Perception of students on employability skill for their successful career

PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS ON EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS FOR THEIR
SUCCESSFUL CAREER

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

In International Business

By

Ms. Tran Thi Tuong Vi

ID: MBA02042

International University - Vietnam National University HCMC

March 2013


PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS ON EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS FOR THEIR
SUCCESSFUL CAREER
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

In International Business
by
Ms. Tran Thi Tuong Vi
ID: MBA02042
International University - Vietnam National University HCMC

March 2013

Under the guidance and approval of the committee, and approved by all its members, this
thesis has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree.

Approved:

---------------------------------------------Chairperson

---------------------------------------------Committee member

---------------------------------------------Committee member

--------------------------------------------Committee member

--------------------------------------------Committee member

--------------------------------------------Committee member


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Acknowledge
My dissertation could not have been finished without the assistance and support of many
people over the past six months. I would like to take this opportunity to deeply thank all
assisted and helped me in any aspects during this research project.
Above all, I would like to send my sincere thank to my instructor Dr. Truong Quang
Duoc – Vice Rector of the International University – Vietnam National university, who

encouraged me to register the research and instructed me during the process of doing thesis.
Secondly, I offer my regards to Dr. Nguyen Quynh Mai, Dr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Mr.
Nguyen Van Nhan, Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Diep who supported me a lot for my research
references and survey.
Thirdly, I would also like to express my appreciation for my colleagues Ms. Dang Thi Lan
Anh and Ms. Bui Bich Tram who supported me with delivering, taking back the
questionnaires, and inputting the data for SPSS.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my family for their unconditional love, and
my friends in MBA01 for their supports and creating good conditions for me to achieve my
passion.
In brief, I am heartily thankful all of you for giving me a hand to complete the
research.

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Plagiarism Statements
I would like to declare that, apart from the acknowledged references, this thesis either does
not use language, ideas, or other original material from anyone; or has not been previously
submitted to any other educational and research programs or institutions. I fully understand
that any writings in this thesis contradicted to the above statement will automatically lead to
the rejection from the MBA program at the International University – Vietnam National
University Hochiminh City.

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Copyright Statement
This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is
understood to recognize that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the

thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior consent.
© Tran Thi Tuong Vi/ MBA02042/2010-2012

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1
1. Background ........................................................................................................................... 1
2. Problem statement & Rationale of the study......................................................................... 2
3. Research questions ................................................................................................................ 5
4. Research objectives ............................................................................................................... 5
5. Research methodology .......................................................................................................... 6
6. Scope and limitation .............................................................................................................. 6
7. Implications of the study ....................................................................................................... 6
8. Research structure ................................................................................................................. 7
9. Summary of this chapter ....................................................................................................... 7
Chapter 2: Literature review .................................................................................................. 8
1. Key Concepts ........................................................................................................................ 8
2. Basic skills ............................................................................................................................ 8
3. People skills .......................................................................................................................... 9
4. Personal qualities .................................................................................................................. 9
5. Thinking skill ...................................................................................................................... 10
6. Successful career ................................................................................................................. 11
7. Related researches ............................................................................................................... 12
Chapter 3: Methodology........................................................................................................ 22
1. Research process ................................................................................................................. 22
2. Research model ................................................................................................................... 22
3. Relationship between employability skills and successful career: ..................................... 23
4. Hypothesis ........................................................................................................................... 26

5. Measurement ....................................................................................................................... 29
5.1
Questionnaires design ............................................................................................. 30
5.2
Sample ..................................................................................................................... 31
5.3
Sample size .............................................................................................................. 31
5.4
Sampling method..................................................................................................... 32
5.5
Data analysis ........................................................................................................... 32
6. Summary ............................................................................................................................. 33
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion ..................................................................................... 34
1. Sample demographic ........................................................................................................... 34
2. Descriptive statistics of skills of students ........................................................................... 35

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3. Cronbach Alpha analysis..................................................................................................... 36
4. Testing by Exploring Factor Analysis ................................................................................. 37
5. Regression analysis ............................................................................................................. 39
5.1
Factors affecting Successful career. ........................................................................ 39
5.2
Result of testing given hypothesis ........................................................................... 40
6. ANOVA Test ...................................................................................................................... 41
6.1.
Difference between gender (male and female) from perception of students on
basic skills, people skills, personal qualities, thinking skills and sucessful career .......... 41

6.2
Difference between 4 universities from perception of students on basic skills,
people skills, personal qualities, thinking skills and sucessful career..................................... 42
6.3
Difference between 3 age groups from perception of students on basic skills,
people skills, personal qualities, thinking skills and sucessful career ..................................... 43
7. Summary ............................................................................................................................. 43
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation .................................................................... 46
1. Conclusion on main findings .............................................................................................. 46
2. Limitations .......................................................................................................................... 47
3. Recommendations for future researches ............................................................................. 48
4. Recommendations for students ........................................................................................... 48
5. Recommendations for School of Business .......................................................................... 49
Appendix 1 ............................................................................................................................... 58
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................ 58
Appendix 2 ............................................................................................................................... 61

