More local companies are switching to blind hiring for new recruits, looking more at qualifications for required skills rather than alma mater, hometowns and language proficiency, an analysis indicated Wednesday.

According to the Korea Economic Research Institute, the surveyed firms mostly adopted blind hiring for select positions.

Lotte Department Store uses the hiring system for its merchandisers, CJ ENM for its concert planners, KT for software developers and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction for technical staff.

Lotte Group is hiring every half year to fill open positions at its subsidiaries, such as food merchandisers for Lotte Mart, online merchandisers for Lotte Himart, producers for Lotte Home Shopping and programmers for Lotte.com.

CJ has banned applicants from citing alma mater, school grades or English language proficiency scores. The guidelines were used in the hiring of the food business department of CJ Cheiljedang, managers of multiplex cinema chain CJ CGV and staff for CJ Logistics.

SK Group subsidiaries, including SK Telecom, SK hynix and SK C&C, and Hyundai Department Store are resorting to blind hiring for new recruits in reviewing applications and interviews. The recruits are officially hired based on their performance during the internship period.

SK officials said they are looking at individual "stories" of applicants to think out of the box in appraising them, while Hyundai Department Store requires jobseekers to submit a 500-word self-promoting essay with a video file. Official employment decisions are made after a four-week internship program.

Aekyung Industry deleted sections on academic background on its job application forms and in interviews. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics similarly deleted areas for photos and information on family members and physical characteristics.

KT does not require its applicants to have any type of personally obtained skill certifications, and Hyosung Group has removed restrictions on academic performance, foreign language proficiency and age. (Yonhap)