This article appeared on the ChosunBiz CSR site at 3:46 p.m. on Apr. 16, 2026.
If I hide a so-so regional 4-year degree and submit only a high school diploma, isn't it fine as long as I don't get caught?
On the 13th, when applications opened for SK hynix's production worker open recruitment, a post like this appeared on an online job-seekers community. Another prospective applicant said, "I have both an Academic Credit Bank System bachelor's and a junior college degree; can I apply for a production job with only the junior college degree?" The dilemma of lowering one's education to meet eligibility—"reverse credentials"—has even emerged.
This trend has spread as SK hynix posted a "April Talent Highway maintenance and operator" production recruitment notice. By limiting eligibility to high school or junior college graduates, questions about which credential to submit have been pouring in among some applicants.
Fueled by the semiconductor boom and forecasts that SK hynix's earnings will surge, along with talk of performance bonuses worth hundreds of millions of won, interest in joining the company has heated up. The industry has even coined a new term for this: "Hanix exam."
◇ "Even secondhand rookies are lining up"… SK hynix hiring draws in office workers too
According to SK hynix's hiring website on the 17th, applications for the open recruitment of production workers will be accepted until the 22nd. Not only upcoming high school and junior college graduates but also early-career employees are trying to switch jobs as "secondhand rookies."
A, who works at a shipbuilder, said, "After work I spent a long time looking (at the SK hynix hiring site) to see if I fit the requirements." B, who works at a finished car maker, also said, "I want to make more money, so I'm preparing to move to SK hynix."
A job consultant said, "This is the first time I've received so many requests to edit self-introduction letters for SK hynix's production recruitment."
SK hynix has also been running an open recruitment process for college graduates since last month. On the 11th and 12th of this month, it held the SKCT test, a job aptitude exam for joining SK hynix.
The education market targeting entry into SK hynix is also booming. Test-prep company Hackers is running a "SK hynix short-term pass course." For 159,000 won, it says applicants can learn over 90 days everything from how to write a self-introduction to SKCT prep and interview strategy.
A Hackers representative said, "Inquiries and enrollments for SK hynix short-term intensive job-prep courses have visibly increased."
Job-prep firm EmploymentDongSchool has also launched a short online course aimed at SK hynix production applicants. The total study period is 10 days, and the price is around 90,000 won.
A basic SKCT prep book published by eduwill recently ranked No. 1 among overall e-book bestsellers at major online bookstores. Courses and materials aimed at specific corporations' hiring are appearing one after another.
◇ "If not med school, then semiconductors"… performance pay rewrites career choices
The craze is also affecting college admissions. Applicants to semiconductor-related departments that have employment-linked agreements with SK hynix have surged. Since 2023, SK hynix has signed employment-linked agreements with semiconductor-related departments at Korea University, Sogang University and Hanyang University.
Applicants to Hanyang University's Department of Semiconductor Engineering rose from 423 for the 2024 academic year to 1,289 for 2026, more than tripling. Over the same period, applicants to Sogang University's Department of System Semiconductor and Korea University's Department of Semiconductor Engineering also increased by 11% and 34%, respectively.
The performance bonus system, considered one of the industry's best, is cited as a driver of the hiring frenzy. SK hynix operates a "profit sharing (PS)" program funded by 10% of operating profit. Securities firms' average forecast for SK hynix's operating profit this year is 198 trillion won. Divided among about 35,000 employees, the average performance bonus per person could be around 560 million won.
Im Sung-ho, head of Jongno Academy, said, "In the past people said, 'Still, Seoul National,' but now they say, 'If not med school, then a semiconductor contract department,' reflecting the rise of performance pay as a variable on par with med school."
Graduate students in science and engineering who are majoring outside semiconductors are also wavering. C, a Ph.D. student in artificial intelligence (AI) at KAIST, said, "In the past people said SK hynix was where you went if you couldn't study, or where you ended up after failing to win a Samsung Electronics research scholarship, but the world has turned upside down."
D, a master's student majoring in AI, also said, "If I had known performance bonuses would be this large, I would have tried for a job instead of going to grad school," adding, "I'm at the point of hating my past self."
◇ "Hype about hundreds of millions in bonuses is exaggerated"… caution inside the company too
Some SK hynix employees, however, said the size of the performance bonuses is exaggerated. Talk of bonuses worth several billion won emerged after global investment bank Macquarie Securities projected SK hynix's 2027 operating profit at 447 trillion won, but employees say that outlook is too rosy.
An SK hynix employee said, "Given the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, there can be downturns, so it's burdensome when people outside talk as if hundreds of millions of won in bonuses are already set." An employee who joined SK hynix last year said, "At first I tried to explain to people around me that the calculations were exaggerated, but I've given up now."
Separate from SK hynix's earnings outlook, some say the hiring frenzy should be read as a shift in the job market mood. Hwang Yong-sik, a professor in the Department of Business Administration at Sejong University, said, "The 'Hanix exam' proves that what matters now is not a corporation's name value or recognition but its compensation system," adding, "It's something corporations should consider to secure top talent."