“No Wings, So We Run” by Kim Doyoon & Jegal Hyeonyeol

The book “No Wings, So We Run” is impressive just from its title alone. Even just by looking at the title, one can intuitively grasp what kind of content the book contains.

At the time when I encountered the book, I myself was in the midst of preparing for employment. It was during a period when I was anxiously awaiting the results while competing for a position at a major corporation, having made it to the final interview. Unfortunately, the result was a disappointment as I was rejected, leaving me with a sense of regret. Nevertheless, with sturdy legs, I had no choice but to “run” again.

“The Story of Two Youths Struggling to Survive in South Korea”

The authors of the book, Kim Doyoon and Jegal Hyeonyeol, introduce themselves as individuals with educational backgrounds that make it difficult to survive in South Korean society, which places heavy emphasis on academic credentials. The atmosphere of the 2010s, when the book was published, was a time of intense competition based on “specs” (specifications) for employment. It was an era of overflowing labor, where people competed for better jobs by accumulating “specs” and adding “stories” to them, resulting in increasingly fierce competition.

From a spec perspective, the two authors were young people who did not possess the qualifications that companies desired. However, despite this, they did not give up. Instead, they found their own ways and challenged themselves to find better jobs through unconventional means. The contents of the book depict the survival stories of these two youths.

“Building Your Own Specs and Stories Through Competitions”

The book presents the theme of challenging competitions. The two main characters, Kim Doyoon and Jegal Hyeonyeol, participate in competitions and begin to pave their own paths as they win awards in these competitions.

The book briefly or in detail introduces the efforts made to overcome the weakness of lacking academic prestige.

“Jegal Hyeonyeol as the Harsh Critic, Kim Doyoon as the Comforter”

If Jegal Hyeonyeol is responsible for harsh criticism in the book, then Kim Doyoon can be seen as providing comfort. However, they don’t just stop at providing comfort; they also explain and introduce specific methods.

Rather than simply giving up after setbacks, they provide comfort and methods, showing the way forward.

“Finding What You Love and Moving in That Direction…”

Ultimately, the message of the book is about finding what you truly love to do, which is important. When you find what you truly love, you can naturally pour out “passion.” The book demonstrates the importance of moving forward on your own path with this passion.

The authors’ efforts to find their own paths by thinking about what they love and are good at, and to meet masters in their respective fields, are also evident. They didn’t just work hard on the given path; they made efforts to pioneer new paths.

Moreover, they didn’t stop there; they actively promoted themselves by submitting resumes and portfolios directly to companies, sending emails to companies, and even advertising themselves in newspapers to emphasize the importance of promoting their own existence.

“No Wings, So We Run.”

Ultimately, these processes can be seen as “running” because we have “no wings.” In reality, I also visited Blizzard Entertainment to submit my resume while preparing for employment and even inquired about the possibility of working as an unpaid intern.

Although I ultimately failed to join CJ E&M Games, I remember visiting the company again, meeting with HR staff, and inquiring about the possibility of working as an unpaid intern. Eventually, due to labor standards laws, I couldn’t work as an unpaid intern, but I still remember the time when I made a fierce effort to “find employment.”

“The Passion of Pioneering New Paths”

The book introduces the process of finding new paths through competitions and creating paths that others have not taken.

I, too, once won the “Grand Prize” in a competition hosted by the Korea Communications Commission, and I also challenged employment by preparing the basic specs. Although I didn’t end up at the game company I originally wanted to work for, I ended up working for a public institution.

Of course, now I have left the public institution and am working in various fields as a freelancer and in personal business, but reading this book again, I recall the time when I prepared fiercely for employment.

“The Harsh Job Market of 2024”

Even though the economy wasn’t great in the 2010s, the 2020s have felt even worse economically since COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, even developers are no longer being hired as much, and there is a feeling that the job market is becoming even more difficult.

While in the past, job postings for “dream companies” and desired occupations were somewhat common, now even decent job postings are scarce. Despite this, we have no choice but to run with our sturdy legs!

“No Wings, So We Run.”