South Korean university students still show a marked preference for Samsung Electronics as a future employer, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The survey, conducted by job search portal JobKorea, showed that 14 percent of respondents chose the tech giant out of 100 companies as the place they would most like to work. A total of 1,190 students attending four-year universities nationwide participated in the survey. Among them, 424 were men and 766 were women.

The Korea Electric Power Corporation ranked second with 11.2 percent, followed by Kookmin Bank (10.8 percent), CJ Cheil Jedang (8.5 percent), Lotte Shopping (8.2 percent), Asiana Airlines (7.6 percent), Hotel Lotte (6.0 percent), Korean Air (5.6 percent) and Emart (5.2 percent).

Male students showed the strongest preference for Samsung Electronics, with 17.2 percent saying they wanted to work there, followed by Kepco and Kookmin Bank (12.3 percent each), Kia Motors (8.5 percent) and Samsung Display (7.1 percent).

Among the female respondents, 12.4 percent chose Samsung Electronics as their preferred future employer. Next most popular were CJ Cheil Jedang (11.1 percent), Kepco (10.6 percent), Lotte Shopping (10.4 percent) and Kookmin Bank (9.9 percent).

Business majors mostly chose Kepco and Kookmin Bank, which got 17.1 percent each. Students majoring in humanities and social science disciplines preferred Kookmin Bank (15.2 percent). Samsung Electronics topped the list for science and engineering majors with 20 percent, while Lotte Shopping ranked No. 1 for fine arts and physical education majors with 17.1 percent.

The majority of respondents, 53.6 percent, said annual salary was the most important factor in their choices. Some 50.5 percent said benefits and work environment were important factors, followed by a company’s brand image and corporate vision.


By Yoon Yeun-jung (kairos07@heraldcorp.com)