Series: The All-Rounder Employee Becomes a Legend
Chapter: 32
Title: The First Day on the Job
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Taeseok's first day at work.
He was in the same department as Jang Donghoon, with whom he wasn't particularly close.
Jang Donghoon saw Taeseok and greeted him.
“You’re here?”
“Yes. Have you been well?”
“We’re in the same cohort, how about we drop the formalities?”
“But you’re older, how can I speak informally to you?”
“Let’s just talk casually. We’re in the same batch, after all. You can still call me Hyung, but let’s be friendly.”
“Is that really okay?"
"Go ahead."
"Okay. I will.”
“Good. What about your place?”
“I got a goshiwon nearby yesterday. It was a bit tricky to find a short-term room.”
“It’s nice talking casually like this. I got a room at a boarding house nearby.”
"Should we grab a drink sometime?"
"Sounds good. And drop the '-yo'."
"Okay."
With their initial probing complete, they entered the office right on time.
The two were assigned to the HRM side of the El Sung Group's Human Resources team.
Just then, one of the two senior employees in the office saw the newcomers and spoke.
“Have a seat here for now.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve probably seen us before. Do you remember from the aptitude test?”
At the female senior's words, Taeseok searched his memory.
A semi-formal suit. And that voice.
He remembered. So he spoke.
“You’re Kim Jungmi, the senior who joined last year, right?”
“Wow, your memory is amazing. You even remember my name?”
“Ah, you flatter me.”
Just then, a male employee next to them approached Taeseok and Jang Donghoon and said,
“Jungmi, what’s so amusing? Did something happen?”
“Oh, this new employee remembered my name.”
“Oh yeah? Does he remember my name too?”
Taeseok searched his memory once again.
‘Who was it? Ah… I checked on the computer yesterday….’
But Jang Donghoon, standing beside him, tilted his head and answered.
“Aren’t you Assistant Manager Kang Jinyoo?”
That wasn't it. That's not his name…
Sure enough.
The male employee shifted his gaze from Jang Donghoon to Kim Jungmi and said bluntly.
“What’s this guy talking about?”
Kim Jungmi replied to her senior with a sly look.
“Oh, come on. It’s possible he doesn’t remember.”
“Well, he shouldn’t have said anything at all then.”
At her senior's blunt tone, Kim Jungmi grinned.
“Hehe. Assistant Manager Kang, you’re so~ funny.”
Taeseok quickly realized they were just joking with each other.
A little time.
And a small hint.
Thanks to that, Taeseok, who had now recalled the man's name, seized the opportunity and spoke.
“I know who you are.”
“You do?”
“I remember you as Assistant Manager Kang Minyul, who joined in '14. I look forward to working with you.”
At that, a smile spread across the lips of Kang Minyul, who had been pretending to be sulky.
This one was genuine.
“Hehe, what was your name again?”
“It’s Kim Taeseok.”
“Kim Taeseok! Right! I’ll keep an eye on you.”
“Thank you.”
The seniors were pleased by trivial things and got sulky over trivial things.
It was the same whether you were in a major corporation or a manual labor site.
Wherever people lived and worked, these things always existed.
Assistant Manager Kang Minyul stretched and said in front of everyone.
“Phew~ The really tough stuff is all done now. This month, we just have to handle the special recruitment, right?”
“Yes. Assistant Manager, you should get some rest. I'll give a brief explanation and teach the new hires.”
“Just give them the basics. We don't even know if they'll end up in HR anyway.”
“Hehe, you and I both applied for the Strategic Planning Office and ended up in HR, didn't we? Who knows with these guys? Maybe they'll apply to come back here too?”
At their words, the expressions on Taeseok and Donghoon's faces changed.
‘They know we applied for the Strategic Planning Office?’
Then again, this was the HR team.
Moreover, it was the group headquarters, known as the brains of El Sung.
A place with immense power.
“Hey, you two, that improvement evaluation form? Even if you write a load of crap on it, we're the first ones who see it, you know?”
“Ah…”
The seniors already knew everything, right down to the intentions of the Strategic Planning Office.
Because they were seniors who had taken the same path.
Because they were seniors who had once applied for the Strategic Planning Office, a single sentence explained everything.
‘So this place is full of elites, after all.’
Kim Jungmi was a year their senior.
