대가 학생들의 해외 취업을 돕기 위해 외국에 있는 회사 인사담당자와 취업 희망자들을 만나게 해 주는 ‘맞춤형 해외 취업 프로그램’을 개발했다.

서울대 경력개발센터는 취업 프로그램의 일환인 ‘홍콩 파이낸스 프로그램’에 따라 홍콩 금융가 진출을 희망하는 학생 10명을 선발해 지난달 20일부터 26일까지 이들이 직접 홍콩의 유명 금융사를 방문해 인사 담당자와 만날 수 있도록 해 줬다고 7일 밝혔다.

서울대가 직접 학생들을 선발해 외국 기업의 본사를 찾아가서 ‘학생 세일즈 활동’을 펼친 건 이번이 처음이다.

서울대 경력개발센터 소장인 박순애(행정대학원) 교수는 “지금까지 극소수의 학생이 스스로 준비하던 유명 외국 기업의 본사 취업을 학교가 직접 지원하기 시작했다는 데 의미가 있다”고 말했다.

서울대가 이 프로그램을 위해 처음 접촉했을 때만 해도 홍콩의 금융사들은 “단순 견학은 가능하지만 입사를 목적으로 한 방문은 불가능하다”며 거부 의사를 밝혔다.

그러나 서울대는 7 대 1의 교내 경쟁을 뚫고 선발된 학생들의 프로필과 이들이 작성한 기업분석, 투자전략 보고서 등을 홍콩의 금융사들에 계속 보냈다. 또 두 달 동안 꾸준히 인사담당자들과 접촉하며 설득 작업을 펼쳤다.

결국 ING그룹, 소시에테 제네랄, 스탠더드차터드은행, 모건스탠리 등의 아시아태평양지역 본사로부터 학생들의 실력을 검증해 보겠다는 답을 얻어냈다.

서울대의 지원은 여기서 끝나지 않았다. 서울대는 금융사들과 조율해 구체적인 프레젠테이션 주제를 결정한 뒤 학생들에게 석 달간의 준비 기간을 줬다.

또 학생들의 보고서 작성과 프레젠테이션을 돕기 위해 외국 금융사의 한국법인에서 활동 중인 동문 임직원들을 ‘과외교사’로 초빙하기도 했다.

홍콩 파이낸스 프로그램에 참여했던 학생 중 현재까지 6명이 지난달 방문했던 회사들로부터 채용 인터뷰 기회를 얻었다.

5명은 프랑스계 은행인 소시에테 제네랄로부터, 1명은 종합 경제정보 서비스 회사인 블룸버그 LP로부터 각각 채용 인터뷰 제안을 받았다.

한편 서울대 경력개발센터는 지난해 7월 이장무 총장이 취임한 이래 줄곧 강조해 온 국제화의 일환으로 앞으로 제2, 제3의 홍콩 파이낸스 프로그램을 만들어 나간다는 계획이다.

이세형 기자 turtle@donga.com


SNU Begins Student Promotion Campaign

SEPTEMBER 08, 2007 06:55

The nation’s top university has developed a “tailored employment program” for students who want to land jobs overseas, under which job applicants can meet human resources personnel of the overseas companies.

The Seoul National University Career and Development Center announced on Friday that, based on the “Hong Kong Finance Program,” part of its employment program, it chose 10 students who wanted to get jobs in the Hong Kong financial industry, made a visit to Hong Kong with them August 20 to 26, and arranged to meet personnel staff of leading financial companies there.

It was the first time that SNU launched a “student promotion campaign” by rolling up its sleeves to pick students and visit overseas company headquarters.

“It’s meaningful that the university began actively helping students get employed at the headquarters of reputable foreign companies. Until now, only a few students have prepared by themselves for getting job at those companies,” said Park Sun-ae, president of the SNU Career and Development Center and professor of the Graduate School of Public Administration.

Strenuous Efforts That Paid Off -

When SNU officials first made contact with financial companies in Hong Kong, and suggested they visit them, they responded negatively by making it clear that a visit for information was allowed, but one for employment was not.

However, SNU has repeatedly sent them company analysis and investment strategy reports that were drawn up by students who survived fierce competition in the university, and their profiles, and prevailed upon personnel managers.

Their ceaseless efforts paid off. Asia-Pacific regional headquarters of world’s prestigious financial corporations such as ING Life, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, and Morgan Stanley responded and said they wanted to verify SNU students’ abilities.

But SNU’s support didn’t stop here. In cooperation with the companies, it chose presentation subjects and managed to give students a three-month preparation period.

Furthermore, it invited alumni working for Korean divisions of target companies as mentors in order to help students draw up reports and presentation materials.

Second and Third Hong Kong Finance Programs Are Planned -

As of now, six students who participated in the Hong Kong Finance Program have obtained opportunities to have interviews from companies they visited last month: Five from Societe Generale, a French investment and financial bank, and one from Bloomberg L.P., an information service, and media company.

Nam Yeon-su (22, female), a senior who is going to have a job interview at Societe Generale, said, “The University gave me a big help. I had more detailed information and prepared myself more strategically by working with other students.”

“We scored good marks for our presentations. Officials from target companies said the performances and abilities of our students are on par with those at the INSEAD business school in France, who visited there at the same time,” said Professor Park.

The SNU Career and Development Center plans to present the second and third Hong Kong finance program as part of an effort to make the university an internationally acclaimed one, which has been emphasized since Lee Jang-moo took office as president in July last year. Subsequently, it plans to come up with a program aimed at sending students to India’s leading IT firms, such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and Bharti Airtel.

Source: http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2007090883858