Samsung Group said Wednesday it would segment its recruitment procedures by job category instead of the written test-oriented system starting in 2015, amid mounting criticism that the current hiring method was stoking overly high social costs in the job market.

Starting in the second half of next year, all Samsung applicants will be asked to hand in an essay on their desired field, along with their resume, as a prerequisite to the written test, known as the Samsung Aptitude Test, Lee Jun, Samsung’s communications chief, said at a briefing.

“It is to diversify the recruitment process by types of occupations, as opposed to the uniform, test-based program,” Lee added.

Samsung’s recruitment has become a seasonal phenomenon among fresh university graduates in South Korea, as some 200,000 applicants try out every semester to be employed at the world’s top smartphone maker, which runs 30 affiliates under its wing.

Samsung has hired about 9,000 new employees every year since the late 1990s.

As becoming a “Samsung man” is the No. 1 wish for many young job seekers here, competition among applicants has had an adverse impact on the local job market.

Expensive private tutoring or cram schools for the SSAT are an extra financial burden on students, who are already pressured by the persistent jobless rate. Some colleges provide SSAT prep classes for students and train them to get a high mark.

Samsung said the new recruitment procedures intend to evaluate the applicants in detail to see if they are “suitable” enough to work at South Korea’s largest company.

“For the R&D, technology and software sectors, we’ll test the applicants’ knowledge of their majors,” Lee said.

Samsung will also adopt a debate session during the oral interview, whereby the applicant will be asked to discuss certain topics, the company said. (Yonhap)