[7] She first made a name for herself starring in commercials for brands such as Samsung[8] and Korea Telecom 018, in which her line "love moves about" gained popularity amongst Korean youth.

[10] Notable among her forays into branded entertainment is the 2008 multi-episode Summer Days opposite Hyun Bin and Ryoo Seung-bum for LG Xnote featuring music by You Hee-yeol,[11] as well as Friends & Love, a movie-style extended advertisement for Giordano in 2011 costarring Jung Woo-sung and So Ji-sub.

[13] In 2011, she was chosen as the first Asian model for the DIY Project ad campaign of American clothing brand Rag & bone,[14][15] and in 2012 was featured in The New York Times's T Magazine.

[8] In 2000, she was cast in the high-budget music video for Jo Sung-mo's "Do You Know", as a Vietnamese girl who falls in love with a Korean soldier during the Vietnam War.

[20][21] Ahead of her film debut in Volcano High, she adopted the stage name Shin Min-a, to avoid confusion with the actress Yang Mi-ra.

[26] The drama's director, Lee Hyun-jik, praised her, saying, "Min-a might be a rookie actor, but she's so enthusiastic sometimes we worry someone might get hurt, and she also excels in expressing emotions.

[30] This was followed by leading roles in the melodrama A Love to Kill with Rain,[31] romantic comedy series The Beast and the Beauty with Ryoo Seung-bum,[32] and psychological thriller Lucifer with Uhm Tae-woong and Ju Ji-hoon.

She then acted as an unfaithful wife in The Naked Kitchen,[37] and a cynical young woman in search of her father in Sisters on the Road, a critically acclaimed indie film which also stars fellow actress and close friend Gong Hyo-jin.

[38] But Shin became best known for her portrayals of supernatural horror icons revamped into endearingly innocent yet spunky heroines in the rom-com My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2010),[39] and the historical drama Arang and the Magistrate (2012).

[44] After appearing in The X, a 2013 spy thriller short film directed by Kim Jee-woon,[45] Shin returned to the big screen in 2014 with Gyeongju, an introspective arthouse romance opposite Park Hae-il.

[46] This was followed by the romantic comedy film My Love, My Bride, where she and Jo Jung-suk played a newly married couple; it was a remake of the same-titled 1990 hit that starred Choi Jin-sil and Park Joong-hoon.

[54] In 2016, Shin was cast opposite Lee Je-hoon in the fantasy melodrama Tomorrow, With You, portraying a 30-year-old amateur photographer who finds out that her better half can time travel.

In 2018, Shin was cast opposite Lee Yoo-young in the mystery film Diva, playing Yi Young, a diver who lost her memory after an accident.

[75] Playing a woman whose dead mother gets a "trip from heaven" to visit her, Shin chose to appear in the film because of its heartwarming feel and relatable subject matter.

[86] In 2015, it was reported that Shin had donated a total of ₩1 billion over past 7 years through 'Fruit of Love', a social welfare community chest and 'Good Friends' an association that helps North Korean defectors.

[93] In December 2021, it was reported that she has donated ₩100 million each to the Hallym Burn Foundation, Seoul Asan Hospital and to the Korean Developmental Society for psychological treatment of children suffering from the prolonged COVID-19 infection.

In March, Shin donated ₩100 million won to the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association,[a] to help restore forest fire damage.