WEBINAR #6: “Prepare your luggage – get ready for a new life” was successfully held, concluding a series of extremely meaningful activities for the community.

“What do young people need to prepare when entering the labor market?”, “What skills are highly valued in the 21st century?”, “What is the secret to conquering employers?”... and many other questions were answered by Speaker - Dr. Nguyen Ba Dat, Head of the Department of Counseling Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities in the Webinar.

At the beginning of the program, Dr. Nguyen Ba Dat shared with the young people about the transition of adulthood. We all go through different age stages, associated with studying, working, career development, etc. Among them, the age of 18-23 is an important transition period, when we have many thoughts about ourselves and our lives, about the future path and how to organize our lives. From there, Dr. Nguyen Ba Dat brought interesting knowledge, information and useful skills to help young people develop themselves and become more mature in their careers.

Career and employment?

The speaker helped the audience distinguish between the two concepts of "Profession" and "Employment". A profession is a field of labor, through training individuals with knowledge and skills to create material or spiritual products to meet the needs of society. Employment is an activity that generates income that is not prohibited by law (according to Article 13 of the Labor Code). In particular, a person learns a profession, but can do many different jobs, which may be more or less related to the profession studied. For example, a Psychology profession can work in different areas of the labor market such as: commerce, education, human resource development, health care, social welfare, etc.

So what do young people need to equip themselves with when entering the labor market?

To answer this, we need to answer a few questions:

- What did you study?

- What can you do with the degree you have received?

- What is your purpose in entering the labor market?

- What path will you take to develop your career?

- Where will you look for your job?

- What abilities, qualities, skills do you have and what do you lack?

Besides, before we officially enter the labor market, it is indispensable to equip ourselves with knowledge, skills and attitudes related to the profession we are trained in. However, with the rapid development of science, technology and the Internet, workers always need to renew themselves with the capacity and skills to be able to work in the digital space in the ever-changing society of the 21st century.

Digital Competency and Vocational Skills in the 21st Century.

Dr. Nguyen Ba Dat shared with the audience a very new study on digital competency groups. Accordingly, there are up to 7 competency groups: Operating equipment and software; Exploiting information and data; Communication and cooperation in digital environment; Digital safety and security; Creating digital content; Learning and developing digital skills; Using digital competencies for career.

Along with that are 04 vocational skills that are highly valued in the 21st century according to the analysis of Joseph A.Riosab and colleagues (2020): Oral communication, Written communication; Collaboration ability and Problem solving skills.

So how to impress the employer?

The speaker believes that to conquer the employer, it is necessary to ensure 2 factors: preparation for the interview and demeanor when answering questions. To best prepare for the interview, candidates should first carefully research the frequently asked questions as well as information about the organization/business they want to apply for. Next, candidates need to determine their own value (this is very important for salary negotiations). Dr. Nguyen Ba Dat also gave useful suggestions to help young people have a good demeanor to score points in the eyes of the employer, which is: prepare suitable clothes, always be confident in yourself and don't forget to show your own uniqueness!

At the end of the sharing session, Dr. Nguyen Ba Dat expressed his views on the meaning of work and career. For each individual, work also has its own separate meaning. However, in general, work brings income to help us maintain our lives, connect with society, relieve emotions, consolidate and learn new knowledge and skills. When studying and developing ourselves in a profession, we will also have better job opportunities, increase income and social connection, demonstrate personal identity and gain recognition, thereby increasing the feeling of happiness.

Closing his sharing, the speaker gave advice on adapting to work and career. In this regard, the speaker especially emphasized the time factor. “We need to mature, mature to produce essence, essence to produce color” - we need to have a long enough working time for professional skills to be perfected, labor endurance to be tested, from which we can achieve sharpness in work and reap sweet results.

Through the profound yet intimate and simple sharing and the enthusiastic responses of the Speaker - Dr. Nguyen Ba Dat to the questions sent in, Webinar #6 helped many young people attending to equip themselves with more useful knowledge and skills to be more confident in their journey of learning and working.

Webinar #6: “Preparing your luggage - Ready for a new life” has also concluded the first phase of the Webinar series “Psychological and social support for the community” organized by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Social Sciences (CIRSS). With the support of the audience, the Center is currently planning for more diverse and rich service activities in the coming time to continue to realize the goal of contributing positive values ​​and improving mental health for the community.