Since the blind recruitment system has been applied to public institutions in Korea from the second half of this year, it has caused great controversy. Some people agree with it because it is an equal recruitment system which only considers applicants’ skills. On the other hand, some people disagree with it because of its reverse discrimination and side effects.


The Korean government started to make blind recruitment mandatory at the 332 public organizations in the second half of this year. Blind recruitment is a method to focus on a candidate’s aptitude and capability, so it ignores factors such as region of birth, family relations, or physical condition that can cause bias in the resume screening and interview process. Also, the universities that candidates attended will be unknown because those from prestigious universities have had an advantage in the past. This new system will play an important role in establishing a fair employment process by providing an equal chance to all applicants. I am in favor of blind recruitment for three reasons.
First, companies can hire outstanding and talented applicants through blind recruitment. As applicants are unable to provide personal information, companies will focus on their abilities to do the job. Therefore, applicants will try to gain knowledge or experience using technology they will need to do their jobs. This is one way for candidates to differentiate themselves from others.
Second, about 80 percent of human resources managers believe blind recruitment is good. According to the internet site called JOBKOREA, 80 percent of 418 personnel managers surveyed agreed with it. The reason is that employees who are hired with remarkable qualifications were not much better at doing a job than others. It means that companies focus on hiring people with qualifications such as TOEIC score, certificates, overseas study experience, and volunteer activities, which do not make them better at doing a job. When blind recruitment is implemented, candidates will only be chosen for their knowledge, experience, and ability to do a job.
Third, students can choose their university based on the majors offered and not on the prestige of the school. Nowadays, graduates of prestigious universities can get jobs relying only on the name value of the school without having any talent or ability. Such circumstances cause students to aim for admission to prestigious colleges. If educational institution is not considered when interviewing, then people will feel less pressure to attend a prestigious university and can more easily realize their dreams.
Accordingly, this policy should remain in order for young people to have a fair opportunity. If this method is used in private companies, more young people will achieve their goals.

● Opinion from a reader (Kim dong-ju, Department of Early Childhood Education)
After reading this article, I thought about blind recruitment again. This policy will make workplace environments and interviews equal because the employers will judge a person by ability, not by educational background. Also, it can be a change of the social practice of setting high value on academic background, so everyone can be given a fair opportunity. For these reasons, I agree with blind recruitment.



On June 22 this year, President Moon Jae-in said, “I would like to have a blind recruitment system when hiring government officials and public enterprise employees from the second half of this year.” This system was implemented in July. Blind recruitment is a system that employs people without looking at their hometown, family relationships, physical condition, school, or grades. The intention is to evaluate only applicants’ abilities without discrimination. However, some people, including students from prestigious universities, are opposed to this system.
The first reason is that it can cause reverse discrimination against students from prestigious universities. In blind recruitment, only an applicant’s abilities are seen, but it is curious why educational background is excluded from their abilities. The fact that they graduated from prestigious universities can demonstrate their abilities and diligence, so excluding this is the same as ignoring some of their previous efforts. In fact, Joongang Ilbo also pointed out the reverse discrimination of blind recruitment saying, “Although we can select officials with civil service examinations scores, enterprises don’t have this examination process. So, it is very dangerous to select employees only by interviews on the day without referencing their academic backgrounds and credits.”
Second, this is a very inefficient recruitment system. From employers’ points of view, it is very hard for them to select new employees by interviewing candidates who should work together for decades. Because of this, employers will have no choice but to use a wider range of recruitment procedures, which will add more economic burden. Therefore, blind recruitment is likely to result in more job preparation costs and more difficult employment procedures than nowadays.
Third, the no photo attachment provision of the blind recruitment system makes two dangerous situations. One situation is that the professions of many photographers will be damaged. In addition to smartphone cameras replacing many photographers, the no photo attachment provision will further decrease the number photographer jobs in Korea. Another dangerous situation is that someone could illegally take job exams for others because resume photographs are used to prevent this. As anyone can see prohibiting photo attachments makes fair employment impossible.
All told, blind recruitment can be a fair employment process for some people, but it causes reverse discrimination for others. Before adopting this system, it is necessary to analyze the side effects and prepare countermeasures.

● Opinion from a reader (Park Ji-eun, Department of International Trade and Commerce)
I object to the blind recruitment system. I think it would cause more serious problems than before. Public companies will have more difficulties choosing applicants without seeing any conditions, which will naturally lead to more diverse recruitment procedures. Consequently, the things we have to prepare for employment will increase and the job crisis will get worse.