TOPIC: Job problems of fresh graduates from the english department of Ho chi Minh

University of Education

Introduction
Unemployment is a deplorable issue that can affect any country on the planet. Even if
a person is currently employed, he or she may become unemployed at some point
(Razak et al., 2014). If the unemployment problem is not solved, unemployed
graduates' contribution to the problems of the nation, society, and even the country
will undoubtedly grow. Furthermore, if the country's unemployment rate remains high,
riots and insurgencies will erupt throughout the country, casting doubt on the country's
trading prospects. This dangerous problem will cause a significant loss to the nation
(Hanapi and Nordin, 2014). Nonetheless, the population is growing faster than the
market's available job opportunities (Wardhana et al., 2013). As a result, it can be
regarded as a source of unemployment.
When labor supply exceeds market demand during an economic downturn, a high
percentage of the workforce is unemployed. Many other factors within a country, such
as company downsizing, mergers and acquisitions, technological changes, foreign
competition, and job outsourcing to other countries, can affect the unemployment rate
(Wardhana et al., 2013).
According to a UNESCO (2012) study, global unemployment rose to 6.2% in 2010,
up from 5.6% in 2007. As a result, it has contributed to a highly competitive
environment for young people between the ages of 15 and 24. In Vietnam, the
unemployment problem has been a very visible phenomenon.
In Vietnam, In the first nine months of 2022, there were nearly 1.08 million
unemployed people of working age, a decrease of 251 thousand people compared to
the same period last year. The unemployment rate of people of working age during
that period was 2.35%, down 0.64 percentage points from the same period last year.
The number of unemployed young people aged 15-24 years old in the 9 months of
2022 is about 413.0 thousand people, accounting for 37.5% of the total number of
unemployed people aged 15 years and older. The youth unemployment rate for that
period was 7.86%, down 0.04 percentage points from the same period a year ago. The
youth unemployment rate in urban areas was 9.65%, down 1.14 percentage points over
the same period last year.
According to statistics of the Ministry of Education and Training, about 63% of
university-college graduates have no job, 37% of students have jobs, but most of them
are out of work or have to be retrained. That shows the difficulty in job search of new
graduates. Many graduate students, even students with good and very good degrees,
accept low-paying temporary jobs unrelated to their degrees or majors to make ends
meet in the city. In addition, many students who can't find a job choose to go to
graduate school or learn other skills to have more job opportunities in the future, even
though it costs a lot of time and money.

