Career Guidance for Students: Starting at School
(Baonghean.vn) - Career guidance is important for students, especially for senior students. Currently, this is also a task that schools are interested in with the purpose of guiding students to choose a career that suits their abilities, economic conditions and passion.
Not proactive in choosing a career
3 years ago, when her son was entering the second semester of grade 11, Ms. Thanh Ha, a parent whose son was studying at Huynh Thuc Khang High School (Vinh City), was surprised when her son expressed his desire to study art. Ms. Ha was very worried and concerned because her family had a "tradition" of working in the banking industry and she wanted to orient her son to study economics.
It took some time to consult with many colleagues and other parents before Ms. Ha decided to let her son learn to draw as he liked. After more than 1 year of studying, at the end of grade 12, her son passed the entrance exam to the Faculty of Architecture - University of Construction and is now developing his abilities.
Recounting this story, Ms. Ha added: “Honestly, when I let my child learn to draw, I didn’t like it because compared to his classmates, he was quite different in the way he dressed and thought, and I was afraid that he would go astray. But in reality, if he could learn a subject that he loved, he would feel interested and his learning would be more effective.”
At this time of the 2023-2024 school year, although there is only a very short time left for 12th graders to start registering for university admission, many parents and students are still confused about how to choose the right school and career.
Talking about this, Mr. Tran Van Quynh (Hung Phuc ward - Vinh city) said: Although my child is a student at a specialized school, it seems that he does not have a full awareness of his future job. Children tend to choose professions that many people study or professions that their friends like so that they can study together for fun later.
Sharing about choosing a career today, at the consultation sessioncareer orientationFor Nghe An students, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tien Thao - Director of the Examination Center of Hanoi National University also said that the situation of students after graduation "working in the wrong field" is often due to the candidate choosing the wrong field from the beginning.
Students did not receive early career guidance, did not have adequate information before making a choice, or were influenced by other objective factors that led to the wrong choice. Choosing the right career from the beginning, in accordance with their interests, strengths, and dreams, will help them easily overcome obstacles in their university studies and have a higher success rate later on.
Career guidance from school
“I will study abroad in Australia and may not take the High School Graduation Exam at the end of June,” Tran Khanh Duy, a 12A1 student at Nghi Loc 4 High School, shared about his choice, when he has just over 3 months left to complete his high school program.
This male student also said that this was not a sudden decision, but that he had prepared for nearly a year after realizing that compared to many other students, his academic ability might not be suitable for the domestic program. Previously, he planned to study abroad in Australia under the general program. However, before Tet, he received information that the host country temporarily stopped enrolling Vietnamese students. Therefore, he switched to vocational study abroad and could both study and work.
Currently, Duy has completed the interview round and is waiting for the visa; in addition, he is also taking the opportunity to learn more English so that he will not be surprised when he goes to Australia.
Each semester, Nghi Loc 4 High School has about 500 students and of these, less than 40% of students enroll in university. Instead, they choose other paths such as vocational training, work or study abroad, but in fact, they go abroad to study and work.
This reality has occurred more and more in recent years and requires schools to do a very good job of career orientation for students.
The current career orientation of students in our school is quite different. Among them, only a few students are really capable and they go to university. For example, in my class this year, only 5/41 students registered for university. The rest of them have very practical choices to earn an income soon after graduation.
To help students orient their careers appropriately, we have started career guidance work since grade 10 and by grade 12, career guidance activities are organized more regularly.
During the implementation process, I found it advantageous that there is a lot of information available and students can easily search on the Internet. However, we also have to guide students to choose a career that is suitable for their abilities, interests and family circumstances.
Currently, some students in the class can earn money from technology applications and they may pursue this career. In addition, they like beauty and fashion careers because these are careers that can develop in the future.
Talking about career orientation to be “close” to students, teacher Vo Thi Thanh Tam - Vice Principal of Nghi Loc 4 High School said: “What career do you like?” is one of the first lessons in the career orientation program for 10th grade students.
Therefore, when implementing the lesson, we conducted a survey to understand the students' interests and aspirations, and from there, the teachers proposed a number of specific careers for the students' grade, helping students understand themselves and choose a career that is suitable for their grade, interests, and abilities.
In the following process, teachers will accompany students to help them define their career more clearly and by grade 12, they will no longer be confused. Currently, with the new general education program, career guidance will be clearer because right from the time of choosing subjects and blocks, students have chosen subjects close to their future careers.
Regarding career guidance for senior students, especially grade 12 students, this activity has been integrated by schools and teachers into extracurricular activities or right in class.
As a Biology teacher at Nam Dan 2 High School, teacher Hoang Thi Minh said: With the characteristics of my subject, many students have had difficulty choosing, because many of them think that students studying Biology, in group B, mainly only study Medicine.
But now I open up many new careers for students such as veterinary medicine, agriculture or biotechnology. Teachers themselves who want to orient students well must also research and update new knowledge and fields of study so as not to be "outdated".
In order to do a good job of career guidance, Dien Chau 3 High School has effectively implemented the program "Open Day" for many years. This year, 2024, the program was held on January 6 (Lunar calendar), the first day students returned to school with the participation of many former students of the school who are currently studying at universities, or working in many units across the country. In order to effectively implement the program, the Organizing Committee organized many consulting tables with many different fields and professions such as psychology, economics, pedagogy, journalism, language, and law.
Students participating in the program can go directly to each consulting table to listen to opinions from the school's alumni and give useful advice to help them make the right choice.
After the consultation program, the Alumni Association of the school also set up a separate page so that students in the school can regularly interact, exchange and consult. This is also a channel to connect and introduce jobs for students after graduation.
We find the career counseling program from “real people, real work” very effective and highly contagious.
Furthermore, the stories of our seniors will help motivate and inspire future generations to strive to realize their dreams and ambitions.
