Park Se-young made her acting debut in the 2002 MBC series Inspector Park Mun-su. In 2012, she was nominated for Best New Actress at the KBS Drama Awards for her work in Love Rain and Equator Man. That same year, she starred in the SBS fusion medical-fantasy drama Faith, which won her the New Star Award at the SBS Drama Awards. She also scored a Best New Actress for TV nomination at the 49th Baeksang Arts Awards for her performance in the series. In 2013, she led the KBS1 daily drama Sincerity Moves Heaven, which earned her an Excellence Award nomination at the KBS Drama Awards. In 2014, she received a nomination for a Top Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards for the weekend series Feel-Good Day. In 2017, she took home an Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards for the legal thriller Whisper. In 2019, she bagged another Excellence Award at the MBC Drama Awards for the comedy satire Special Labor Inspector Jo.

Park Se-young attended Sangmyung University in Seoul.