Literature Review
1. Current unemployment status of students (unemployment percentage)
Unemployment is a term that refers to people who do not have a job but are actively
looking for one and are available for it. Unemployment rate, especially of students
after graduation in Vietnam is one of the major concerns being debated by higher
education experts. According to the General Statistics Office in 2020, the
unemployment rate of workers with college and university degrees is 4.85%. This
figure shows that the graduate unemployment in Vietnam is at a high level, which can
negatively affect the development of the country. There are many reasons that exist
affecting this issue being discussed.
2. Internal factors
● Mismatch between Expectation and Reality on the Ground
After graduation, most graduates, especially those with good grades, want to find a
job. However, there is a big difference between expected and actual knowledge,
expected and actual skills, and expected and actual attitudes. Besides, the gap between
perceptions of college graduates and employers' expectations of the skills that will
qualify them for employment. More importantly, discipline, positive attitude,
punctuality, time management, and communication are high-level graduate skills
under pressure; communication skills, time management, teamwork, responsibility and
organizational knowledge are valuable skills required for employability. In addition,
institutions educate graduates who are not suitable for market demands or develop
unequal skills among students.
● Lack of Job Searching Skills and Experience
The findings also demonstrate how personal assets are employed in the labor market
and the value of unemployed people's strategic knowledge and job-seeking skills.
Experts point out that people who look for work need to be knowledgeable about a
range of search strategies. Besides, as the Self- determination theory ( SDT; Deci &
Ryan, 1985, 2000) mentions the significance of motivational levels, as they might
produce distinct outcomes. Self-determination theory defines between autonomous
and controlled behaviors to distinguish between those qualitatively different sorts of
motivation ( Ryan & Deci, 2000). Case in point, unemployed individuals who identify
with the personal value of job seeking may explore for occupation since they consider
employment as an opportunity to grow professionally and apply their talents to use.
Completely contrary, controlled persons display motivation when they search for
employment in order to avoid being judged as lazy or when they are primarily driven
to register for welfare payments, which are only available when there is verification of
job search.
● Lack of Practical Work Experiences
Practical work experience can be understood as soft skills, essential professional skills
for the position you are applying for that you have experienced in fact and more
simply understand it is what you are performing in practice, not merely a theory.
According to Industry and Trade magazine (6/2022) 23% of recruiters say job-related
candidates' abilities and practical experience are the most important factors in their
hiring decisions. 63% of them consider the practical experiences which students gain
through volunteering, extracurricular activities, internships and part-time jobs as very
valuable related experiences. According to Kong Jun (2017) employers often prefer to
recruit experienced graduates whom they think of as an important step in their
training. Most of them can begin to work immediately just because they have
successfully completed an internship.
3. External factors
● Discrepancy between Economic Power and Number of Graduates
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, many businesses reduce the need to
recruit new graduates. Sharing the same concern with those who have had to quit their
jobs due to staff cuts due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic are new graduates
in the past two years. Not only do they have to compete like in previous years, but
they also must compete with people who already have experience in the job market...
(Blustein, et al.,2020). In the face of the effects left by the COVID-19 epidemic, a
career crisis for new graduates is approaching. The job market is predicted to have
more fierce competition because the supply of human resources from colleges and
universities is always stable while the demand for labor recruitment from businesses is
increasing. The trend is slowing down due to the need to balance personnel, which
leads to more fierce competition in the job market.
● Low-Quality Graduates Who Lack Proper Skills, Knowledge, and
Practice
According to Hanapi and Nordin (2014), one of the factors contributing to graduate
unemployment is a lack of excellence. A significant number of businesses have an
unfavorable impression of graduates and have indicated that graduates lack the
necessary skills and qualifications. Furthermore, the graduates display low work
performance and lack employability skills. According to a study conducted by Wan
Zulkifli, Zakaria, Nawawi, and Idris (2010), employers are picky about applicants and
prefer experienced and skilled graduates with employability skills over those with
simply good marks. This conclusion is corroborated by the findings of Hossain et al.
(2018), who indicate that strong grades are no longer a guarantee of employment;
instead, businesses prefer graduates with theoretical and practical abilities.
● Foreign workers
The unemployment rate among fresh graduates is also affected by the intense
competition between foreign labor and local graduates. In Viet Nam where
globalization is an emerging trend, the demand for a skilled and dynamic workforce is
getting inexorably higher. Therefore, foreign workers are brought in to meet this need.
According to the latest statistics of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs,
there are more than 101.550 foreign workers in VietNam as of June 2021. Most of
them are from China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc. Vietnamese graduates are
facing great difficulty entering the workforce.

Research Objective
I, To have a more accurate overview of the employment status of English faculty
students
II, Helping the school to know clearly the situation of English faculty students to
help orientate future career preparation

Research Hypotheses
The following is a list of the hypotheses that are empirically proven in this survey.
H0: The degree of schooling will not significantly affect the unemployment rate for
recent graduates.
H1: The degree of schooling will significantly affect the unemployment rate for recent
graduates.
H0: A change in graduate attributes will not give a significant change to
unemployment among fresh graduates
H2: A change in graduate attributes will give a significant change to unemployment
among fresh graduates.
H0: A change in employability skills will not give a significant change to
unemployment among fresh graduates
H3: A change in employability skills will give a significant change to unemployment
among fresh graduates.
H0: A change in job mismatch will not impact unemployment among recent graduates
H4: A change in job mismatch will significantly impact unemployment among recent
graduates.

Methodology
1. Research Design
Qualitative research can be defined as "an empirical research where the data are not in
the form of numbers'' (Punch, 1998, p. 4). In qualitative research, words rather than
statistics are used to collect data. In this study case, a qualitative approach is used to
obtain detailed accounts of individual behaviors and experiences that are integrated
with their particular environments. The goal of qualitative research is to understand
people's experiences (Van Maaneen, 1990). The participants are chosen from final-
year English Department students in HCMUE with a diversity of backgrounds,
genders, areas of residence, and achievements. Open-ended questions allow
participants more freedom in how they can communicate their issues and challenges.
2. Research Site
The research was carried out at Ho Chi Minh University of Education, specifically
among fresh graduates from the English Department. There are various departments
within the University of Education, but the researcher purposefully chose English
Department students to participate in the study. The reason for this is that the English
Department has a large number of students, and there are many fields and occupations
that English faculty students can pursue after graduation.
3. Population and Samples of the Study

