Society > Breaking News “Posted a Female Announcer Job Opening Without Authorization … Took Applicants to a Bar and Karaoke Room Under the Pretext of Interviews”

[ 10/6/2010 ]

[JoongAng Ilbo Jeong Seon-eon] A staff member at the Dongjak Cultural Center in Seoul is facing criticism after reportedly interviewing female applicants for an announcer position over drinks. According to a post an applicant made on a job-related forum on the 6th, Lee (47), an employee of the cultural center, interviewed two female applicants while drinking with them at a restaurant near the center in August. “At the time, I didn’t question the interviewer when he said he wanted to assess our manners over drinks and our passion for announcing,” the applicant wrote. “But looking back, a man with no connection to the cultural center joined us, and we ended up drinking two-on-two. That makes me suspicious of what happened.” Another forum member commented, “I had an interview there too. It went from drinks to a karaoke room. There were sexual jokes, and I felt awful. I wondered why I had to go through an interview like that to pursue announcing.” Lee said he had been recruiting instructors to teach speech and announcing classes for elementary school students at the cultural center. He compared the meeting to the dinner interviews some companies hold during hiring. The cultural center, however, said it had no plans to hire an announcer at the time and that Lee had conducted the recruitment process on his own. “Lee joined us in early August and recruited instructors without the center’s permission. The director warned him about it,” a center official said. “We only recently learned that the interviews took place over drinks.” The official added that the center would establish the facts and, if the applicants’ claims proved true, convene a personnel committee to take appropriate action against Lee. Reporter Jeong Seon-eon