Many certificates" are no longer an advantage
Ms. Doan Thu Ha, 30 years old, is currently an administrative - human resources staff of an education group in Ha Dong ward (Hanoi). Ms. Ha said that she really regrets that for 4 years, from her 3rd year of university until she started working for 2 years, she spent a lot of time and money to "collect" certificates related to foreign languages and office informatics. Even, at one point, Ms. Ha studied and worked and spent most of her income conquering milestones in foreign language proficiency.
I can't imagine a working day for a corporation specializing in education, in which the "blood bone" is foreign languages, but the certificates and skills I have focused on pursuing for the past few years are really not very meaningful for my current job, and I cannot apply much of what I have learned to work," Ms. Ha said.
Ms. Dinh Thu Hien - Director of Alee Innovation Joint Stock Company (Lang ward, Hanoi) said that for a long time, the common psychology of students and young workers is that the more certificates, the easier it is to find a job. Short-term courses on soft skills, foreign languages, informatics, management... have flourished, attracting a large number of learners. However, the reality of recruitment shows that certificates are only valuable when they accurately reflect actual abilities.
We used to have many candidates with a "collection" of certificates, but there was a shortage of candidates who could work immediately. Many young workers, after spending tens of millions of dong to study in many different courses, still struggled to find jobs or were only accepted into positions that were not in their expertise and had low incomes," Ms. Hien said.
According to Ms. Hien, the current situation and new demands of the labor market have "awakened" many workers, helping them realize that chasing the learning movement does not help increase personal value, and even makes them lose direction in building core competencies.
“Faced with the strong screening signals of the labor market, a part of students and young workers have proactively re-selected the path of learning. Instead of learning scatteredly, they focus on one or a few in-depth skills, associated with clear career orientation. Instead of spending money on many certificates, learners switch to investing in professional training courses, practical projects or learning directly from the working environment. This approach helps them accumulate practical experience, shorten the time to adapt when joining a business” - according to Ms. Hien.
The labor market requires "real capacity
Mr. Be Ngoc Anh - Director of TPH Construction & Industry Co., Ltd. (Vinh Tuy ward, Hanoi) said that most businesses today prioritize candidates who can work independently, quickly integrate and create value. Especially, in the context that businesses have to streamline their apparatus and optimize costs, they no longer have much room to retrain from scratch. Therefore, workers who want to have an advantage are forced to equip themselves with in-depth skills, ready to meet the job.
This also explains why many businesses appreciate the ability shown through products, projects, and practical experiences, rather than the number of certificates on the application. The trend of in-depth learning brings many positive signals but also sets requirements for early and correct career orientation. If you choose the wrong skills or pursue a market field that is no longer needed, learners still risk wasting time and effort," Mr. Ngoc Anh affirmed.
With the role of a unit connecting labor supply and demand, Mr. Vu Quang Thanh - Deputy Director of Hanoi Employment Service Center said that in the current period, providing labor market information and forecasting human resource needs is very important because when students and young workers have full access to information, they will have a basis to choose skills to invest in, avoiding learning based on feelings or short-term trends.
In addition, training institutions also need to improve the quality of programs, reduce the situation of "sale of certificates", increase practice time, and connect businesses so that learners understand the job requirements right from when they are in school.
The fact that students and young workers proactively give up the psychology of chasing trend certificates, focusing on improving in-depth skills is a positive signal for the labor market. This is not only a change in learning methods, but also a maturity in career thinking. In the context of a volatile labor market, the value of workers lies in their real ability, not in the number of certificates. Studying correctly, learning correctly, and learning deeply enough will help young workers avoid wasting personal resources, improve competitiveness and be more proactive on the career path," Mr. Thanh said.
