Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen: "Nearly 80% of students of the first course of Public Relations have found jobs"

Monday - February 20, 2017 22:44

The first 37 students of the Public Relations (PR) major at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, have successfully defended their graduation law course and are expected to graduate one semester early. In addition to the joy of the students when they officially enter the labor market, which is both stressful and attractive, the PR profession, we must also mention the joy and emotions of the teachers themselves when witnessing the sweet fruits of their hard work. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen - Head of the Department of Public Relations and Advertising, Faculty of Journalism and Communication, shared with us:

PGS.TS Nguyễn Thị Thanh Huyền: “Gần 80% sinh viên khoá I ngành Quan hệ công chúng đã có việc làm” — Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen: "Nearly 80% of students of the first course of Public Relations have found jobs"

I feel very happy and proud of the determination and sincere support of leaders, colleagues and students. We have built a training roadmap and envisioned this result many years ago, so we are not really surprised. As many people know, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication is the first formal research and training institution on QHCC in the North. Since 2001, we have published research and taught in this field. However, according to the regulations of Hanoi National University, we can only open a major when there are prerequisites that cannot be achieved overnight, such as: there must be at least one PhD in the right major to "take the lead" and cannot use people with similar or different expertise. To achieve that, the Faculty had to "go first and come last". While many other training institutions without experts could still quickly open a major to attract the attention of the labor market, it was not until 2010 that we were able to establish a major project and in 2013 were allowed to enroll the first class of the QHCC major after many persistent efforts to pass the examinations of the Science and Training Councils at all levels. Therefore, more than anyone else, we have been looking forward to welcoming you to the school every day, working three or four times harder, opening summer semesters without breaks to help 37/52 students of the first class to graduate early to welcome the very exciting recruitment season after Tet. In fact, up to 80% of students of the first class have jobs in their major at this time. Many students, even after their thesis defense date, still have to take on jobs in positions for which they have signed full-time contracts.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen - Head of Department of Public Relations and Advertising, Faculty of Journalism and Communication

- Although the QHCC major was only opened at the Faculty more than three years ago, it has always been one of the majors that has received a lot of attention in recent admission seasons. Could you please tell us about the outstanding orientations in training the QHCC major at the Faculty in comparison with other training institutions?

QHCC has been and is one of the most attractive majors in the field of social sciences and humanities, not only in Vietnam but also in the world. The number of QHCC specialists trained in our country in recent years is like a drop in the ocean in the recruitment market because it needs to meet the very high labor demand of all types of organizations, from state agencies to private, non-governmental organizations, businesses, schools, hospitals... According to our research, the trend in the next 10 years, the demand for human resources in this industry will continue to grow strongly, so graduates do not have to worry much about job opportunities. Regarding the training orientation of the Public Relations major in the Faculty, we will continue to adjust to further perfect the training program that we have built and implemented over the past 3 years in the direction of enhancing the knowledge and communication skills that employers have ordered such as: (i) writing, presenting ideas in multimedia forms, (ii) strategic planning based on research and scientific arguments, and (iii) enhancing interdisciplinary elective subjects (politics, environment, social management, tourism, etc.) so that students can immediately apply according to their inclinations in those fields. At the same time, we continue to promote the interdisciplinary nature between the Public Relations major and the Journalism major in the Faculty to increase the competitiveness of students in both majors after graduation. In addition, we will also consider building interdisciplinary programs with other faculties in the school to take advantage of the best Vietnamese resources in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities of the school in faculties such as Philosophy, History, Literature, Language, Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, Management Science, etc. We will also continue to implement training methods associated with professional practice by increasing the invitation of employers and experts to the faculty to teach, as well as organizing more field trips and internships for students to master the profession and train their mettle, love for the profession, and be ready to step into their careers right before graduation. The following batches of students will also be given the opportunity to graduate early like the first batch.

Graduation thesis defense ceremony of students of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication

- It is known that the training of the Public Administration sector focuses on enhancing students' practical professional capacity right from school. Could you please share about this issue?

