Book pinpoints trends in jobs

Professor and author Kim Ran-do enjoyed much success with his two previous books, the self-help essays “Youth, Painful Splendor” and “You Become an Adult after a Thousand Struggles.”

Both were written to give advice to 20-somethings in the country who were having a hard time with the high unemployment rate and fierce competition.

The two bestsellers, however, also received criticism ― that they only included comforting words but no real discussion about the systemic problems faced by young people in Korea. Kim has come up with a third book for the nation’s young men and women, while very conscious of the criticisms he had received in the past.

“I respect the criticisms for the two books I wrote in the past,” Kim said in a press conference in Seoul last week. “I think they are very constructive. Since the two books ‘Youth, Painful Splendor’ and ‘You Become an Adult after a Thousand Struggles’ were essays, I thought I would talk about the systemic problems and social issues in a separate book. And the latest book is what I came up with.”

His new book, “Future: My Job,” offers a number of global trends in today’s job market around the globe. Kim, who currently teaches at Seoul National University’s department of consumer science, traveled extensively to research job markets in different countries. KBS producer Lee Jae-hyuk accompanied Kim during the overseas research trips, and a TV version of the book is planned.

In “Future: My Job,” Kim introduces the term “brown-collar workers.” A brown-collar worker’s labor, according to Kim, combines what a white-collar worker and a blue-collar worker would do; they perform professional, managerial or administrative tasks in an office, as well as manual labor which is generally considered blue-collar work.

Examples of “brown-collar workers” include professional butlers in the U.K. who graduated from private butlering schools such as The British Butler Institute or the International Institute of Modern Butlers, and Lee In-je, the famous young rickshaw operator who worked for the Macquarie Group in Seoul after graduating from Wesleyan University in the U.S.

Kim also writes about “nomad workers,” who freelance for a number of companies and work at many different locations, as well as the emergence of social enterprises, organizations that apply commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being. One of the local examples is Yeolin Otjang, which lends suits to young men and women ― mostly students ― for job interviews at a cheap price.

The scholar said he also hopes for the country’s young people to think outside the box and make life decisions on their own.

“I think the job market in Korea and overseas will go through a lot of changes in the next 15 years,” he said.

“Many young men and women in this country are easily influenced by what their parents say. They tend to go for the jobs that their parents like. But the world is going to change dramatically in the near future, and I think a young person really has to be conscious of that when they make their career choice.”

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)