Jasoseol.com, a new recruitment platform operated by Remember & Company, announced on the 12th that it will unveil the average specifications of applicants from the first half of this year ahead of the second half recruitment period.
According to the '2025 First Half New Recruitment Trends,' which aggregates the overall average of applicants who challenged new recruitment in the first half, the average specifications of the applicants were 'GPA 3.68 (out of 4.5), TOEIC score 848.' Notably, the change to highlight is the shift in language scores between liberal arts and science students. The average TOEIC score for liberal arts applicants was 862, which is a slight decline from the previous year (868), while the average TOEIC score for engineering applicants rose by 9 points to 830 from the previous year (821).
Certificates were also one of the main specification management items. Applicants held an average of 2.4 certificates each. Among them, the top 5 most popular certificates were ▲Computer Utilization Ability Level 1 ▲Korean History Certification Level 1 ▲Computer Utilization Ability Level 2 ▲ADSP (Data Analysis Specialist) ▲SQLD (SQL Developer) in that order.
A prominent change is the rise of data-related certificates. While the Computer Utilization Test and the Korean History Certification still show strong demand, the ADSP, which demonstrates data analysis planning capabilities, and the SQL (SQLD) certificate, showcasing practical data extraction skills, ranked 4th and 5th, respectively. This suggests that data utilization skills have become a critical capability for applicants across various job roles.
Jasoseol.com pointed to the change in the hiring method called 'job-centered open recruitment' as a background for the enhancement of specifications. Corporations have begun to more meticulously assess applicants' job capabilities and preparedness in order to select talent that can be immediately deployed, making high specifications a minimum standard to guarantee applicants' diligence and basic capabilities. The mindset of job seekers, who feel they must always be prepared for unpredictable open recruitment, has also acted as a major driving force behind the increase in specifications.
With the slowdown in the new recruitment market, competition has intensified, accelerating the phenomenon of specification inflation, while job-seeking activity among job seekers in the first half of 2025 has shown an increase. According to Jasoseol, the total number of job postings viewed was approximately 72.24 million, up by 15.7%, and the number of self-introductions written was about 1,271,518, an increase of 10.5%. As many competitors vie for limited jobs, applicants are raising their quantified specifications to maximize their chances of passing the document screening.