Minhyeok Jeong
All work

Competencies: Problem Identification Analytical Thinking Stakeholder Persuasion

FIRST 100

Everyone was looking at how young people could get hired. I noticed what happened after they did.

Reading through Korea's youth-employment programmes, I found a stretch of the working journey that none of them covered. I researched it, wrote a proposal to close it, and defended it at the National Assembly.

1 of 21
National finalists, seven in each of three policy areas
Sole author
Research, proposal, finals deck and presentation
National Assembly
Finals presentation, September 2026
Read the proposal View the slides
  • National Finalist
  • Individual Project
Role
Sole author and presenter
Ownership
Individual project
Context
11th Youth Policy Competition (2026 Republic of Korea Youth Day), employment and labour track
When
2026

The gap between two answers

Every programme I read answered one of two questions: how does a young person get hired, and how do they stay employed? From the government's side, that looks complete. From the worker's side, it leaves a space in the middle: the first weeks in a new job, when the contract is signed, the first pay arrives and the workplace shows what it is really like.

Statistics Korea suggested the space mattered. Young people spend 11.2 months on average finding a first job, yet the most common reason for leaving it, at 44.4%, is pay and working conditions.

Where policy support stopsFour stages of a first job. Only one of them had no checkpoint.

  1. Before the job

    • Career counselling
    • Job training
    • Job matching

  2. Getting hired

    • Hiring support
    • Employment outcomes
    • Onboarding guidance

  3. First 100 daysNo checkpoint

    • Understanding the contract
    • Pay and hours
    • Workplace safety
    • Settling in

  4. Staying on

    • Retention incentives
    • Employer support
    • Outcome evaluation

Source: FIRST 100 finals deck, p.4, the policy gap.

From observation to proposal

A gap is only a hunch until it survives research. I tested it against the data and existing support, then wrote FIRST 100 on my own: a five-page proposal and a nine-slide finals deck. A new worker gets three short check-ins, covering the contract, early warning signs and how the first months went.

Day 7, Day 30, Day 100Three short check-ins across a new worker's first 100 days.
Day 1
Day 7
Day 30
Day 100
First day

  1. Day 7Clarity

    My Employment Terms

  2. Day 30Early risk detection

    3-minute safety check

  3. Day 100Measurable follow-through

    First 100 Days report

Source: FIRST 100 proposal, pp.2–3, checkpoint design.

An insight worth defending

In September 2026 I presented FIRST 100 at the National Assembly to a panel of lawmakers, professors and legal professionals. A panel like that listens for the weak point, so I went looking for it first. I wrote down the objections most likely to come, and made sure the proposal itself held an answer to each.

Four objections, and the proposal's answer to each
Does it need a new system?
No. Workers aged 19 to 34 reach it through Employment24, the existing national employment platform, so nobody downloads anything new.
Where would it start?
With a pilot for first jobs at workplaces of fewer than 50 employees.
Could a worker be exposed to their employer?
No. A RED result is never reported to the employer, who only ever sees anonymised statistics.
How would anyone know it worked?
Through a quality-adjusted retention measure, which counts a job only where basic standards on contracts, pay, hours and safety were met.

Source: FIRST 100 proposal, pp.2–4.

A handshake ends the job search, and that is where most people stop looking. It is exactly where this problem began.

My role

Sole author and presenter: I spotted the gap, researched it, designed the proposal, built the finals deck and presented it.

Skills used

Problem identification, Analytical research, Stakeholder persuasion, Public presentation