During the seminar’s first day (28/8), the students had an opportunity to hear about the experiences of ms. Sam Hằng Trần, mr. Trần Tâm Phương and mr. Thành Vinh - Ams alumni with an intimate knowledge and experience in career choice and development. The seminar was conducted about two themes: Know yourself and know your job.

Three counsellors of the seminar’s first day

Issues such as salary, a company's reputation, that most students are only concerned with when choosing a career are just the tip of the iceberg, ms. Sam Hằng Trần emphasized, while those that truly need our attention are our own interests and personalities. Before thinking about which career to choose, one must know oneself and know the career landscape alongside its effects on one's lives to pick a suitable profession for you. Besides, she said that not all professions are completely fitting for anyone; rather, it is only suitable at a given point of time alongside many other relevant external factors, so deep reflection and insight into one's own capabilities are necessary for future career development. 

Coming to the theme "Know yourself", participants got to know the three counsellors’ unique experience in their own journeys from school to the big world outside. Some had encountered obstacles in the pursuit of their souls’ inner artistic paths, some had found success in their passions since the very beginning. Best of all, following the success story of mr. Trần Tâm Phương, students could empathize and relate to him, along with a brand new perspective on the problem of “competition in a learning environment for the gifted”, as he himself thrived thanks to this competitiveness but felt sensitive being confronted with it, leaving him with a lesson: the feeling of being “sent to coventry” is a chance to focus on personal happiness. 

Coming to the theme "Know your job", students were provided with key insights into the world of work from the three counsellors' personal hands-on experiences and lifelong valuable lessons. According to mr. Thành Vinh, in work, what matters is not what we do but how well we do, accentuating the fact that the youths must always strive to show their abilities and create quality products for the market. Not only so, participants have "bagged" the most important consideration when choosing a work environment: working with someone with whom we are comfortable sharing our ideas and stories. 

Continuing with the success of the previous day, the second day of the seminar (29/8) successfully completed the mission of providing knowledge on the theme of career counselling to the Amsers. This time, the seminar was joined by ms. Trần Thị Hồng Nhi, ms. Nguyễn Thu Hà and mr. Chử Đức Hoàng with their own experiences on the twists and turns of a career path.

Three counsellors with their useful knowledge during the seminar’s second day

Onwards with the theme "know yourself", during this seminar, participants were acquainted with the 4 mistakes in choosing their careers and professions: not knowing yourself, not knowing the job, not knowing the profession, and not knowing the labor market. With the aim of providing assisting tools in finding the right one, ms. Nhi introduced to everyone "Holland Codes" (a theory of career choice developed by psychologist John L. Holland). Everyone could do a short test to find out 3 out of 6  career types suitable for them and then select a fitting career with traits in those 3 types. If the results show more than 3 career types, the three counsellors further explained, it means that they have not had a lot of experience and a good grasp of their own strengths. The only way to improve on this would be to gain experience, starting from what you like to getting involved in every available opportunity where you can express your abilities. 

“Holland Codes” were introduced to everyone as a helping tool in choosing the right careers and professions

Similar to the previous event, participants were also told about the hardship faced by the counsellors over many years of working in their jobs. Everyone got to hear ms. Hà's perilous journey from a Natural Science Specialized student to a college graduate with experiences in all study-related creative arts activities and finally to a social worker at a television station. Perhaps, her story could well be the most iconic example for the aforementioned advice about involvement. Unlike ms. Hà, mr. Hoàng's career path had already been set in stone since he discovered his abilities in natural sciences during his time at high school; from then, he used his strengths to get admitted into Hanoi University of Science & Technology, slowly expanding his scope of career to broaden his knowledge and open up more opportunities for himself. Lastly, ms. Hồng Nhi's story about pursuing a challenging degree unpopular in Vietnam inspired youngsters with such dreams to enter higher education in this major filled not only with novelty but potential as well. 

At the end of the seminar, the students all had an opportunity to raise relevant questions, which were all enthusiastically answered by the counsellors.

From their own unique first-hand experience, the success stories from these 6 counsellors served as fascinating missing pieces of the puzzle for students still undecided about their future career choices to be outfitted with helpful and relevant knowledge. The two-day journey "Amsers Gen Z Shaping the Future'' has ended with immensely valuable take-aways under fastened belts of not only Amsers but also other students struggling with this problem, so they can be confident in their future decisions. 

Reporter: Dieu Ly Chinese 2023

Image Source: Internet

Translator: Duc Lam English 2023