Kim Won-jeong (alias, 26), who finally got a job last year, had took some time off from her university after her junior year ended. Her first goal was a high score in the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC); her second, weight-loss. Kim heard people say that appearance was another credential for women and for her, losing weight was as important as achieving a high TOEIC score.

During her leave, Kim was very careful about her workouts and diet; even though she failed to obtain the desired TOEIC results, she did succeed in losing 7 kilos. Kim said, "I achieved half of my goal. On the one hand, I felt fulfilled; on the other, I felt low and asked myself why I should be obsessing about weight-loss so much just to find a job."

The first step of preparing for employment for female university students is managing their appearance. Many take a fall semester off in their junior or senior years, concentrating on some kind of diet or other ways to improve their looks. Plastic surgery practices and beauty salons are flooded with women during the peak job interview season.

A recruiter appraises the appearances of female applicants and the female applicants spend money to take care of their looks and bodies. Saramin, an online portal for recruiting and employment, conducted a survey with corporate HR staffs and asked whether the appearance of an applying woman would affect the job interview appraisal.

According to the results, 68.8% said yes; the figure is twice as much as that for an applying man (31.2 %). Another survey conducted in March shows that women also spend twice as much as men do to take care of how they look: average 1.21 million won as opposed to 520,000 won.

As our special report team met some female university students, all of them confessed that they were worried about their appearance. Kim Ju-yong said, "A lot of friends would get 'filler' injections to have a sharp nose."

Lee Bo-eun started to have some serious thoughts about weight-loss the moment she entered the job hunting market. She explained, "People around me all say that they manage their appearances before a job interview." Lee also said that she intended to lose some weight before the job interview season would start in the second half of this year.

Then the portrait photo for resume must be beautiful, too. The first half recruitment by large conglomerates is about to begin and a Gangnam studio which specializes in job interview photos is full of bustling office seekers. These would normally choose a 150,000 won worth packaged product: hair and make-up included.

Another photo studio in Gangnam charges 149,000 won only for taking the picture: hair and make-up not included -- customers should take care of it on their own. The latter has become famous among job hunters by word of mouth: for shooting by a professional photographer and for natural retouching of the portrait afterwards. The studio is fully booked.

It is not so unusual that women have hair and make-up done in a beauty parlor before a job interview. Lee Gyo-rim said, "When you go to the job interviews, it is quite obvious who has been to the beauty salon. They are far more beautiful. Don't you think it is natural that a pretty face saying pretty words with a smile will catch more eyes?" In general, a visit to a beauty parlor will cost a woman more than 50,000 won.