Submitting an application to Korean companies or educational institutions usually consists of two steps — handing in the resume and then writing a personal statement.

Thanks to the guide on how to write a resume for a Korean company , your prior concerns may have dissolved. Now, what awaits is writing a Korean-style personal statement, 자기소개서 in Korean.

Personal statements simultaneously ask you generic yet specific questions; and all through this, they expect you to put a detailed explanation within a page or two.

It's predictable that writing a personal statement causes a lot of headache for the Korean students during their job-searching process. To spare you from a massive headache, here is a guideline on how to write a personal statement from an experienced applicant!

1. What exactly is a personal statement?

자기소개서 can be literally translated as "self-introduction". You get to explain your interests, your background, how you landed in a foreign country (Korea), and why you are a good fit to the company as well as why you are interested in the position.

A closest term to a personal statement would be a cover letter, and these two expressions already get mixed up all the time. Fair enough, there isn't a clear or precise translation for 자기소개서. We'll stick to calling it a personal statement for this segment, since there will be many points that are different from those in typical cover letters.

Here are some examples of what a personal statement looks like:

2. Frequently asked questions

The closer the company is to a conglomerate, the more likely that its official career site would have its own template for the personal statement.

Here is a list of what are commonly asked in personal statements.

• Your vision and your ultimate goal

• Why you applied for this job (motivation)

• Your background and the growth process (overall introduction of yourself)

• Strengths and weaknesses about yourself

• Your role model and the reason behind it

• Your experience related to the job and why you'd be a good fit

These questions definitely require not just your contemplation on your ultimate career roadmap, but also an in-depth explanation of who you are.

Curious how these inquiries are put into a "real question"?

Here is a list of the common questions asked to the applicants of SK hynix and five other Korean conglomerates. These questions have been translated from Korean to English, and may be altered when converted into an international application.

a- What was your most challenging experience so far? Please give a clear explanation on the reason, how you felt during the process, the challenge itself and how you handled the situation. Provide as much detail as possible.

b- When was the time you felt the highest sense of belonging in your group and what did you do to contribute to the community? Give a detailed explanation on your efforts, the motivation, how you felt and the outcome.

c- When was the time you strove to achieve better results than required? Explain the plans you made, the obstacles, your initiative and the results.