VietNamNet Bridge – The university degree is believed to be an admission card for someone to make his way easier in the world. However, this is not true in all cases.

Struggling for 3 years to find a job

With 25.5 marks from the university entrance exams, seven years ago, Nguyen Bich Ngoc was glorified as the student who came first at the exams to the training major of an education university.

Ngoc fulfilled the dream of following the university education when she finished the school with the excellent grade degree.

However, Ngoc could not fulfill the dream of becoming a teacher: she stayed jobless for three years after the graduation.

These were very difficult days for Ngoc, a student from a poor family which has no close relations with high ranking officials of state agencies, to look for a job.

Ngoc planned to return to the home village to work as a teacher of a village school. However, the local education department refused Ngoc. She had to come back to Hanoi and applied for any jobs she thought would be suitable to her.

Ngoc understood that it was very difficult to seek a job in big cities. Therefore, she would accept any jobs she could find, from teacher, officer, clerk, telephone operator or saleswoman.

However, fortune did not smile on Ngoc. The agencies and enterprises were demanding with the candidates. Meanwhile, Ngoc did not have a good appearance enough and did not have experiences to get any jobs.

In order to exist in Hanoi, Ngoc earned money by working as a tutor, the job she took since the day she was a student. Ngoc earned VND2 million a month, which she spent on room rents, food, electricity, motorbike fuel and others.

After six months of staying jobless in Hanoi and being refused at tens of interviews, Ngoc decided to continue studying for the master degree. She hoped that a higher education level would help make it easier to get jobs.

Not only giving private tutoring classes, Ngoc did everything she could to earn money. She delivered ad leaflets on streets and worked as salesmen at supermarkets.

After three years long, Ngoc has luckily passed the exams to become a teacher at a secondary school in Hanoi. It is a great joy for Ngoc, even though she can only work under the fixed term labor contracts, while she is still not a permanent member listed in the school’s payroll.

Valedictorian gets VND3.5 million a month

La Van Ngo, the best graduate of the Hanoi Transport University with 8,77 points on average, also went a thorny path before it found a job with a modest income of VND3.5 million a month.

Ngo sent 10 CVs just within two months after the graduation to apply for a job. However, despite the excellent learning records, Ngo still could not find any opportunities. The employers said they need experienced candidates, while Ngo was just a new school graduate.

To earn money to cover his basic needs, Ngo had to work as a private tutor, organized ad campaigns, delivered ad leaflets, worked as waiter just to earn VND1.5-2.5 million a month.

One month ago, Ngo and his friends worked as porters who had to carry furniture products from the ground to the floors of a multi-storey building. They had to work from 10 pm to 6 am of the next morning to earn just VND280,000 for each.

Ngo has got a job at a small company for VND3.5 million. He hopes the modest income would help him pay off debts.

Nguyen Hien