Review of the 2026 Startup Job Fair

I happened to come across information about the 2026 Startup Job Fair being held at COEX.

The participating companies included Toss Bank, Michael, and other names I’d at least heard of before.

I was interested, so I decided to visit.

1. Location and transportation

The event was held in COEX B1 Hall.

From Nowon-gu, you can take Line 4 to Dongjak Station, then transfer to the Line 9 express and get off at Bongeunsa Station.

2. On-site registration and entry

People who pre-registered queued on the right, and those registering on-site lined up on the left.

Before entering, you must scan the QR code and create your profile.

You could easily import your basic profile via KakaoTalk login.

Once you briefly fill in your stack, interests, preferred work location, etc., your profile is complete.

Then you go to on-site registration and tell them the last digits of your phone number.

That’s how you receive a name tag lanyard like the one below.

Then you just hang it around your neck and walk around getting consultations.

Once you go in, it’s hard to know where to start because you’re busy checking out the size of the venue and the lines of people.

For people like that, there’s a handy stamp tour mission.

Among the pamphlets at the entrance, there’s one for the stamp tour mission.

The mission list is to get stamps from a total of six booths.

Each booth also gives out small gifts, so wandering around is surprisingly fun.

At the first booth I visited, Unit Black, they were handing out fortune cookies.

They kindly gave me fortune cookies for my two kids who came with me, and we enjoyed them.

After going around the remaining booths once, you submit the pamphlet to the operations booth and scan the QR code on your name tag to finish.

After completing the stamp tour once, I felt more confident and found it easier to visit other booths.

One wall was entirely covered with job postings.

I realized that even companies related to development need people in a wide variety of roles such as designers, marketers, and operations staff.

People say the market is frozen right now, but it seems that those who are going to make it still do.

On one side, companies specializing in interview consulting were gathered.

What stuck with me was a portfolio listing experience on about ten projects, each lasting over three months.

On another side, events were being held according to a timetable.

On the first day, they covered topics like how to find a job and self-development, and on the second day they ran sessions similar to company information sessions.

3. Impressions

Walking around the booths, I saw some people talking together in groups centered around a mentor, and others listening to explanations about UX design.

Most people seemed to be openly talking about their experience and very proactively looking for opportunities.

Seeing their passion, I felt both envy and a sense of relief at the same time.

Reading through portfolios where the project experience went on and on as I scrolled, I felt that just having a single blog is nowhere near enough.

Starting tomorrow, I think I need to once again run npx create-next-app@latest and build new projects while improving the existing ones.

For people seeking jobs it offered opportunities, and for people like me it provided valuable insights—overall, it was a worthwhile event.