Experience required
Graduated from Information Technology in 2023, but up to now, Mr. Nguyen Van Thai (Can Tho City) has not found a suitable job despite submitting many applications. Mr. Thai said that he chose to specialize in hardware, a position that requires increasingly high expertise and foreign language proficiency. Meanwhile, in Can Tho City in particular and the Mekong Delta region in general, there is quite a low demand for IT recruitment, making him feel like "the path is narrow".
“When I entered university, this industry was very hot with high salaries, but after graduating, I realized how fierce it was. Businesses often require 1-3 years of experience, while I didn’t have the chance to try it, so it was very difficult. At the moment, in addition to English, many companies require Japanese, I am also studying more but I see the opportunity is quite remote,” Mr. Thai shared.
Talking about the reason for not going to Ho Chi Minh City to work, Mr. Thai said that he felt that the market in Can Tho had potential, but on the other hand, the cost of living and traveling in big cities was expensive, so he did not dare to take the risk.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Bang (born in 1999, An Giang province) returned to his hometown in Tri Ton district to work to support his family after a long time of not being able to find an IT job in Can Tho. Mr. Bang said: “At first, I chose the IT industry because of the good salary and thought it would be an opportunity to improve my family's life. I felt very discouraged by submitting one application after another without anyone contacting me.”
Forced to adapt
According to Mr. Nguyen Nam Cuong (Ca Mau province) - an IT employee at a company in Can Tho, in the same year university class he attended, only half of the students majored in IT.
In addition, compared to the end of 2022 when 500 IT staff were needed, his business now only needs 400 workers. This does not include 1/3 of them who are new graduates and have never participated in any project.
Mr. Cuong said that most students are receiving fixed salaries and waiting for projects to try their hand at. Some people are able to keep up and some have quit their jobs to switch to other fields, soon having higher salaries to take care of their lives. IT is a highly competitive industry, this will be the first challenge that workers in the industry must overcome.
“My job is stable now and my position may require me to know one of three languages: English, Japanese, or Chinese. Therefore, I think that those who choose to work in IT (especially in the Mekong Delta region when the market is not yet developed) have no choice but to adapt. Workers must consider carefully, continuously study to improve their expertise, do not expect too much from salary but should focus on gaining experience through each job, especially do not be afraid of collision anymore” - Mr. Cuong advised.
According to Mr. Cuong, any industry finds it difficult to overcome the challenge of a “wave” of layoffs in a difficult economic context. However, at a time when businesses are reducing their needs and recruitment budgets, IT staff will also face the problem of taking on multiple responsibilities. Perhaps, this will be a stepping stone for workers in this field to learn perseverance, aiming for a stable salary and improving their lives.
