Band 6+: Some businesses find that their new employees lack basic interpersonal skills such as cooperation. What are the causes and suggest possible solutions?

Several company owners realize that their new workers do not have a social skills background, such as cooperation. There are reasons for this, but I believe the major rationale might be because of a theory-focused program at university. However, this issue can be tackled by balancing the theoretical and practical lessons in the study curriculum.

The root cause of this is that most universities have a training program that concentrates more on theory but pays less attention to practical experience. Students nowadays must study a lot of subjects that are not relevant to their future work. These subjects take students a lot of time and energy to learn and pass the final tests. Consequently, learners in several colleges have only about 5-10% of their total studying time for practical training or workshops. For instance, most universities in Vietnam have a curriculum that focuses on theory, but only 2-3 months of work in a real working environment. This led to a new generation of employees who could only plan and speak, but could not gain real business achievements.

I believe that this drawback can be solved if the universities can offer a curriculum with more practical activities and more cooperation with business organizations. Employers need staff who are able to work in a team or independently, and graduates can satisfy them if they have a period of work in a real working environment, such as a company or an association. A study schedule with about 1 and a half years as an apprentice at a working office, as a cooperation between the school and the business unit, can be a good choice. For example, students in universities or colleges in HCMC that have a strong cooperation with companies and have more time working in a real working environment for more than a year said that they could easily find a good job with a high salary and could become a manager after 2-3 years.

In conclusion, a teaching curriculum based more on theory will generate unqualified employees and lead to a high rate of unemployment. The solution must be a balance between theory and practice, as well as cooperation between universities and businesses.