VietNamNet Bridge – Fifty-five per cent of students wish to work for foreign-invested companies, making these institutions the top choice of working environment for graduates, according to an annual survey conducted by human resource consulting firm, Nhan Viet Management Group.

The survey, done in August and November, covered more than 900 students of IT, business administration, financial and banking, electrical and electronics engineering, foreign trade, foreign languages and several others disciplines in Ha Noi and HCM City.

Results of the survey, released last week, also show that the preferred foreign companies maintain programmes to help boost student talents.

Students in HCM City showed the higher preference for employment with foreign-invested companies (65 per cent), compared to 44 per cent in Ha Noi.

The State-owned sector ranked second in the choice of employers, with 35 per cent of respondents in the capital preferring public sector jobs, compared to nine per cent in HCM City. The combined rate stood at 20 per cent.

Sharing the second position were private and limited companies with 20 per cent, 17 per cent in Ha Noi and 24 per cent in HCM City.

Family companies and non-governmental organisations were the choice of a meagre 2 per cent of the respondents.

Up to 77 per cent said they would start their career as an employee, with no respondent revealing plans to start their own businesses. Three per cent wanted to continue studies while 18 per cent were not clear about their first jobs.

Jobs in administration and human resources were the most favoured by 27 per cent of respondents (35 per cent in Ha Noi and 21 per cent in HCM City), followed by marketing with 22 per cent (17 and 27 per cent respectively in the two cities).

The financial/banking sector came in the third position with 19 per cent (15 and 25 per cent respectively)

Around 57 per cent (43 and 68 per cent respectively in Ha Noi and HCM City) were willing to begin their career at the lowest position in a company if the job matched their qualifications and they liked it.

Meanwhile, 32 per cent (41 per cent in Ha Noi and 25 per cent in HCM City) accepted to start their career at lower or middle level management positions in jobs that they liked and academically qualified for.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News