Interview with EIT Alumni (Interview with Alumnus)

 

H J Kim

 

Global Business Division, Hyundai Motor Company

Interpretation and Translation Major, College of English (Entrance Year of 2002)

 

 

1. (EIT) Thank you for having your time for the “Interview with EIT Alumni,” Would you please introduce yourself to the EIT students?

 

(Kim) It is my great pleasure to share my stories with students of Department of English Interpretation and Translation (EIT), Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. My name is Hee Jung Kim, and now I am working for Hyundai Motor Company’s Global Business Division.

 

 

2. (EIT) Can you tell us about what you are doing for the company and what led you to choosing your job?

 

(Kim) My job is basically developing sales network strategies for our global market. More in detail, I design programs to improve competitiveness of our dealers, so that at any Hyundai dealerships (showrooms) around the world, customers can experience Hyundai’s differentiated and excellent “Brand,” and eventually buy more Hyundai models.

 

It was when I studied at the University of Arkansas as an exchange student. One day I just came to find out that there were only two to three Hyundai vehicles out of about one thousand vehicles on campus. Since Hyundai was kind of representative automotive brand of Korea, the number indicated that there were only that small number of Korean Vehicles on campus. It was a huge shock. So I thought to myself that I really want to do this: selling more Hyundai vehicles in the US market and in other global markets, too. Fortunately now I am doing what I dreamed 4 years ago.

 

I love my job because what I am doing is actually at the center of the company’s future direction; customer-oriented and brand-oriented. I am also proud of myself being a member of Hyundai, such an energetic company, which never stops growing and moving ahead in the global market.

 

 

3. (EIT) It seems you are really enjoying your job. Do you think what you learned in the Department of EIT helps you perform your job? If yes, can you tell us which specific courses or activities were the most helpful?

 

(Kim) Yes it does definitely. Since I am working at Global HQ of the company, every day I communicate with people from various regions around the world. Whenever I visit countries abroad, I give presentations on our global sales network strategies to people who import our vehicles and resell the vehicles. These environments require me to speak and write high-quality English. All courses of EIT major allowed me to achieve higher-level English which I would not have been able to learn anywhere else.

Consecutive Interpretation course was quite memorable. During the course, we dealt with speeches of such business tycoons, or politicians as the former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, etc. It was challenging to interpret those speeches into Korean and the vice versa; however, it was definitely helpful to improve my listening and speaking skills.

 

The first Student Academic Conference is another activity I would like to mention. It was my first time that I gave a presentation in English to more than one hundred people for about an hour. That one-hour presentation gave me a huge confidence and that confidence has been serving as the impetus for my business presentation today.

 

 

4. (EIT) As an alumnus, what do you think is the strong point of the Department of EIT?

 

(Kim) I would like to pick three: Curriculum, Professors, and Students. First, the quasi-GSIT level curriculum allows students to achieve high-quality English in all terms of speaking, reading, writing, and listening. I can guarantee you that if you successfully complete the course, then after four years, your English will reach almost eighty to ninety percent of, say, a Harvard University student’s. Second, the excellent curriculum would not have been developed without efforts of the faculty members. It is a great opportunity for EIT students that they have such qualified and energetic professors. Third, our students, who literally “love” English, make environments for all of them to liberally talk about how they can improve their English. All these tree elements make Department of EIT as a very attractive “brand” not only to high school students but to all companies in both private and public sectors.

 

 

5. (EIT) Lastly, can you give some advice to the students on student lives and how they can get successful results in the job market?

 

(Kim) First, about student lives, do not hesitate to try something new. You might join student clubs, participate in on or off campus activities, study abroad, or travel all around the world. This is the first step you should take for your student life as well as your career. All those experiences will lead you to finding what you do well most and what you like most, in other words, your “talent” and “interest.”

 

Second, If you find your talent or interest, then see what specific jobs out there, for which you can fully enjoy and utilize your talents. Then prepare for the job step by step. For example, if you want to be a marketing specialized business man, you might take business classes, join a student academy, apply for a marketing contest, have an internship in a marketing division of a company, etc. By the time you apply for a marketing job, all those things you did will work together as a “logical” story, which tells the employers that you are the most qualified applicant for the position. A good school diploma, higher language test scores, unrelated internship experiences do not guarantee you a good job, but your own “logical” story does. So, I hope you all make your own persuasive stories and get successful results.