The total population for the study is about 200 students of the English department of
Ho Chi Minh City University of Education who have just graduated in 2022. We have
interviewed 40 students who are representatives of this population with different levels
of education, gender, age, and living area. These students have low to high
qualifications and the total cumulative grade point average (CGPA) over 4 years is the
standard for classifying students' qualifications. The researcher also clearly classified
20 male students and 20 female students to collect diverse information, and the
participants also came from the city and the countryside.

4. Instruments of Data Collection

To gather broad and detailed information on fresh graduates' job expectations and
preferences, two data collection instruments were used: semi-structured interviews and
Focus Group Discussions (FGD). Semi-structured interview questions were created
and detailed interviews were carried out with all attendees, in order to collect
appropriate and preferred data. The FGD assisted the researcher in better
understanding the feelings of all participants regarding their job expectations and
preferences.
5. Data Collection Procedures
After the instruments of data collection along with the point of discussions have been
employed and developed, we have chosen 30 fresh graduates from the English
department of Ho chi Minh University of Education purposefully. The first step that
we took was interviewing our participants in a semi-structured interview in which
each student was asked individually. All participants are then invited to a round table
where they take part in a Focused Group Discussion. This kind of data collecting
system is especially helpful in understanding the whole picture of participants. Finally,
after having gathered the desired information successfully, this information will then
be sorted into different categories to prepare for the next step - data analysis.
6. Inclusion Criteria
 In this study, the inclusion criterions used to select participants were; frest graduates’
cumulative grade point average (CGPA), sex, and place of residence in English
Department of HCMUE.
7. Ethical Considerations
In conducting this research, we considered issues with basic ethics. First, we obtain
informed consent from interviewers before beginning data collection. In addition, we
also informed the study's objectives, potential benefits, and possible discomfort in the
research process. Furthermore, interviewers are informed that they can stop the
interview and discussion sessions when they are concerned about their privacy.

8. Data Analysis and Interpretation

Qualitative data were thematically analyzed; Synthesize similar responses from

interviewees, Qualitative data analyzed by subject; aggregate similar responses from
the interviewees into a group. From the same answers, people divided into other
criteria for comparison such as gender, average score, living area... to get more
specific results in each given criterion.

Data Analysis

Table 1

Characteristic of respondents
Frequency Percentage
Male 36.8
Gender
Female 63.2
43 28
44 65.3

Course 45 5.2

47 1

others 0.5
Business English 56.5
Translation and
Field of interpretation 29
Studies
English Language
Teacher Education 14.5
time to Below 3 months 31.5
find a Job 3-6 months 52.4
after
graduation 7 months - 1 Year 16.1

To further understand the respondent's history, a descriptive analysis was performed

on data pertaining to the respondent's gender, their course, and field of study and time
of graduation. The gender breakdown of survey participants is seen in the table above;
63.2% of respondents were fresh graduates who identified as female, and 36.8%
identified as male. This shows that the unemployment rate among female fresh
graduates appears to be higher than that of male fresh graduates.

The questionnaire demands respondents from both male and female have a specific
understanding of the field of study. Through the feedback, the majority of the
respondents are from the Department of English in three majors: English Language
Teacher Education(14.5%), Translation Profession( 29%), and Business English
(56.5%). From the results, most of the alumni who are not employed come from the
pedagogy industry because the students attending this major and graduating every year
are high making it difficult for them to get a job due to the highly competitive rate and
low preferential and strict recruitment policies. In addition, the majority of respondents
(31.5%) were already unemployed for fewer than three months, followed by 3-6
months (52.4%) and 7 months to 1 year (16.1%). This suggests that the majority of
occurrences of unemployment remained less than six months.

Analysis of Hypotheses

There are 4 hypotheses established to study the factors affecting the unemployment
rate of new graduates of the English department in the University of Education; and
those 4 hypotheses are Education Level, Graduates Attributes, Employability Skills,
and Job Mismatch which is relevant to the dependent variable unemployment among
fresh graduates.

