Summary: Learn Korean with KoreanClass101! Don't forget to stop by KoreanClass101.com for more great Korean Language Learning Resources! -------Lesson Dialog------- ----Korean---- 설레는 마음으로 대학교에 입학하여 새내기로 통학하던 때가 엊그제 같은데, 시간은 참 빨리도 갑니다. 벌써 대학교 3학년이 되었으니까요. 슬슬 졸업 후를 걱정하지 않을 수가 없죠. 게다가 최근 몇년 간 최고치를 경신하고 있는 청년 실업률을 보고 있자면 한숨이 절로 쉬어집니다. 취준생(취업준비생의 준말) 라이프의 시작입니다. 몇몇 친구들은 사망년이 왔다고 얘기를 하네요. 취업을 위해 스펙을 쌓다가 죽을것 같은 학년이라는 뜻의 “사망년”입니다. 다들 학점관리, 토익, 사회봉사, 자격증, 공모전, 인턴 경험, 어학연수 등 스펙쌓기에 열중하고 있습니다. 계중에는 스펙을 더 쌓기위해 휴학을 하는 친구들도 있네요. 인턴 생활을 벌써 시작했다고 자랑을 하는 친구도 있지요. 이렇게 바쁘게 한 해가 가고 드디어 대망의 4학년이 되었습니다. 인턴을 마친 친구들이 와서 하소연 하기를 본인들은 '흙턴'(허드렛일만 계속하는 인턴) 생활만 한 '호모인턴스'(정규직 채용에 실패하고 인턴 생활만 반복하는 취업준비생)에 불과했다고 말합니다. 그렇게 몇몇 친구들은 대기업 입사에서 취업의 방향을 바꾸고 공시생이 됩니다. 나라의 녹을 먹는 안정적인 공무원이 되려고 목표를 전환하여 공시생이 되었지만 경쟁이 너무 치열하다고 하네요. 노량진에서 열심히 공무원 시험 준비를 하는 친구들을 응원하고 돌아옵니다. 어느덧 하반기 공채 일정이 속속들이 올라오기 시작하고, 그에 맞추어 취업 동아리 친구들과 함께 자소서(자기소개서의 준말)를 준비합니다. 어떤 친구들은 아예 대놓고 자소설(과장된 내용이 포함되어 있어 허구적인 소설과 같다는 의미를 지님) 을 쓰고 있습니다 자소서포비아(자기소개서를 작성하는데 두려움을 느끼는 일)를 견디고 여러 회사에 지원하였지만 대부분 서류전형 광탈 (빛의 속도로 탈락한다는 의미) 의 고배를 마십니다. 하지만 긍정적인 마인드를 유지하며 더욱 노력하던 찰나 계약직으로 지원한 회사에서 서류합격 통보 문자를 받습니다! 면접도 통과하여 염원하던 취업이라는 쾌거를 이루어 냅니다! ----English---- It feels like it was just yesterday that you first stepped into college, as a freshman with a fluttering heart, but time flies, and you've already become a junior. Now you are concerned about your post-graduate future. And as you have heard for years that the unemployment rate has been steadily increasing, you cannot help but sigh. Yes, your life as a job seeker is beginning. Some friends would say they are in the "death year" which sounds similar to the word for third-grader (or junior year) in Korean, and they do so because that's the year when students literally work themselves to death to make their resume look better. Everyone's working hard to improve their resumes by managing their GPAs, receiving higher TOEIC test scores, enhancing their public service records, obtaining certifications, receiving contest awards and internship requests, and going abroad to study languages. Some have even taken time off school to achieve these goals. A few of your alumni are bragging that they have already started their internships. Your junior year flies by and you've finally entered your senior year. The friends that had taken their internships are back, but they are complaining that they were "Homo-interns" (those who fail to find a permanent position but repeat internships over and over) and that they were considered as mere "dirt interns" (interns who just run errands throughout their internship period). And that resulted in a few friends giving up on aiming for a large company, turning into "civil servant applicants." They thought being public officials would be a better, more stable choice since they will be employed by the government. So they changed their goal; however, the competition is extremely high. You offer moral support for your friends preparing for public official's exams in Noryangjin and come back. Then recruitment schedules for the second half of the year are updated, and you meet up with your study club friends to work on your cover letter. Some of your friends are writing a "cover novel letter" (cover letter likened to a novel, since it contains exaggerated information on oneself). You had to endure "cover letter-phobia" (fear of writing a cover letter) to apply for numerous companies, but you swallow bitter failure as you receive rejections in the application phase at the "speed of light." However, you maintain your positive outlook and persevere in your efforts of finding a job, and soon a company sends you a message that your application papers were accepted! You pass the interviews as well, and finally, you have [...]
