Korean Job Titles Explained: Sawon, Daeri, Gwajang, Bujang and More

If you watch Korean dramas set in an office, you hear titles all the time. "Bujang-nim!" "Gwajang-nim!" "Kim daeri!" Almost nobody calls their coworkers by their first name.

That's because in most Korean companies, your job title is basically your name at work. Knowing the titles, and how to use them, is one of the first things you learn when you start working here.

The Basic Ladder

Every company is a little different, but most traditional Korean companies use a ladder like this, from bottom to top:

- 사원 (sawon) – staff, entry level

- 대리 (daeri) – assistant manager

- 과장 (gwajang) – manager

- 차장 (chajang) – deputy general manager

- 부장 (bujang) – general manager

- 이사 (isa) – director, where the executive level starts

- 상무 (sangmu) – managing director

- 전무 (jeonmu) – senior managing director

- 부사장 (busajang) – executive vice president

- 사장 (sajang) – president

In big business groups, there can be even more levels above that, like 부회장 (buhoejang, vice chairman) and 회장 (hoejang, chairman). Smaller companies often skip some of these steps.

The English translations aren't perfect, because the roles don't match Western companies exactly. But this is the general idea.

There are also position titles like 팀장 (teamjang, team leader) or 본부장 (bonbujang, head of a division). These are about what you're in charge of, not your rank. So a gwajang can also be a teamjang.

How to Actually Use Them

In Korea, you call people by their title, and you add -nim (님) to be polite.

- 대리님 (daeri-nim)

- 과장님 (gwajang-nim)

- 부장님 (bujang-nim)

You can also add their family name in front, like 김 과장님 (Kim gwajang-nim). That's very common when there are several people with the same title.

What you never do is call your boss by their first name. That would be like walking into a meeting and calling your CEO "buddy."

The Tricky One: Your Senior Who Is Also Just "Staff"

Here's the part nobody warned me about.

When I started my first job, calling people with real titles was easy. Daeri-nim, gwajang-nim, no problem. The hard part was coworkers who had joined a year or two before me but were still sawon, the same rank as me.

You might think, "Why not just say sawon-nim?" Grammatically, you can. But to Korean ears, it sounds really strange, and almost nobody says it. Sawon isn't really a title. It's just the default starting point that everyone has when they join. Adding a respectful -nim to it feels a bit like calling someone "Honorable Employee" or "Respected Staff Member" in English. It's technically polite, but it sounds awkward, and it can even feel a little sarcastic.

The senior employees called them by their name plus -ssi (씨), like "Minji-ssi." But I couldn't do that either. They were my seniors, and calling them "-ssi" would have sounded like I was treating them as equals or even talking down to them.

Looking back now, the answer was simple: 선배님 (seonbae-nim), which means "senior." But at the time, that word just didn't come to mind at work. It felt like something you'd say at school, not in an office.

So what did I do? For the first few weeks, I just avoided calling them anything. I would walk up and start talking about the work right away, without any name or title. "The report you asked about…" It worked, mostly. But inside, I was always a little nervous.

If you ever start working in Korea and feel stuck like this, now you know. Seonbae-nim is your safe answer.

What About "-ssi"?

-ssi (씨) is a polite way to call someone by name, but it's mostly used by seniors toward juniors, or between people at the same level. If you use it for someone above you, it can sound rude.

As a junior, it's safer to use a title or seonbae-nim. As a senior, calling your juniors "-ssi" is completely normal.

The Boss-to-Boss Trap

Talking to a boss is easy. Talking about one boss to an even bigger boss is where your brain freezes.

Korean has an old rule called apjonbeop (압존법). Under this rule, if you're talking to the bujang about something your daeri did, you're supposed to lower the respect for the daeri, because the bujang is higher. So instead of the polite "Daeri-nim said…", you'd use a plainer form.

The official Korean language guidelines actually say you don't need to do this at work. You can just be polite to both. But some older bosses still expect the old way. So as a new employee, you stand there trying to say one simple sentence, wondering who you might offend.

For me, there's another reason it's confusing: the military. Most Korean men do mandatory military service, and that's where I really learned apjonbeop. In the army, I used it all the time, so it became a habit. Even now at work, I know I don't need it, but sometimes it still slips out. So honestly, I end up mixing both styles. I think a lot of Korean men my age do the same.

Your Cheat Sheet

So how do new employees remember everyone's title? There are a few "legal cheat sheets."

When you meet people from outside the company, like clients or partners, you exchange business cards with two hands. It's polite, but it's also very practical. During the meeting, many people keep the cards on the table in front of them, so they can quietly check the other person's title before speaking.

Inside the company, people don't usually swap business cards. Instead, the company messenger or the org chart becomes your best friend. In my first weeks, I checked people's profiles more times than I'd like to admit.

Things Are Changing

In recent years, many Korean companies have started dropping the traditional ladder. This isn't just startups. Even Samsung moved to calling employees by name plus -nim instead of their rank, and later expanded the idea to executives too. Other companies use English names, or one simple title like "pro" or "manager" for everyone.

But here's the thing many foreigners don't realize. In a lot of these companies, only the way people are called has changed. Inside the company, there are still levels, and people still get promoted. That's because in Korea, promotion is usually how your salary goes up. So everyone might be "manager" on the outside, but the levels are still there in the HR system.

And Koreans still have an internal radar. People quietly figure out when someone joined the company to know who's really senior. The titles got flatter, but the hierarchy in people's heads didn't disappear that easily.

I've also noticed something with younger coworkers. Many of them don't worry about titles at all. They just add -nim to the person's first name. So a senior named Minji becomes "Minji-nim."

To be honest, it still sounds a little strange to me. In my generation, -nim usually went with a title, not a first name. But for them, it seems completely natural. My guess is that it comes from the internet. In online communities and games, Koreans have called each other by their username plus -nim for years. So for people who grew up online, "name + nim" feels polite, neutral, and easy.

The goal is the same either way: make communication flatter and less stressful. But in many traditional companies, the old title system is still very much alive.

Quick Tips If You Work in Korea

- Learn everyone's title in your first week. Check the messenger or org chart.

- Add -nim when you call someone above you.

- If you're not sure what to call a senior with no title, use seonbae-nim. In younger teams, "name + nim" is often fine too.

- Don't use -ssi for anyone above you.

- When talking to a boss about another boss, just stay polite to both. That's officially fine.

- Watch how your coworkers call each other. Noonchi works here too.

Your Turn

How do people call each other at work in your country? First names? Titles? Something else? Let me know in the comments.

— YG