POSTECH’s Summer Experience in Society (SES) is a field training program kicked off in the summer of 2016 to help undergraduates design their future careers. Students see how knowledge learned in school is applied in practice by companies and research institutes; learn communication and management skills and expand their view of society. The Postech Times contacted Yangwoo Kwon, the general manager of Student Affairs and SES, for accurate information concerning 2022 SES.
Over 250 undergraduates participate in SES every year. Two hundred and eighty-seven, a number close to the number of freshmen students participated in 2019. This implies almost every undergraduate participates in SES. However, the scale of SES has diminished due to COVID-19 and only 74 students could participate in 2020. 
Thanks to the effort and cooperation of POSTECH and partner organizations, SES is gradually recovering from the aftermath of COVID-19 and 125 students participated this year. POSTECH created a manual to respond to the COVID-19 situation quickly and accurately through orientation and briefing sessions. Through corporation-university consultations, interns worked remotely if necessary. COVID-19 patients were attributed paid leave and there was no setback in job performances, salary payments, and credit recognition owing to the combined efforts made by those involved. 
Students were able to make progress and grow in various aspects through SES. First, participants learned how the knowledge they learned in school could be applied in industrial fields and research institutes in various ways. For example, a fellow Postechian Sangil Han (Department of Industrial and Management Eng. 20) worked in a company called AutoCrypt. His main job was to plan functions within the company’s app. Periodic tests were also conducted to check whether errors did not occur in the running of the app and if new features were added, whether or not they worked properly. He added that it was a unique experience to participate in all the official Open Beta Test (OBT) releases before the launch of the company’s services. Before the release, the company simply planned the service app with users in mind, but after OBT and the official release, the service was mainly updated with user feedback, which was meaningful to him since he could see the adjustments made in real time.
Postechians were able to experience organizational cultures that are somewhat different from school culture. According to the “My SES Show Off” event, Lee YoungJin (Department of Life Sciences 21) worked in a start-up company named Woorotest. Through working at a startup company in CHANGeUP GROUND, he was able to experience a corporate culture that was horizontal and free. 
SES also helped students set their future careers and goals. Even if students have areas of interest, it is not easy to experience them in actual fields before graduation. However, Postechians were able to perform job duties related to their field of interest under the education of a field expert mentor. Postechians were also able to realistically consider the pros and cons of getting a job with a bachelor’s degree by looking at the lives of company employees. 
2022 SES is the first year of applying the online system, “POSTECH Work-Integrated Learning Support System”. Every document was exchanged with institutions and students through e-mails in the past. Now the documents can be handled through a simple online process. This data can be accumulated, and the foundation has been laid for a one-stop statistical analysis. Manager Kwon added, “Through the correct understanding of the institution and job, I hope Postechians feel joy and a sense of accomplishment by reaching their goals in SES.”