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Many students in Vietnam complain that they learn little more than how to clean offices and make tea during their probation with companies.

Waste

After graduating from a university in HCM City with an economics degree, Nguyen Quoc Hoang was taken on by a subsidiary of major corporation.

Many students complain that they learn little more than how to clean offices and make tea during their probation with companies.

On the first day, he was asked to make the tea, clean the office, empty the rubbish and look after the company’s vehicles. The most interesting job was photocopying documents. Some staff members of the company asked him to drive them to meet their customers and he had to wait for hours.

“After the probation period, I knew how to make a cup of tea and received a certificate ranking me as ‘excellent’ although I didn’t do anything related to my degree,” Hoang said.

Phan Hong Hoa, a college student, complained that since she started probation she was instructed to replace the work done by a cleaner. Everyone at the office asked her to do odd jobs for them such as buying food at noon, fruits or other snacks. Many of them even forgot to pay her for their purchases.

“I really wanted to stop the probation at the company, however, I was afraid of affecting my certificate, so I tried to finish the three-month period,” she said.

Enterprises lack enthusiasm, students remain passive

According to Dr. Le Tan Buu, Head of Commerce, Tourism and Marketing Faculty under the Economics University of HCM City, many students just regarded the three monthprobationary period as a time for them to relax, particularly those who had no real work experience.

To avoid ending up wasting their time, students needed to be active to study the company where they will be on probation, he added.

Buu noted that students also needed to discuss with their managers about their expectations. If despite their best efforts they remained exploited then they should move to another firm.

Meanwhile, many apprenticeship programmes are boring and discourage students from being creative. Lots of businesses pay no attention to probationers as part of their human resource quality training activities. Companies remain unwilling to provide real work for students due to a fear that they would cause problems.

Huynh Song Hao, Deputy Director of Vietcombank’s branch in HCM City said the current probation course remained identical to how it was a decade ago.