Can you drink? Korean companies ask potential employees personal questions unrelated to work

Ever had a company you interviewed with ask you about your physical features, your parents' job titles, or your alcohol tolerance level? If you are reading this article in the United States, then your answer is probably a 'no', since asking for that kind of private information is not only deemed discriminatory but also illegal.

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The same doesn't hold true for firms in South Korea, however, as some companies still practice the age-old tradition of asking their applicants highly personal questions that are completely irrelevant to the jobs they applied for. Even big names such as Hyundai Heavy Industries, a leading conglomerate both domestically and abroad, requires their prospective employees to fill out application forms which demand answers to unrelated, at times inappropriate, questions.

Kim Chae-Young, a 28-year-old woman who is part of the Korean workforce, recalls a company asking for her measurements and how much alcohol she is capable of consuming. She forged an answer that she could drink two bottles of soju--which is way over her limit--because she was afraid that the company wouldn't even glance at her application otherwise.