The profession of QHCC is a highly practical and applied profession, so at the undergraduate level, we also focus more on practicality. Students always have to practice and discuss in most of the specialized courses/subjects. The output standards of the courses clearly state what students can do after finishing the course, as well as how to meet those output standards. The practice rate in the courses is at least 50%, some courses have this rate up to 80% such as writing, planning and implementing QHCC programs... For example, the final exam of the subjectEvent organizationis a real event planned by students, renting a location, investing in costs, inviting experts, media..., subjectPublic Relations Programsis a QHCC program implemented for a specific real client that fits their communication strategy, subjectWriting for Public RelationsIt can be a set of business profiles, both printed and online, for self-introduction presentations when the business participates in bidding... Even the theory subject requires students to discuss and present by finding typical cases in professional practice, then using theoretical foundations to analyze, explain and present to the class. Interactive learning is one of the highlights of every subject in the training program of the Public Administration major. It is very rare to see students sleepy, teachers reading and students copying in our classes. On the contrary, the classes are always lively and full of inspiration for discovery, expression and creativity for both teachers and students.

Public Relations students at their graduation thesis defense ceremony

- As Associate Professor shared, during the training process, not only do teachers provide students with basic knowledge about the field of study, but they also help them discover the true beauty of the field of public administration and arouse in them love and passion for the profession. How is this done?

Many students come to study this profession with very little knowledge about it. We cannot say that this profession is wonderful if it is not in fact so. There is a definition of public relations as follows: "Public relations is 90% doing it well and 10% talking about it". Fortunately, we have many good examples and stories to prove to students the beauty of this profession, especially in its scientific and creative nature, always ahead of the times and its warmth and winning people's hearts. I always keep in mind that a professional public relations practitioner, in addition to professional ability, must also have professional ethics, one of the manifestations of which is love and sincere contribution to the profession and colleagues. We always share this so that students can absorb it drop by drop, and each lesson incorporates a few ideas so that they do not feel dogmatic and can absorb it most naturally.

- The first course of the Faculty of Public Administration has successfully defended its graduation thesis. Could you give some initial assessments of the training products of the Faculty?

The most accurate assessment result is the satisfaction of employers, I cannot be subjective to speak for them. The road ahead is still long, we are extremely grateful to those who have supported and accompanied the teachers and students of the department, and also hope to continue to receive help from all sources so that more and more good QHCC professionals can participate in the labor market and help society develop.

- Can you share some advice with students who want to learn about and choose Public Relations to pursue at university, as well as with students majoring in Public Relations who are preparing to graduate this year?

The University of Social Sciences and Humanities is always the number 1 training institution in Vietnam in the fields of Social Sciences and Humanities. For those who are about to take the university entrance exam, if you find it suitable, confidently choose QHCC or any other major as the major you pursue for your own career, do not let it be a decision that others impose on you. For those who are about to graduate, always be confident in what you have been equipped with and trained during your university life, teachers and the school always follow you and expect you to return to share practical lessons and experiences with the students of the next class, as well as continue to conquer higher peaks on the path of learning.

- Thank you for sharing, Associate Professor.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen and students of the first course of Public Relations

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen - Head of Department of Public Relations and Advertising

Graduated with honors from the first class of the Faculty of Journalism, Hanoi National University (K36, 1995), Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen was retained in the faculty as a lecturer. As a pioneer in research and teaching of Public Relations (PR) in Vietnam, in 2001 she successfully defended her first Master's thesis on PR and began teaching this subject in the faculty's regular training program.
In 2010, she became the first Vietnamese PhD in Public Administration after 5 years of studying at Sogang University, Korea under the sponsorship of the Korean Government Scholarship Program.
In 2012, the project to open the Public Relations major that she wrote was approved and since 2013 she has directly managed this training program. This is the first training program in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities designed according to output standards at VNU. Ms. Huyen actively participates in research activities, designing training programs, compiling learning materials, teaching students and communication directors, and providing communication consulting for businesses.
In 2015, she was the Vietnam representative for the Asia Pacific Communication Monitor's research project. The results of this project put the current status and trends of Vietnam's public relations industry on the world communication research map for the first time and were highly appreciated by the professional community.
She is also the author of manyMany monographs, textbooks and articles published in domestic and foreign scientific journals. She was recognized as Associate Professor in 2014, when she turned 40 years old.