Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance unveils 'Project Trailmark' to turn youth field experience into future competencies

A new program has been created to certify the experience young people gain working on social problem-solving as recognized future competencies, connecting that experience to new opportunities such as employment. The initiative aims to demonstrate problem-solving ability, collaboration and execution — skills that have grown increasingly important in the AI era — through real-world experience rather than the conventional resume metrics of academic credentials and certifications.

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance announced Wednesday that it unveiled Project Trailmark, a youth talent development program, at the 3rd Korea Social Value Festa.

Project Trailmark documents the experience young people accumulate while working on social issues in the field, then interprets the roles, actions and growth revealed through that process from the perspective of future competencies — connecting it all to the next opportunity. The program grew out of a recognition that young people are finding fewer chances to build meaningful growth experiences.

Statistics Korea's August labor force survey found that 680,000 young people were classified as "resting" — neither working nor actively seeking employment. Over the same period, the number of employed youth fell by 143,000 from a year earlier, underscoring how work experience and growth opportunities for young people are shrinking.

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance noted that the experience young people accumulate across various fields tends to remain a simple activity record and nothing more. The company concluded that while competencies increasingly valued in the AI era — such as problem definition, collaboration and execution — emerge through real experience, the infrastructure needed to systematically document and connect that experience to future opportunities is lacking.

In response, the company designed the project to ensure that young people's experiences do not end as one-off activities but remain as evidence of growth and a record of future competencies. It plans to build a system through which companies can review and give preference to those records during the hiring process.

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance has partnered with SK Group to lay the groundwork for the project. The two companies have shared a common understanding of the problem since the conceptual stage, discussing the evolving definition of talent and the role corporations should play in developing future talent, and have jointly reviewed the overall planning process — including the project's direction and operational structure.

Root Impact, a nonprofit organization that has long connected young people with the social innovation ecosystem, was selected as the operating body. Enactus and Jump, which support youth-led social problem-solving activities, will also participate, linking young people's field experience to the project.

An advisory board has been formed to sharpen the project's direction and expertise. Comprising six specialists in education, human resources and social innovation, the board includes Taejae University President Yum Jae-ho, Yonsei University Professor Jang Yong-seok, Asan Nanum Foundation Chairman Um Yun-mi, Kookmin University Professor Kim Sung-jun, Root Impact Director Seo Hyun-sun and ACG Consulting CEO Jung Jin-woo.

Jung Kyung-sun, the Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance chief strategy officer who proposed the project, said the company would "provide more young people with quality experiences through Project Trailmark and build a foundation so that those experiences do not end as a single line on a resume but lead to a greater role in society."

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance and SK Group are in discussions with multiple companies about participating in and cooperating with the project. The company plans to expand its network of partners to include businesses, social innovation organizations and academic institutions, supporting young people in having their field experience recognized as future competencies and encouraging them to take on greater challenges.

Jung is the eldest son of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Chairman Chung Mong-yoon and personally founded Root Impact, which operates the project, in 2012. He later established impact investment firm HGI to support the social venture and youth entrepreneurship ecosystem, and in December 2023 became the first chief strategy officer in the insurance industry when Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance created the position.