Students need to be careful with the 5 million VND income trap

The above is the sharing of Prof. Dr. Chu Duc Trinh, Principal of the University of Technology (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) at the 2024 Job Fair, held in Hanoi on March 30.

The fair helps students learn about how the current labor market is changing. They have the opportunity to learn about the labor market to know what they lack and what they have, so that after graduation they can find a suitable career.

Students learn about job opportunities at the fair (Photo: M. Ha).

Dropped out of college to work as a showman

Professor Chu Duc Trinh said that in reality, many students go to school but want to quit and go to work, but after a while, they want to quit and go back to school.

According to this principal, at first students may find it attractive because they can earn money and have an income early, but be careful with the 5 million VND income trap because if they drop out of school to work before graduating, they will not have the opportunity to rise higher.

Explaining what the 5 million VND income trap is, Professor Trinh said that at first, students earn money when they go to work, but after a while, the job is not stable, they cannot get a higher salary, cannot rise to become a group leader. They can only be ordinary workers until they retire with an average salary of 5-7 million VND.

Meanwhile, if you study very well, have very good skills and graduate on time, you will have the opportunity to gradually advance in the future.

Prof. Dr. Chu Duc Trinh, Principal of University of Technology (Photo: M. Ha).

Sharing with PV Dan Tri , Mr. Pham Tuan Anh, representative of the recruitment technology platform Joboko, said that many students at top technology schools do not want to get a degree but go to work very early because many technology companies do not care much about degrees, and businesses evaluate actual working capacity at a time.

Statistics from this platform show that, usually in the economic sector, many students have found internship opportunities from the 2nd year, and have worked at businesses by the 3rd or 4th year. Meanwhile, students from lower-ranked schools may only start approaching jobs at businesses in the 3rd or 4th year by studying while working part-time or doing internships.

Ms. Dau Thanh Hoa, Head of Human Resources at LG R&D Vietnam, said that some undergraduate students also want to find job opportunities at this company, but the company's viewpoint is that they do not recruit students.

In her personal opinion, she believes that students can work part-time on weekends to earn extra income, but they should not drop out of school to work or work too much, as they will not have enough time to study. "If you only focus on doing one thing well, it will be better for you in the long run," said Ms. Hoa.

Mr. Pham Tuan Anh, representative of Joboko recruitment technology platform (Photo: M. Ha).

Don't think short term.

According to Professor Trinh, the graduation rate of the University of Technology is about 90%, so about 10% of them are not qualified to graduate for many reasons. Except for a very small number of very good students who drop out of school to join startups and open companies, many of them fall into the 5 million VND income trap.

The school principal said that, unlike decades ago, the domestic labor market now requires high quality to integrate into the world. If students drop out of school to work, especially in technical schools, they will miss out on the basic knowledge and skills they learned in school, and after graduation, it will be very difficult for them to do innovative work.

"For many years now, our school has had a very strong message to businesses: The school only sends students for internships, and does not participate in employment at all. Only after graduation will students receive jobs at businesses, which is sustainable for both sides.

If it is too difficult, you can share with your family and school to overcome it, but spending 6-7 hours a day working part-time is really unstable. You should not use the current difficulties to invest in part-time work, that is a short-term calculation," said Professor Trinh.

Students learn about human resources and employment (Photo: M. Ha).

With the same perspective, Mr. Tuan Anh supports students to approach the office environment early to understand the professional process, see what the labor market needs, thereby being able to adjust their learning methods, and get acquainted early with new technologies that the school has not yet trained.

However, as students, you need to focus and spend more time studying, instead of dropping out of school halfway to work to earn money - especially students with good academic performance.

"Enterprises can use groups of highly capable students very early in some jobs, but those who have not yet completed their skills and professional knowledge will sometimes create future consequences for their own personal development path and for the enterprise, which greatly limits their ability to go further in the future.

So, while studying, students should only work to get familiar with the environment and some jobs so that after graduation they can meet and change their study direction.

Studying is always the top priority for us to cultivate core professional skills to use after graduation. If students do not complete the training program, after 5 years, their working capacity may not be as good as that of students who have completed the full training program," Mr. Tuan Anh affirmed.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/sinh-vien-can-can-trong-voi-bay-thu-nhap-5-trieu-dong-20240330132157776.htm