Dual Degree: Opportunities and Challenges

The dual degree program in Tourism Studies has been implemented at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities since the 2009-2010 academic year, and has so far enrolled and trained 3 courses. To meet the information needs of learners with this new training program, on September 22, the Faculty of Tourism Studies organized a seminar on “Tourism and Travel Services Management: Dual Degree Program and Career Opportunities” to help students have a more thorough view of the actual career related to the Tourism and Travel Services Management industry as well as pursuing a dual degree program.Although there were not many students participating, the questions posed to the guests were very specific and close to the actual study and work of students with a double degree in International Tourism and Tourism. This shows the real considerations and concerns of the students themselves with this new learning opportunity. In addition, the guests of the discussion were all people holding senior management positions at large hotels and travel companies, and successful alumni working in the tourism industry, so their answers and experience sharing attracted a lot of attention from the students.

Dual Degree: Many Benefits

MSc. Nguyen Thu Thuy - Vice Head of the Faculty of Tourism - said: 2nd and 3rd year foreign language students can study for a double degree in QTDVDL&LH in about 2 more years and then graduate with two university degrees. Currently, foreign language students already have very good foreign language skills but their career orientation is not clear. Studying for a double degree will help expand future career opportunities. Currently, the training program of the Faculty has 2 majors: Hotel and Travel - Guide. Answering the question of Nguyen Thi Diu - K55 student majoring in Chinese at the University of Foreign Languages ​​about the ability to combine Chinese expertise with tourism management work, Ms. Dinh Nguyet Anh - General Director of Viettraltour - said: travel companies currently prioritize using English, but Chinese is also an advantage in services for Chinese customers. In particular, Chinese tourists currently account for the largest number of tours to Vietnam. For foreign language students majoring in Japanese, there are also many advantages when studying for a dual degree in QTDVDL&LH - MSc. Nguyen Thu Thuy affirmed. The Faculty of Tourism Studies has a cooperative relationship with Rikkyo University and students who know Japanese will be given priority to participate in courses and internships associated with this University. In addition, the Faculty also teaches specialized English to ensure that students have sufficient English proficiency for work. In the future, the Event Management major will have a subject taught entirely in English. Huu Chau - a German student currently studying a dual degree in the 3rd course - is concerned about whether it will be difficult to retake the dual degree with the next course if he retains his results. In response to this concern, Mr. Pham Van Hue (specialist in charge of dual degrees at the Training Department) provided information: you can completely study the remaining subjects with the next course or be arranged to study the subjects with regular students of the Faculty of Tourism so as to ensure the learning progress of the program. Regarding internships during the study period, Ms. Le Thi Hanh (Head of Human Resources Department of Crowne 5-star hotel) said: students of the Faculty are welcomed to register to become seasonal employees at Crowne 5-star hotel, to attend a training session on basic principles of work conduct before officially working. Ms. Hanh also provided the number of 33 students of the Faculty who have interned in the past 2 years at Crowne with a minimum duration of one and a half months. Similarly, the General Director of Viettraltour also affirmed that the company regularly accepts students to intern or work as collaborators in many positions. However, to become collaborators, students must have certain foreign language and communication skills, love the job and pass the test set by the company.

Choose knowledge or experience?

One of the issues that many students were concerned about at the discussion was that instead of studying a double degree program, students of any major after graduation can study a tour guide certificate to be recognized for their professional ability and get a job. So when recruiting, do tourism service companies prioritize knowledge, degrees or work experience? This concern received many sincere shares from the guests when they agreed: depending on the level of love for the job, whether they intend to stick with this job for a long time, each student has their own choice. Ms. Dinh Nguyet Anh said: “We care about both. If you have experience, that's great, but having experience alone doesn't accumulate enough necessary knowledge to follow a long-term path and have a promotion in the job. Pay attention to studying to have a certain knowledge in a major you need to be interested in." Mr. Doan Van Tuan, a former student of K54 Tourism Studies, currently the Deputy Director of a tourism company, shared: there is still the practice of employing workers with a bachelor's degree in Tourism Studies and those who only have a tour guide certificate. However, hiring workers with a vocational certificate is usually only during the peak tourism seasons of the year. Tourism companies always value young people who are equipped with basic vocational knowledge, that is, those who have a "root" will be more committed to the company and the chosen profession for a long time. Mr. Tuan also gave advice: "If you decide to work in tourism for a long time, you must have basic knowledge, so that you can develop any direction in your career later". Agreeing with the views of the two guests above, MSc. Nguyen Thu Thuy gave an example: students of the Faculty of Tourism who studied in previous years before working after graduating are often "complained" by tourism companies that they are a bit weak in foreign language skills. But after only a few years of working, you have grown and made remarkable progress, advancing very quickly in many positions. That is because you are equipped with very good background knowledge, which helps you easily catch up with practical work, helping to promote creativity, flexibility and good career orientation. Leaders of tourism companies always like candidates who are equipped with good basic knowledge, because that is the inner strength for you to go further in your career. In fact, for those who are passionate about the profession, have efforts to study and practice for the profession, the reward for them is very worthy, which is good treatment, additional training abroad, being challenged in many different positions to enrich their career experience. The guests also revealed quite attractive salaries for management positions in the industry. Accordingly, in the hotel management industry, the position of department head has an income of 1,500-3,000 USD/month. In management positions in the tourism industry, salaries range from 1,000-1,500 USD, leadership positions can be up to 2,000-2,500 USD. In particular, salaries can be up to 7,000 USD in management positions in high-end hotels and resorts. The income of tour guides, especially international tour guides, is very attractive, up to several thousand USD depending on the ability of each individual. New opportunities for students of Social Sciences and Humanities At the seminar, a lot of new information about dual degree enrollment in QTDVDL&LH this year was also shared. That is the expansion of the enrollment target, if previously only students of the University of Foreign Languages, VNU, now students of training majors in the University of Social Sciences and Humanities also have the opportunity to register for dual degrees to increase their career opportunities. In addition to the two existing majors, next year it is expected to have additional dual degree training in Event Management. Studying a double degree in two majors has many advantages for students of the University when the number of credits exempted for the second degree is quite a lot. Currently, the credit training method and the common knowledge block M1, M2 in the training program of the majors have helped students save maximum time and effort, while making the choice of classes and subjects to study for a second degree simpler and more convenient. However, the teachers also advised that those who want to study a double degree must have a very high determination, because it comes with being busy, taking more time, and investing more effort than students studying in the regular system many times, not to mention the tuition fee for both majors will be quite high... To end the discussion, ThS. Nguyen Thu Thuy shared her experience after a period of teaching students in this program: “There seems to be a difference in learning mindset between dual degree students and regular students. Dual degree students, perhaps because they have determined their learning goals in advance, plus having to spend a large amount of money for a dual degree, study with a much more positive, diligent and proactive attitude. They have clear demands on their lecturers in class, and are very interested in proactively learning about professional practices while still in school. And the scores of the upcoming dual degree course 1 have proven that, as the overall learning results of the course are very good with a high rate of excellent degrees.”