Don't be afraid to label yourself a 'student' when applying for a job.

(Baonghean) - The country currently has over 1 million unemployed workers, more than 200,000 of whom have a university degree or higher. Nghe An, with the fourth largest population in the country, also has about 30,000 unemployed workers. For students about to graduate, finding a job and the prospect of unemployment are the two most haunting things.

If you don’t want to be unemployed, should you wait until you graduate to start your job search? According to experts and those who have gone before you, starting your job search after graduation is too late.

Career orientation before entering university

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Van Dung - Head of the Faculty of Economics, Vinh University, said that before entering the working world, it is necessary to grasp the trends and needs of the labor market. Combined with subjective factors such as abilities, interests and financial capabilities of oneself and one's family, from there, make choices about suitable careers and majors. Good preparation from the beginning will bring a higher success rate when looking for a job at the end.

Fill in the information on the recruitment registration form provided by the business. Photo: Thuc Anh

The Head of the Faculty of Economics at Vinh University also emphasized the importance of choosing a career based on the needs of society. “You see a hot industry and rush to study it, but you don’t know that five or ten years later, the demand for that industry or profession will be saturated. Some industries and professions even “disappear”. That means unemployment.”

According to Mr. Dung, in the near future there will be a significant shift in the structure of occupations. Some occupations are predicted to have a sharp decrease in recruitment demand such as civil engineers, teachers, air traffic controllers, accountants, translators, newspaper reporters, transportation occupations, etc. The reason is because scientific and technological advances will gradually replace people in these occupations. At the same time, some new occupations will be "born" or develop strongly such as information exploitation and provision, online business, wireless services and network administration, personal financial consulting, negotiation consulting, social psychology experts, cultural experts - community health - social services, etc.

Stay informed while still in class

Vietnamese students are generally passive in accessing and updating general knowledge and socio-economic situations. Knowledge in books has great inertia while society is constantly moving. Students who do not proactively update their knowledge and skills after graduation will find it difficult to keep up with the world of work.

Tran Kim Viet (born in 1990), Director of Viet Nursery Production and Trading Company Limited, is a typical example of success thanks to flexibility and adaptability to circumstances. Being a disabled person with difficulty in moving, Viet chose to study Agriculture to be able to "see the world under ten fingers". At the same time, Viet registered to study Information Technology. "At that time, I thought Information Technology would definitely develop strongly because it is present in all other industries. Every industry will eventually digitize and need technology, including Agriculture".

Vinh University students learn about recruitment programs at the 2017 Job Fair. Photo: Thuc Anh

From a student with high scores in school to a bachelor who can work right after graduation is a big gap. To shorten that gap, the only solution is to practice continuously. Returning to Tran Kim Viet, the owner of a company specializing in plant varieties and biological solutions with 13 full-time employees and 10 seasonal employees, he once had to borrow 500,000 VND from his teacher to buy an old computer from an internet cafe worth more than 1 million VND.

“I promised my teacher that I would pay him back when I received the scholarship, but I wasn’t even sure if I would get the scholarship or not. At that time, I thought that I had to buy a computer at all costs to practice.” Talking about the secret to starting a successful business, Viet believes that the most important thing is flexibility and dynamism: “The knowledge learned at school is just the first brick, and the world of work is like a sine graph that goes up and down. If you can adapt, you will survive, if you can’t adapt, you will fail.”

Don't be afraid to label yourself a "student" when applying for a job.

Many people think that it is difficult to get a job with a bachelor's degree, let alone a student. This is a wrong thought. In fact, employers often have to retrain employees who have just graduated to meet job requirements. In terms of experience, there is not much difference between new graduates and students. You can completely change this and become an outstanding candidate in a sea of ​​new graduates applying for jobs.

Many employers are particularly interested in third and fourth year university students. They cooperate with the school to organize recruitment rounds before the students graduate. This form of early recruitment is beneficial for both businesses and students. If you are selected, then there is no need to say anything, you can rest assured that you will not be unemployed after graduation. Even then, if you want to aim for a more attractive job, your profile will be much more "beautiful" if you have a few years of experience working in a professional environment. Even if you are not selected, you will still gain a lot of experience in making profiles, CVs and recruitment interviews. That will help you increase your chances of success in the next job applications.

Thuc Anh