Connect the Dots: How Do I Get Into SM (Or Any Company In General) the Fastest?

I recently had a conversation with someone who wanted to know what was the easiest way to get into the Korean music industry.  As this conversation was by e-mail, I have no idea what this person looks like or sounds like which actually helped my thought process.
So what is the easiest way to get into SM or any entertainment company?

1.)  Have a connection to an industry insider who can recommend you
Seriously, this is the fastest way in.  In Korea, getting a good job is all about having the right connections.  Even if your connection is that it's your best friend's cousin's fiancee, if you get that connection to recommend you, you're already a few steps ahead of the pack.
For example, let's say A has an industry connection and average talent and B is pretty good, had professional lessons, was a back-up dancer for a semi-well-known singer, and doesn't have a connection.  They both decide to audition for Company C.  B is definitely more experienced and more talented than A, but more likely than not A will be chosen over B.

However, this does have a flip-side.  You need to be good for the insider to seriously consider recommending you.  Too many recommendation duds and their credibility to recommend potential trainees is shot.  Also, the pressure on YOU would skyrocket.  If someone recommended you, suddenly you're obligated to uphold their reputation.  Even if you are talented, if you do something stupid and earn a bad reputation, it's going to reflect poorly on the person who recommended you.

Example:  Girls' Generation's Sunny
[I'm not saying she isn't talented, but there are definitely others who are more talented than she is.  It didn't hurt that Lee Sooman was her uncle!]

3.)  Win a contest sponsored by SM

It's All Greek to Me!: A Quick Guide to the Korean Alphabet and Romanizations

Here's a quick guide to the Korean alphabet (한굴) and romanization.
I absolutely hate romanization.  I think it's difficult to read and it makes you sound very foreign because you try to make the vowels sound English.  Also, those who spell in Korean either go with the literal sound of the words or literal translation of the symbols.  The former you can't re-write in Hangul accurately and the latter you can't read fluidly.

The Korean Alphabet (한굴)
I'm not a linguist so I'm just going to divide them up into consonants and vowels.

For the Future: My Speculations for SM and 2013

Just a note, these are just speculations!  Please take the following with a grain of salt!

According to allkpop, Girls' Generation isn't going to have a comeback in 2012.  This got me thinking, what about the rest of SM?  It's high time EXO made a comeback so fans don't forget about them.

Here are my predictions for 2013 and beyond!

Jan-Jul 2013:
SHINee Korean comeback
     UPDATE:  2 Korean comebacks and 1 Japanese comeback!  "Dream Girl", "Fire" and a yet unnamed song.
Girls' Generation Korean comeback (this one is kind of a given)
     UPDATE:  GG has announced their comeback in January!
EXO comeback
     UPDATE:  They are for sure coming back!!  (Hopefully around May when I'm in Korea!!)  They've been recording and Lay and Chanyeol's new haircuts means a comeback is going to happen in a month or two.

Jul-Dec 2013:
TVXQ comeback
Super Junior comeback
f(x) comeback - practically confirmed by Amber (with clips of their choreography shown) in an interview with Danny Im in LA.
BoA comeback

Now these are kind of duh predictions, easily concocted from past experience and who just needs to make a comeback.
Now on to my musings.

UPDATE:
So with SNSD going all f(x) on us, and Amber growing her hair out, maybe f(x)'s comeback will be be in a more SNSD vein...?  Maybe a la "The Boys" or "Girls' Generation"?

My Ideas For the Future

E-mail Answers

Some of the questions in others' e-mails might be the same questions you have!

Update:  Nov. 10, 2012
I heard that other SM trainees bully you if you aren't Korean, and since I'm not Korean, is that something that I should worry about?
Yes and no.
No, because times are changing and I really believe that you won't be bullied just because you aren't Korean.  They might get carried away with their national pride sometimes, but it don't think it will be too harsh.
Yes, especially if your skin is darker (even if it's as light as EXO's Kai).  In this video, Taemin states that he sees Kai's dark skin as his weakness.  Really?  It's a really assy thing to say, but as you can see Taemin doesn't say it to be mean!  There is also some evidence that Tao and Kris were thought of as "lesser" by fellow trainees and trainers because they were Chinese.
Overall, I don't think it's something you should worry too much about.  Like school, there will always be the possibility of it but it's not something that should stop you from trying your hardest.

-Hara Jun

Update:  Oct. 4, 2012

Hello!

1)Is there a specific time when you can apply or is it all year round? I asked that question on Yahoo! Answers and they said that anytime not during the brakes is good, because apparantly that is when everyone is like "I'm bored let's audition".

Breaks actually aren't a good time.  While you have free time, so does everyone else.  Winter is a great time because more people are occupied with school.  Also, avoid times during and the month after a Global or Youth Star Audition.  SM will put more energy and attention into those auditions and your audition might be pushed back indefinitely. 

2) I live in the US, so do I send my mail audition to LA or Seoul? I am not fluent in Korean but I do know some basic phrases. Would they evaluate my mail in LA or would they send it to Seoul?

LA.  :)  Their English-speaking staff at their LA office will evaluate your audition there.

Just a note of caution to everyone, always avoid using Korean unless you are fluent.  Either they will look at you poorly because of the state of your grammar and spelling (much like employers look down on text speech in applications) or they will assume you are fluent, especially if you use a Korean-speaker to double-check your writing.  Of the four languages SM deals in (Korean, Chinese, English, and Japanese), pick the language you are the most fluent in and use that! 

3) When auditioning by post/mail, I was thinking of singing the climax of the song I was planning on auditioning with (IU-Mia). Is that okay or must I sing the whole song? The climax really compliments my voice while the other parts really won't "WOW!" the judges, in my opinion. 

It's okay!  I actually encourage singing only the climax of the song.  While on their website they don't  give a data limit for the files, the limit for the everysing.com audition file is only 25 MB.  That's not a lot of room!  It's enough room for either just audio and video or only about 30-60 seconds of video and audio, depending on quality.  Also, that's about the length of time you get for a live audition.  

-Hara Jun

A Useful Guide to the SM Entertainment Auditions

Here's a quick guide that I've compiled based on my own experience and other sources.  This is a guide for the SM Entertainment online audition, e-mail audition, and post audition.

For more answers:

•  "Basic Audition Q&A" - the answers to the big general questions.
• "Tell Me Your Wish...Er, Questions" - the answers to the commonly questions I receive via comments and email.
• "Congratulations!  Now You're A Trainee...:  A Speculative Look At Your Future"