Employment In North Korea

Getting a job isn't the same in North Korea as in almost all other countries. Here is how Mina Yoon, a North Korean who was able to escape from North Korea, describes it:

Basically, people in North Korea do not have the freedom to choose their occupations. Once you’re assigned a job from the government, it is your lifelong job. The reason the government assigns jobs is very simple: As part of strict control over all kinds of resources under its collectivism system, the government researches how many people are needed in each industry and location, and assigns people accordingly. The idea of employment in North Korea is therefore very different than in other countries. In North Korea, a job does not mean anything except where you go to work following the government order. That is why North Korean students do not have any dreams or aspirations about their future. They already know there’s no way they can make their dreams come true.
When I was a kid, I went to a kindergarten exclusively for children of military executives. The teachers there made sure that when anyone asked me about my dreams, I would answer: “I will study hard and be a medical doctor when I grow up. My dream is to make North Korean people healthy and well, and bring joy to Gen. Kim Il Sung.” Memorizing those sentences, I held on to a feeble dream that I was meant to be a doctor when I grew up. Later, after I graduated from that kindergarten I realized that even that planted answer was government propaganda.
In reality, most kids in North Korea cannot even think about their future. They really don’t have to, because the government makes choices on their behalf. Parents also do not bother worrying about their children’s future because they already know that what they want for their children will not make any difference. Upon graduation from high school, students fill out a form listing their top three career choices, but everyone knows it is nothing more than a formality. The government assigns the graduates with any jobs they think proper or necessary, and what the students want is not at all taken into account.

Read the rest here