She continued her story.
“I joined last year. At first, I was aiming for the Strategic Planning Office, but after trying various roles, HR seemed to have better prospects, so I applied here this year. Like you, I was part of the first-half recruitment. It's nice to work with you.”
“Yes!”
“Actually, this is both the quietest and busiest time. The open recruitment season is over, so we just need to manage the experienced professionals applying through special recruitment.”
“Yes.”
At El Sung Group, HR duties were broadly divided into two categories.
She asked Taeseok and Donghoon.
“Do you know about HRM? You should have studied at least this much.”
This time, Donghoon stepped forward.
“It's an acronym for Human Resource Management.”
“And what does it entail?”
“…I understand it to be managing people.”
“That's not quite enough, is it?”
Taeseok raised his hand. It was a gesture asking if he could speak.
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“HRM typically handles recruitment-related tasks like open and special hiring, on-the-job training (OJT), and job reassignments for employees. HRD, on the other hand, is in charge of new employee training, online education, and other OJT. It seems we'll be in HRM, handling duties related to open and special recruitment.”
“Yes. That's correct. You were just assigned yesterday, so you couldn't have had much time to study, but you've prepared well.”
“Not at all.”
“Alright, take a break for now. See those two desks over there? Go sit, put your things down, and relax.”
“Yes, ma'am!”
“I'll give you some work in 20 minutes.”
Taeseok answered in a vigorous and confident voice.
He had to.
He knew it himself.
His starting point was different from others.
Meanwhile, Jang Donghoon watched Taeseok and nodded.
‘This young guy is impressive. He didn't get first place for nothing. Which university did he go to? Seoun-dae? Goyeon-dae? Did he come from an overseas branch?’
20 minutes later.
The handover of tasks began.
Of course, they weren't given anything monumental to do from the start.
“I've pulled up the resumes of the experienced-hire applicants. Could you go through them and filter out the ones with less than three years of experience?”
“Yes.”
There were a whopping 3,115 experienced-hire applicants.
To think there were so many people wanting to change jobs.
But then again, this was El Sung Group.
The top corporation in the country.
The salary might not be the absolute highest, but it had a globally recognized brand and had expanded into almost every industrial sector, making it the undisputed top conglomerate in the nation.
Anyway, the number of files was enormous.
Taeseok asked his senior.
“Excuse me, are we supposed to go through all of these?”
“Yep. Of course. That's the amount you need to finish by tomorrow.”
“There are so many applicants.”
“Hehe, the experienced hires are nothing. For new recruits, 40,000 to 50,000 is the standard.”
“Is it really that many?”
“So, fighting! Both of you! Once you've sorted the files, gather them and send them to my company email. You've both set up your company emails, right?”
“Yes!”
"Okay, write down your account names and I'll add you to our department's mailing list."
"Yes. Understood."
She smiled as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
It was the same for Assistant Manager Kang Minyul.
Tae-seok could see why their workload was so heavy.
Inquiry calls were flooding in nonstop.
What's the salary?
What should I prepare?
Are dormitories or apartments provided?
Are there any positions that are only in Seoul, not in the regional offices?
On top of that, there were questions in foreign languages.
And so on.
It was incredibly simple work, but when it piled up, it became stressful.
So he understood their intentions.
They weren't just dumping their work on them; they were also trying to use their time efficiently.
Jang Donghoon spoke first.
“Taeseok, let's split the work.”
“Oh? How?”
“I'll take the first 12 categories from the top, and you take the 13th to the 23rd. I did a rough count, and I'll have about 1600 people, and you'll have around 1500.”
“Got it.”
There were 25 application categories.
3,115 people who had applied for experienced positions at the various affiliates.
On the computer screen was El Sung Group's proprietary application program, and in the category section, 25 job series were listed.
Clicking on each of the 25 series brought up a list of applicants for that affiliate and their basic information, like an Excel sheet. This was what Jang Donghoon had seen when he suggested they split it.
Jang Donghoon was smarter than his previous roommate.
And he didn't seem overly ambitious.
There was a sense of ease in his every move.
‘He's a better guy than my first impression of him.’
Taeseok re-evaluated him.
He defined him as someone he could probably trust, someone he wouldn't lose out by working with.
Taeseok checked the job series assigned to him.