Table 2

Education Level
 Percentage
No Question Agree Disagree
Do you consider yourself to be extremely
1 knowledgeable in your field?
The academic material is related to the
2 employment sector. 50.3 49.7
3 I have enough qualification for the offered position 48.2 51.8
4 I lack knowledge to fit the position 53.9 46.1
Graduates are applying in excess for the available
5 positions. 83.4 16.6

The following were the hypothesis for this independent variable:

H0: The degree of schooling will not significantly affect the unemployment rate for
recent graduates.

H1: The degree of schooling will significantly affect the unemployment rate for
recent graduates.

The given study demonstrates that a change in educational attainment will not
significantly affect unemployment among newly graduated workers. This is due to the
fact that most of the respondents to this study disagreed with the three statements
mentioned above. Therefore, this variable won't have any effect on the unemployment
rate for recent grads.

Table 3

Graduates Attributes
Percentage
No Question Agree Disagree
1 I am only interested in highly qualified work 74.1 25.9
My communication skills are a bit poor, lack of
2 work experience and computer skills 79.3 20.7
3 I only focus on high paying jobs 79.8 20.2
4 I have not proven my ability in solving the problem
5 I don't contribute much to group work (group) 73.6 26.4
The results of the survey show that the attributes of fresh graduates and the
unemployment rate are closely related. There are a number of objective and subjective
reasons, but the survey results show that almost all of the respondents said that they
want a suitable environment to develop themselves. Besides, the high standard of
living today is also a factor affecting the unemployment rate of fresh graduates.

H0: A change in graduate attributes will not give a significant change to

unemployment among fresh graduates.

H2: A change in graduate attributes will give a significant change to unemployment

among fresh graduates.

According to the findings, a change in graduate attributes has a significant impact on

new unemployment. This occurred as a result of the majority of respondents in this
study agreeing with the aforementioned question. As a result, this variable will have
an impact on recent graduate unemployment.

Table 4
Employability Skills
Percentage
No Question Agree Disagree
1 I'm lacking the relevant working skills 74.1 25.9
2 I don't have good interpersonal skills 76.2 23.8
3 I have poor problem solving skills 76.7 23.3
4 I don't have any leadership qualities 77.7 22.3

The table above illustrates the types of employability skills that recent graduates lack.
All of the statements were agreed upon by the majority of respondents. This
demonstrates a lack of employability skills among recent graduates.
H0: A change in employability skills will not give a significant change to
unemployment among fresh graduates
H3: A change in employability skills will give a significant change to unemployment
among fresh graduates.
The above results show that a change in employability skills has a significant impact
on fresh unemployment. It is because the majority of the respondents in this study
agreed with all of the above-mentioned questions. As a result, this variable will have
an effect on unemployment among recent graduates.

Table 5
Job Mismatch
 Percentage
No Question Agree Disagree
1 The career opportunities are unrelated to my qualifications. 80.8 19.2
Is there an imbalance between talent supply and demand in
2 the economy? 88.1 11.9
Is it a consequence of the excess of skills required in the
3 market?
Is it because I have overqualified abilities that it's so difficult
4 for me to obtain work? 71.5 28.5

To better understand the difference between education and the job market, the above
questions have been compiled. Five questions were studied to help researchers find a
relationship between inappropriate employment and unemployment among fresh
graduates. Of the five questions, the one that received the majority of disagree answers
was, "Is it a consequence of the excess of skills required in the market?"
H0: A change in job mismatch will not impact unemployment among recent
graduates
H4: A change in job mismatch will significantly impact unemployment among
recent graduates.
The result above shows that a change in job mismatch will significantly impact
unemployment among fresh graduates. As the majority of the participants in this study
agreed with all the questions mentioned earlier, this variable will affect unemployment
among freshers.

