Many young people do not understand and "position" themselves when choosing a career.

Sharing with TG&VN Newspaper, Dr. Cu Van Trung, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Educational Consulting and Training Joint Stock Company, said that many young people have not yet positioned themselves and do not truly understand their own abilities when pursuing a certain field of study.

Dr. Cu Van Trung believes that many young people do not understand and 'position' themselves when choosing a career. (Photo: NCVV)

Many young people have not "positioned" themselves

According to you, what are the problems students often encounter in their career choices?

When young, it is difficult for them to choose the right career for themselves right away. This problem is understood as "age comes with awareness", growth and maturity must go with the years. It is difficult to expect young people to choose a career without mistakes, some people even have to go through several jobs before finding the right one.

Through my work and interactions with young people, I see that many people choose their career based on the market, their parents’ preferences, their temporary feelings, or the popularity of the industry. Some people follow the trend of a popular, hot, or newly opened field of study. Some people listen to their parents’ advice to become a teacher, nurse, pharmacist, so they study pedagogy, medicine, etc. Some people can study any field, as long as they are students of a major university.

That is, they have not positioned themselves, have not truly understood their own abilities when pursuing a certain field of study. This leads to long-term mistakes, waste of resources, initial excitement is quickly replaced by boredom and neglect. As a result, a group of young people study to finish school, but when they graduate, it is difficult to find a good job because they are not trained in the profession that they want and thirst for knowledge.

In the current context of university psychology and the heavy emphasis on degrees, what should we pay attention to in career orientation, sir?

In my opinion, the mentality of preferring degrees will persist for a long time, still as heavy as a “golden hoop” that is always present in the minds of many generations. The job of young people in the future is to gradually loosen that circle of prejudice, to create conditions for young people to change direction and follow many different paths, professions, and fields.

In fact, the mentality of being obsessed with degrees, wanting their children to go to university and finding every way, advising them in every way, investing no small amount of money in studying and training for their children to get into university has caused many talents to be stunted. Many students have talent, ability, and strength in a field and can become the elite, the pinnacle of a certain profession, but if they are not properly directed and oriented to a career, the possibility of success is not high. They may just be amateurs, unprofessional, or can only be "mediocre" in the career field oriented by their parents and find it difficult to shine on the path to establishing themselves and their careers.

"I have only one piece of advice for young people: choosing a career must truly come from freedom of thought, independence in action and self-respect in life."

With the great efforts of the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs over the years, that situation has had many positive changes. Society has gradually promoted people with skills and the ability to work practically and proficiently, more competently than those with many degrees but are slow, clumsy and academic and bookish.

Of course, to reduce the disease of achievement, it is necessary to continue to propagate and liberate the old thinking to the majority of people in society, and to focus on spreading this issue to teachers in secondary and high schools across the country. Teachers are the ones who clearly understand the importance of strengths and weaknesses in each student as well as the level and capacity of the students they are in charge of, thereby advising them in choosing a career.

In my opinion, teachers are like inspirational messengers, fanning the flames of aspiration for the career dreams that students desire. At the same time, it is the students themselves who will contribute to the opposite impact, shaking and changing the perceptions and prejudices of many parents about the current mindset of adoring degrees.

Changing perceptions of achievement disease

Universities are springing up like mushrooms after the rain, the quality is "mixed", if you do not have enough qualifications to enter good quality, long-standing prestigious universities, you should study at vocational schools. However, it seems that the disease of degree worship has not decreased and this has a significant impact on the career choices of young people today?

In our country, there is no shortage of sayings such as “first is scholar, second is farmer, one person becomes an official, the whole family benefits; men read books and recite poems, study hard to wait for great exams, first is to be proud, then is to show off” (glory)… Thus, Vietnamese people highly value the role of educated people, teachers.

Over the past 35 years, the professions in society have returned to their true value. The issue of profession has helped us perceive more clearly in the overall spectrum of the country's socio -economic background. Nowadays, everything is easier than before, with many opportunities for workers to choose from. That said, changing a habit, a way of thinking of us Vietnamese people needs time.

The disease of being obsessed with degrees and formalities still exists. Therefore, we need a community to speak up and make efforts to awaken the majority so that the problem of vocational training and the mindset of being obsessed with degrees will be overcome in the future.

Even I myself have been asked many times about when I will become an Associate Professor, a Professor? The story of "shopping" and "decorating" oneself with some label seems to be a habit of thinking of many people. They think that adding many academic titles and degrees will multiply one's value.

"When young people reach the capacity to become master craftsmen, golden hands, the essence of the profession, beauty comes from labor, from work. That beauty has the power to attract and give confidence to others. The products of a highly skilled person made by them are very valuable and that value can be sold in a very competitive market."

In reality, this is not the case, because currently, some individuals with high degrees are not commensurate with the degrees they have. The press has also mentioned a lot about the large number of PhDs and Masters in our country, but the quality of research projects and scientific topics with high applicability is still... absent.

If a young person came to you for advice because they were still wondering whether to choose vocational training, what would you say?

I think it is important to know the young person’s motivation for wanting to learn a profession, whether it is due to family economic pressure or poor academic performance that forces them to change careers or because they like a certain career. And whether the young person has researched that career, where to find out, who told them… All of these things show the seriousness or superficiality of a young person who is wondering about choosing a career.

I have only one piece of advice for young people: choosing a profession must truly come from freedom of thought, independence in action and self-respect in life. Think about whether the decision to learn a profession depends on others or yourself, whether you like it or not. If you like it, you decide. If you find it suitable for your ability, level, and strengths, then boldly follow it.

Independent people will grow up and overcome many difficulties and incidents in life. Self-respect comes naturally because they dare to make decisions and take responsibility. They can pursue to the end to protect their passionate career. They are people with identity, quality and will attract others later when working in the profession.

Looking outside, we can see that in Germany and England, farmers there are very confident about the sausages they make, the radishes they pickle… They do not hesitate or feel ashamed about manual labor or cooking. That is, when young people reach the capacity to become master craftsmen, golden hands, the essence of the profession, beauty comes from labor, from work. That beauty has the power to attract and give confidence to the other person. The products of a skilled person made by them are very valuable and that value can be sold in a very competitive market.

Thank you!

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ts-cu-van-trung-khong-it-nguoi-tre-chua-thau-hieu-dinh-vi-duoc-ban-than-khi-chon-nghe-237583.html