He clicked through them one by one, starting from the 13th, nodding his head.
But then, something absurd happened.
When he clicked on the 17th series, only English names appeared.
It turned out to be for overseas research personnel.
‘Did he do it without knowing?’
No. That couldn't be.
Didn't he even count the number of people and say he had about 1600 and I had 1500?
Still, he couldn't be sure.
Maybe he was misunderstanding something.
“Hyung! The documents for the applicants in this series are all in English. Would you mind taking this one?”
“Huh? You can't speak English?
“Yeah. I'm not good at English.”
“What? Don't lie.”
“I'm really not good at English…”
“Then let's switch. I'll take the latter half.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Taeseok realized he had misunderstood.
It seemed he genuinely didn't know. How fickle people can be. They always think and judge from their own perspective.
Taeseok was relieved that he hadn't made a mistake in front of him.
If he had been even slightly aggressive, wouldn't it have soured their relationship?
You really shouldn't judge people so hastily.
Two hours passed.
Because some things had to be checked manually, they had only managed to get through about 300 people.
It would have been nice to just click and check things like in an Excel sheet, but instead, they had to open each attached file one by one to check the resumes, which was a headache.
“Let's take a break. You'll burn out if you work too hard on the first day.”
“Yes.”
“Does anyone smoke?”
“I do.”
Taeseok briefly considered raising his hand.
‘I should probably build some of those smoking connections…’
No. There was no need to build connections at the expense of his health by smoking.
His body was the top priority. His health came first. Having injured his back once before, that's what Taeseok thought.
Taeseok, left alone.
Still, he felt good.
While Jang Donghoon and Assistant Manager Kang Minyul went for a smoke and his senior, Kim Jungmi, went to the restroom, Taeseok took out a notepad and began jotting down points for improvement he'd noticed while working.
1. Create a field for experienced applicants to enter their years of experience.
‘If I collect points like these one by one, it'll make for a decent improvement report.’
The attitude of trying to fix inefficiencies after experiencing them firsthand.
It sounds easy, but it's difficult.
That's because once people get used to something, that familiarity feels comfortable.
However, among those new to a job, there are some who absolutely hate inefficient work.
Taeseok was one of them.
He always emphasized efficient execution.
Whether he was working as a carpenter or a painter, he always thought about the most optimal workflow.
He had studied how to work most efficiently while ensuring safety.
It was the same now.
He smiled as he wrote a note in his memo pad about adding a field for years of experience to the computer program.
* * *
Same time.
The smoking booth outside the first floor of the building.
Kang Minyul, who had gone for a smoke, smiled at Jang Donghoon.
“How is it? Manageable?”
“I'm not sure yet.”
“Everyone's like that at first. You'll get used to it as you go.”
“Yes, sir.”
“By the way, what about that guy, Taeseok? Were you two close during the training program?”
“We were friendly, I suppose. Not super close, but not on bad terms either.”
A white lie.
If he said they had a bad relationship, he might draw unwanted attention or be judged as having a personality problem.
So, the senior responded to Jang Donghoon's moderately phrased answer.
“Oh, really?”
“We were on different teams and our dorms were in different places, so we only saw each other occasionally. But from what I've seen, he seems to do his work well.”
“Well, I guess that's why he got first place, right?”
“Ah… yes.”
He felt a little regretful. That first-place position.
He had wanted it.
But Jang Donghoon shook off the feeling of regret.
He had done his best, but he'd placed fifth.
That was his place.
As he was lost in thought, the senior exhaled a puff of smoke and continued speaking.
“You know, Kim Taeseok. In a way, he's pretty incredible.”
“Sir?”
“I mean, a guy who got in through the credit bank system without any prestigious academic background is succeeding like this. And his only work experience is in manual labor, which they don't even count for much.”
“…Is that so?”
“What? You didn't know?”
“Ah, no, I didn't.”
“Treat him well. You're older, right?”
“Yes. I'm older.”
“From what I overheard earlier, it seems like he's a bit self-conscious about his English. You know our group stopped looking at English scores starting this year, right? He might have some shortcomings like that, but you guys are colleagues, so help each other out discreetly.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you for the good advice.”
Jang Donghoon thought.
‘The seniors here were really good people.’
And that he was lucky to have met them.
Of course, Kim Taeseok was one of those good people, too.
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