HCMC hosts career counseling for high school students

The career consultation fair ‘Right Job Choice – Bright Future’ was jointly held last weekend by the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Department of Education and Training, the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM), and HCMC Education Newspaper.

 

Students of Vo Thi Sau High School are asking questions in the career consultation fair
Students of Vo Thi Sau High School are asking questions in the career consultation fair

Closer look at personal preference

At the moment, most high school students are registering for the papers to be taken in the High School Graduation Examination, including the two combinations of Physics – Chemistry – Biology (natural sciences) and History – Geography – Civic Education (social sciences). Yet many of them are still indecisive as to which future career to select.

M.A Pham Doan Nguyen, Deputy Director of the Center for Admission and Communications under the HCMC University of Economics and Finance, affirmed that high school students should not choose highly-sought jobs just because of herd mentality. Instead, they should look into their own ability and preference. 

According to Truong Thi Thanh Hien, a 12th grade student from Vo Thi Sau High School, she and her friends often access fanpages of ex-university students to obtain necessary information about future career. However, this method seems quite subjective to some extent and not reliable. 

Careful consideration of multiple choices

Associate Professor Dr. Le Hieu Giang, Vice Principle of the HCMC University of Technology and Education, commented that unlike 20 years ago when the number of universities was low and their entrance exam became critical as well as stressful, students now have more chances thanks to the increase in the quantity of these higher education institutes. 

Also, to keep up with the fast development pace of the society, many universities organize interdisciplinary programs, such as a combination between mechanics and economics or between electronics and healthcare. This, in turn, creates more job opportunities for graduates.

However, university students themselves are sometimes not consistent with their own learning choice and change their major in the second or third year, leading to a shameful waste of time and money. It is, therefore, advisable that high school students should seriously consider all possible choices and establish attainable goals for their own future.

Since nowadays many Vietnamese universities organize scholastic ability assessment tests, students are also suggested to use Google search engine to make themselves familiar with it via old tests of the previous years. 

Needless to say, mastering English language is still one of the basic requirements of university admission. 

At present, several universities have programs suitable for the English levels of their students like international programs recognized by many international education organizations, high-quality programs with more focus on English language learning, and the traditional programs acknowledged by the Ministry of Education and Training.

Facing too many choices, it is necessary that high school students identify their ability and goals in advance in order to make the most rational decision. “In addition, students should not pay too much attention on entering any university at all cost just to please others”, said psychologist expert Vu Thien Toan.

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