Do you know BTS? Korean ‘ICT BTS’ in Silicon Valley

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–IITP (Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation), a Korean government organization in collaboration with KIC Silicon Valley, provides a unique internship program for Korean college students.

Its goal is to support these highly qualified talents to successfully land internship opportunities with U.S. local tech companies and equip them with ways to gain practical knowledge and experience in the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) field.

The program opens two times per year and lasts six to twelve months. Final or senior year students can apply with official recommendations from their academic institutions. Expenses such as airfare, medical insurance, obtaining Visas, and living costs are all paid for by the Korean government.

Until now, hiring managers have been impressed by their skills and aptitude for accomplishing tasks. More companies are offering interns full-time employment or extend their internship period as well.

IITP is similarly active at engaging leading technology companies in Silicon Valley and North America to place candidates. The program receives well from both the participating students and companies.

As a Korean boy band group, BTS takes Billboards by storm, so are the students partaking in the Global ICT internship program. ICT BTS (Brilliant and Talented Software Interns) is causing a fresh sensation amid tech companies in the valley. Armed with their depth of expertise and thirst for deep knowledge, BTS is poised to change the world, and Silicon Valley is taking notice.

The response of interns to the program is equally very positive. Yeseul Lee, an intern at Makaboom, said that “it was interesting to see my thoughts and expectations had a direct impact on the company’s project. This is the advantage of working for a startup where I can start a day with a smile dreaming about how I can change the world.”

Beyond the program, the interns are active in different NGO activities and learning to share with others. BTS is proactively involved with Pay-It-Forward practices and volunteers with a non-profit organization such as Meal Forward. Together, they connect surrounding restaurants to deliver quality meals to the medical staff at the forefront of the pandemic. In an interview with Jeong-Suh Choi, president of Meal Forward, he expressed that “last year’s pandemic was completely unexpected. As always, there were people ready to help, and among them stood and shined Korean interns. Because of them, the local medical staff and community have gained their smile back.”

Autonomiq is an AI automation startup that recently made headlines for being acquired by Sauce Labs, a market leader in cloud-based testing products. Previously they hired many BTS interns. According to Ram Shanmugam, the company’s CEO said that “the most important ingredients for a successful startup are creativity and dedicated staff. Through training and communicating with these Korean interns, I found that they are dynamic, fun to work with, and committed with confidence to carry out responsibilities.” He thanks them for staying with the company.

James Han, the E-commerce company’s co-founder at Nutra Group, said that “We really love our interns for their willingness to learn, passion to push through and openness to enjoy all the new cultures here. We had many interns through Global ICT internship program so far, and we are continuing to get more because they are hardworking and fun to work with.” He recommends the Global ICT internship program.

For more information, please visit www.ictintern.or.kr/homepage/system/systemViewG.do

Contacts

Jinsang Kim, Deputy Director

jkim@kicsv.org | +1 408-432-5076