My career officially begins in Seoul, South Korea, the summer after I graduated from college. Most of my four years, and even before then all the way throughout high school, I had dreamed of a life working and living in my home country. It was a place that was familiar yet foreign at the same time — a place where I could adjust easily enough, along with the excitement of new faces.
One of the biggest reasons I dreamed of working in Seoul was the music industry. Growing up as a Korean-American, I grew up listening to the teenage stuff like Katy Perry, Green Day, and anything that was on the Billboard charts, but at one point I began to dig into Korean music — specifically underground hip-hop. I remember first coming upon Drunken Tiger and MC Sniper at the age of 13, the age when you desire something that is uniquely yours. The world of Korean hip-hop opened up a new world for me — listening to the rappers spit Korean bars on my MP3, I imagined myself in a world outside of the narrow school hallways.
Fast forward seven, eight years, I was in Seoul after finally graduating college with a degree in Film and Asian Studies. I was in Seoul with a college degree, a visa, and no job. The whole city lay in my hands.
Finding a job in Korea as a foreigner is not easy, as there is a very specific job-searching process. First, applications need a highly photoshopped, professional image of yourself, and your resume must state information such as your parents’ education and your childhood background. Also, although I was fluent in Korean, there were a lot of social aspects I had missed out on by not attending a Korean school.
However, one advantage I had was that my goal was very specific: music. I knew I wanted to work at a hip-hop record label, and I had gotten to the last interview stage with my top choice a few months back, when I was still in college. I had gotten to the third round of interviews (which were all through Skype) only to find out the disappointing news that I had not passed. Getting so close to the opportunity to work at the company of my top choice, then to be let down, my world had shattered. But now, here in Seoul, I knew I had to keep trying.
A few months passed and I was out and about enjoying my first summer out of college. I was not actually here to find a job right away, but my mom had told me that if I did find one, I could stay in Korea while she left to go back to the States. Time was running out.
One day, while walking through the back streets of Hongdae, I came across a record label with posters of their artists hanging from their building. It was not a hip-hop record label, but they had a roster of well-known artists. But more than that, it was the vibe of this small company that intrigued me right away. I searched them when I got home and came across their YouTube channel, which had videos filmed by the employees themselves. Watching the casual yet passionate vibe of the company, I got a strong feeling that I wanted to work here. I translated my resume into Korean, attached a cover letter explaining what skills I could offer, and sent an email to the CEO.
About a week later, I got a reply and an interview date. My first interview was with the CEO himself, at a quiet cafe right next to the company building — also the cafe where I would spend the next year and a half for my weekly team meetings.
The next year and a half I spent at the company. It was my first experience working full-time, and in a country where I had not attended school. I was not a complete foreigner, but there were cultural and social aspects that I was not completely a part of. The Korean employees would playfully make fun of me for being the ‘American’ because of my slight accent or the way I moved my hands when I spoke. Sometimes it would be hard for me to express myself in meetings, due to the language barrier.
However, I felt that my dream had come to life. There were days when I would think back to my time as a student, walking through the hallways listening to Korean music and hoping to work at a Korean record label one day. And now, I was going backstage at concerts and working with the artists’ managers and A&Rs. I had thought the world lay in my hands, which any excited student straight out of college may think — yet I realized if you set a sure goal for yourself, you may really surprise yourself along the way. And this was just my first step.