Jeju Youth Build Their Own AI Services to Open Doors to Jobs... Recruitment Links with Startups

[Financial News Jeju = Jeong Yong-bok, reporter] A recruitment-linked training program is launching to help Jeju youth use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to build web services themselves and pursue jobs at local startups by presenting their work as portfolios. Jeju Province and Jeju National University will cultivate the AI talent companies need locally and connect participants with employment, while also supporting startups' AI transformation.
According to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province on the 5th, Jeju Province and the Jeju National University AI Convergence Institute are pursuing the 'Jeju Startup AI Transformation and Regional-Academic-Industry Cooperation Project.'
The program's key feature is that it does not separate education from employment. Rather than having young people complete AI training and then search for jobs separately, the program allows companies to directly review the AI services and practical project results created during the courses before deciding whether to hire participants.
The program is open to job-seeking young people aged 19–34. The training is linked to the 'Youth Leap Talent Development Boot Camp' organized by JNU. It covers skills applicable to real corporate work, from automating tasks with generative AI to developing and deploying web services.
The training is divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced courses. The beginner course runs from October 12 to 23. It focuses on using AI for work so that young people who are new to AI or have no coding experience can participate.
The intermediate course runs from October 26 to November 13. It focuses on creating individual AI services and portfolios so participants can demonstrate the AI skills companies require through actual results. The advanced course will be operated as an intensive camp centered on practical projects from November 16 to December 4.
Participants can choose a course suited to their skill level. The program is designed to let them practice in a web browser without installing a separate, complex development environment.
Tuition is fully covered. Benefits also include scholarships of up to 2.1 million won upon course completion, total hackathon prizes of up to 5 million won, overseas training opportunities and an additional 500,000 won in support for those who successfully find employment or launch a business.
The recruitment stage will use a 'graduate-matching' model. Outstanding participants among those who complete the beginner, intermediate or advanced courses will be selected and given priority connections with startups in Jeju Province.
Companies will be able to evaluate not only applicants' résumés and coding test results, but also the AI web services and portfolios they actually developed and deployed during training. The aim is to align the practical skills companies seek with the training content from the outset.
For Jeju Province, the initiative is significant because it addresses youth employment and startups' shortage of AI talent at the same time. Startups in the province that find it difficult to recruit AI specialists from outside can identify and hire the talent they need directly. Jeju youth, meanwhile, can build AI expertise and seek jobs without leaving the province.
Support for companies will not end with recruitment. Jeju Province and JNU are considering linking companies that hire graduates or provide them with internships to support for practical AI tools and related infrastructure. The plan is to help companies apply AI to internal operations and product and service development, thereby accelerating AI transformation at startups in the province.
The recruitment-linked schedule will continue through the end of the year. Jeju Province and JNU will hold an integrated online and offline corporate briefing on the 30th for participating companies and young people, explaining the project's purpose, recruitment procedures, training and corporate support.
At the '1st Regional Startup Festival and Startup Week,' held on November 5–6, organizers will operate an AI forum booth to showcase local startups' AI transformation cases and the results of youth talent development. In December, they plan to hold a boot camp results-sharing event and an offline recruitment matching day to connect participants with companies for actual hiring.
Kang Ae-sook, director of the Economic Vitality Bureau of Jeju Province, said, "It is a regional-academic-industry cooperation model that provides Jeju youth with opportunities to grow and find jobs locally, while giving startups the AI talent and technological foundation they need," and added, "We will expand cooperation between JNU and startups in the province."


[email protected] Jeong Yong-bok Reporter