A total 3,155 candidates have applied to take Computer Based Test (CBT) for jobs in South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS). In the CBT model, Nepali migrant workers who have previously worked in South Korea can apply again for a second tenure. 

 

Unlike the Paper Based Test (PBT) model, which is meant for the first-time job applicants, the CBT allows those with previous work experience in South Korea to apply. They have to take the Korean-language test.

 

The Department of Foreign Employment’s (DoFE) EPS Korea Section Information Officer Shobhakar Bhandari said, “This opportunity is limited to those who have previous work experience in South Korea. The employers prefer experienced candidates with good knowledge of working conditions and other aspects of Korean life. “As it would take a few months to train new candidates, men and women with prior work South Korean experience can immediately start work.”

 

Workers who have violated their visa limit by even a day more than five years in Korea are ineligible to apply for jobs under the CBT scheme as per the new rule enforced by the Korean government beginning this year. 

 

Nepali workers have earned good reputation in the South Korean job market since the recruiting started in 2008 under the EPS scheme.

 

The EPS Section, which manages recruitment of Nepali workers for South Korea, has received the ‘Best Practice Outstanding Award’ from EPS Korea in 2009, 2011 and 2013. If selected for a second stint, the applicants are set to receive better facilities and salaries because of their prior experience.  The CBT selection criteria will be tough. 

 

Bhandari said only half of the total number of applicants succeed in landing a job in South Korea for the second time. The number of jobs depends on the employers’ demands. 

 

Besides selecting regular candidates through the PBT, South Korea also accepts Nepali workers under the CBT since 2012. The DoFE conducted four CBTs each year between 2014 and 2016, to select workers for South Korea. There was no hiring through CBT in 2017. 

 

This year, the South Korean government informed the EPS Section that it would accept experienced candidates through two such CBT sessions. 

 

The EPS Section will conduct tests from May 19 to June 29. It will hold these tests in four batches every day and each batch will have 28 candidates. 

 

The EPS Section will complete the language of test of these candidates in 30 working days. It will not conduct tests on public holidays in Nepal or South Korea, said Bhandari. 

 

After declaring the results within 15 days of all the tests, further procedure of hiring, similar to the regular PBT, will begin.  

 

The EPS Section estimates, nearly 15,000 Nepali workers out of the total 51,482 Nepali workers who entered South Korea have done so after clearing the CBT.