Findings & Recommendations

● Education Level (VY)
According to the findings, the relationship between education level and unemployment
is weaker. Respondents in this study agreed with the statement that they are less
knowledgeable in their field of study. To reduce the unemployment rate among recent
graduates, the school should investigate the issue and implement a job-relevant
curriculum.
● Graduates Attributes (NGỌC)
The findings of the study revealed a strong relationship between graduate
characteristics and unemployment. Almost all of the respondents strongly agreed that
they were overly picky when it came to the Furthermore, newly graduated students are
exposed to a high standard of living, which contributes to the high cost of living. As a
result, this is one of the factors contributing to the high rate of unemployment among
fresh graduates from the English Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of
Education.
 ● Employability Skills (TRINH)
https://www.face.edu/cms/lib/CA01000848/Centricity/Domain/189/employability-
skills.pdf
Most of the respondents were given that "I lack employability skills". The quality of a
soft-skill teacher is a different requirement, the lecturers are very good at their subject
but not sure they can teach soft skills. So we see that graduates lack a lot of skills to
work in an international environment. This does not necessarily come from their
thinking, but partly because the school has not provided enough for students. The
implementation of soft skills training forms for school students is only average, not
really going into practice, and not really being able to apply to the work environment.
While businesses need to recruit candidates who have experience or have been trained
in the necessary skills for the job, new graduates who lack all of the above
requirements, it is difficult to compete in the industry employment issues.
(Wickramasinghe & Perera, 2010)
● Job Mismatch (QUỲNH)
According to the survey findings, there is a positive relationship between job
mismatch and unemployment because the majority of participants strongly agreed that
there are not many skills required in the market and that there is also an imbalance
between skill demand and skill supply. Graduates with the most knowledge and skills
in their field of study, on the other hand, are hired first.
Respondents stated that they are having difficulty finding work due to
overqualification. Because most graduates are currently pursuing their studies until
they obtain a Master's Degree, only certain jobs require higher qualifications. When
fresh graduates with higher qualifications struggle to find work. Simultaneously, a
study by Samah, Razali, and Basri (2015) stated that few employers do not want to
hire a specific youth because they are overqualified for the position that is offered. To
summarize, job mismatch occurs when there are too many qualifications and skills
required in the market, making it difficult for recent graduates to find work.

● Unemployment (HÀ)
In Vietnam, around 40,000 graduates work in a field that does not match their
qualifications. In 2017, there was a growth in job opportunities based on job vacancy
resources and job placement in Ho Chi Minh City. Still, the job vacancies are only
occupied by selected employees. This shows that unemployment occurs because of
specific characteristics, such as the attitude of graduates, not because of the lack of job
vacancies. The majority of the fresh graduates agreed that employers are not willing to
give them higher pay. The freshers call for better wages to pay off the growing cost of
living.
Additionally, they also need to sort out their study loan as well as various expenses.
Therefore, a higher salary is necessary to help fresh graduates manage their finances in
this fast-paced world. Besides, the participants agreed that they needed to prepare
better for their interview and were too picky about the job they were offered. In
conclusion, the findings of this research are consistent that fresh graduates from
HCMUE need to change their perspective to obtain a suitable job.

Conclusion
This study focuses on the factors that influence unemployment among recent
graduates in the English Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education in
Vietnam. As a result, the study's goal has been met. According to the findings, having
good grades did not guarantee employment for fresh graduates in the English
Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. Graduates must have a
strong command of the English language as well as other soft skills such as leadership,
communication, intelligence, analytical thinking, and so on. This research raises
awareness and provides guidance for fresh graduate problems that need to be
addressed right away, but these problems will worsen as the fresh graduate changes.
Many more graduates, however, are still unemployed after many years of graduation.
At the same time, each year, new fresh graduates will be added to the list. As a result,
the government, educational institutions, and individuals must all work together to
reduce the unemployment rate. The findings of this study provided some explanation
for the factors that influence unemployment among fresh graduates in the English
Department at Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. The findings of
the study revealed a strong relationship between graduate characteristics,
employability skills, and job mismatch. Graduates who have received effective skills
training will be educated and skilled before entering the workforce. Similarly, it will
produce graduates who are proactive and capable of resolving work-related problems.
The study only focuses on a few variables drawn from the pilot study's relatively small
group size. As a result, it is suggested that future researchers expand on this study by
investigating additional factors and variables that influence unemployment among
fresh graduates in Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. Aside from that, a study
involving graduates from the entire university can be carried out to evaluate the actual
scenario of the research topic by representing more accurate results. In addition, future
research should consider incorporating qualitative method analysis. It is suggested that
fresh graduates undergo case study analysis to determine the true cause of their
unemployment. At the same time, it is suggested that the study be conducted with a
larger sample size. More solid information can be obtained by conducting a thorough
investigation.

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