The Briefing
Career communication, personal branding, AI ethics, marketing strategy, and almost 25 years of Seoul. Written for professionals who treat communication as a craft, not a task.
Six Sections, Six Different Jobs
Everything published here lives in one of six sections. Pick the one that matches what you are working on right now.
Every Issue Of The Briefing
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Common English Interview Mistakes Korean Candidates Make
After coaching candidates through English-language interviews for years, the same handful of mistakes show up again and again, and they are rarely about English…
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What’s Actually Trending in Seoul Right Now: A 2026 Field Guide
I have lived through enough Seoul summers now to notice when the city actually changes shape, not just when a new cafe opens. 2026…
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What ATS Software Is Actually Looking For in an English Resume
I have written before about how ATS filters explain resume rejections in general terms. This is the more specific version, for the growing number…
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Preparing for an English-Language Interview When It Is Not Your First Language
Of everything students ask me before an interview, the question I hear most is not about content. It is some version of: what if…
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STAR in Practice: A Real Interview Answer, Sentence by Sentence
I have written before about why the STAR method is lying to you… how the format alone cannot save a forgettable answer. That argument…
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Getting Hired at a Foreign Company While Based in Korea
Every year, a wave of my students and coaching clients decide they want to work at μΈκ΅κ³ κΈ°μ … a foreign or multinational company operating…
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What South Korea’s Defamation Laws Actually Mean for Social Media, Reviews, and Being Found
A question that comes up constantly with clients and students working in or with Korea, on either side of a screen: what can I…
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How to Prepare for a Job Change in Korea, Step by Step
Almost every professional I coach through a job change in Korea asks some version of the same question at the start: am I doing…
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The English μκΈ°μκ°μ Is Not a Cover Letter. Here Is What It Actually Is.
Every semester, a student sits in my office with a Western cover letter template open on one screen and a job posting from a…
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The Questions You Should Be Asking at Every Networking Event in Seoul
Seoul has a specific networking event circuit that most foreign professionals discover within their first few months in the city. The international chambers of…
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What I Think About Every Time a Semester Ends
The semester ends the same way every time. Grades posted. Emails trail off. Students scatter. And I sit with the same quiet mix of…
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How Korean Workplace Hierarchy Actually Works (And Why Most Foreigners Read It Wrong)
Korean workplace hierarchy is real, consequential, and almost always misread by foreigners in the first months. Here is how it works.
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Seoul Spring Trends 2026: What Is Actually Happening in Food, Fashion, and Culture
Every year has its thing. Here is what is actually moving in Seoul this spring β food, fashion, nightlife, and neighbourhoods.
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The Subscription Economy: If You Are Not Paying for the Product, You Are the Product
Consumers think they spend $86/month on subscriptions. They actually spend $219. And paying for the product doesn’t mean you stopped being it.
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Integrated Marketing Communications: Why Every Campaign Needs One Argument First
IMC is the discipline of making sure every piece of communication in a campaign makes the same underlying argument. Most campaigns get the execution…
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Korean Music 2026: What Korea Is Actually Listening To Beyond K-Pop
K-Pop gets the global headlines. What is actually happening inside Korean music culture in 2026 is more interesting.
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Professional Blog Writing: How to Develop a Voice That Sounds Like You
The voice problem in professional blogging is not a writing problem. It is a thinking problem. Most professional blog posts sound the same because…
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TikTok vs Instagram vs Kakao: Why the Platform Choice Is a Culture Choice
Choosing a platform is not a technical decision. It is a cultural one. Each platform encodes assumptions about how communication works. In Korea, those…
The Briefing goes out twice a month. Practical thinking on communication, branding, and career strategy. No filler.