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List of Tables
Table 1. Relationship between employability skills and successful career ............................. 29
Table 2. Difference between individual characteristics to successful career ........................... 29
Table 3. Variable measurement scales ..................................................................................... 30
Table 4. Sample demographic.................................................................................................. 34
Table 5. Descriptive statistics for variables ............................................................................. 36
Table 6. Results of the Cronbach Alpha for the 5 scales (First and final round)..................... 37
Table 7. Rotated Component Matrixa ...................................................................................... 38
Table 8. KMO and Bartlett's Test ............................................................................................ 38
Table 9. Result of Regression analysis .................................................................................... 39

Table 10. Result of ANOVA ................................................................................................... 40
Table 11. Coefficients of independent variables and dependent variable ............................... 40
Table 12. Result of testing given hypothesis ........................................................................... 41
Table 13. Result of T-test the difference between gender groups ........................................... 42
Table 14. Test of Homogeneity of Variances between 4 universities ..................................... 42
Table 15. Test of Homogeneity of Variances between 3 age groups ...................................... 43
Table 16. Independent Samples ANOVA Test between age groups ....................................... 61
Table 17. Differences between age group................................................................................ 62
Table 18. Correlation Coefficient between 4 universities ....................................................... 66
Table 19. ANOVA test relationship between indenpendent and dependent variables ............ 67
Table 20. Correlation Coefficient between age groups ........................................................... 68

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List of Figures
FIGURE1. The USEM model of employability ...................................................................... 13
FIGURE 2. Model of core self-evaluations — career success ................................................ 14
FIGURE 3. Integrated model to have career success. ............................................................. 15
FIGURE 4. Predicting career advancement with structural equation modelling..................... 15
FIGURE 5. Research process .................................................................................................. 22
FIGURE 6. Research model .................................................................................................... 26

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Abstract
Employability skill, even though has become an important issue in higher education
worldwide, in Vietnam it has been emerging only in the last few years. The study’s purposes
are to analyze how students shape their perceptions about successful career that are necessary

for their future careers.
Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate which successful career are mastered
by Master of Business Adminstration (MBA) students from 4 universities: International
University – Vietnam National University (IU), Banking University in Hochiminh city
(BUH), Open University (OUH), Hochiminh city University of Technology (HUTEC) and
which is estimated most important in working environment.
To achieve this purpose, the study measured the perception of business students about which
skills they are good at; which are essential for future success in the work place and the extent
to which skills should be integrated in the curriculum.
The population for this study consisted of 350 post graduate business students from 4
different batches. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, EFA, Regression,
ANOVA and T-test.
The research shows that 4 most important dimension in measuring the perception of
successful career are related directly to academic issues:


Students: Basic skills (4th Ranking), Personal skills (1st Ranking), Personal Qualities

(2nd Ranking) , Thinking skills (3rd Ranking) .
Keywords: successful career, quality, perception, basic, people, personal qualities, thinking,
model, perceive

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-x-

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.

Background

Over the world, for several decades, educators, researchers and employers have
showed the concern about which skills the business graduates need preparing for
workplace (Gordon & Howell, 1959; Kephart, McNulty & McGrath, 1963; Peirson,
1959). The same expression also appeared in 1980s - 1990s (AACSB, 1994, Green &
Seymour, 1991; Levenburg. 1996; Porter & MacKibbin, 1988; West & Aupperle,
1996).
Besides basic skills, recruiters are unsatisfied with the entry employees in creative
thinking, critical thinking, negotiation, integration, responsibility (U.S Department of
Labor Report, 2001; Candy&Crebert, 1991).
In order for the worker to be comfortable in this environment, he is expected to have
good interpersonal skill, leadership skill, self-esteem skill (Amini, 1995; Carnevale et
al., 1990; Green&Seymour, 1991)
Another important competence that is lacking in many entry-level professional
workers is the ability to critically assess the skills they possess, identify the skills that
they lack (Candy& Crebert, 1991; Cappelli, 1992; Mandt, 1982; Sheetz & SteinRoggenbuck, 1994).
If the institutions are unable to help their students to develop those skills, it is unlikely
that they will be able to acqire and exhibit other important workplace competences
such as personal skills, thinking skills and problem solving skills.
Nowadays, Vietnam education system has various fields from science, technology,
economics, medicine, pedagogy … Among them, business has risen up as one of the
most important major. Currently there are many universities have business major
which provides learners with fundamental and specialized knowledge, scientific
method of thinking and administration skills in corporations, especially business
management in Vietnam.

In addition, from the training schedule students can learn practical skills, the ability to
detect and resolve issues in specific managing situations in order to meet the
increasing requirements of employers in the workplace.
So far, there are many reports on problem of students’ lacking of successful career
after graduating.
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According to vtc.com, the World Bank has released a report on higher education in
East Asia - Pacific region including Vietnam. And soft skills training issues for
students before graduation is seen as a weakness of higher education in Vietnam.
There are only 3% of enterprises cooperating with universities or research institutes in
recruitment. (Khoi Nguyen, 2011: The Enterprise "shake their head" because students
lack the soft skills, 2011)
The same concern is also expressed in baomoi.com as Vietnamese recruiters also
found big weaknesses in communication skills, English and especially practical
knowledge in the working environment of graduate students (Nguyen Hong Diep,
2011: Many graduates lack soft skills, 2011).
In Vietnam, according to a survey published in December, 2011 by the University of
Social Sciences, Humanities, Hanoi and Policy Research cooperation projects Fund
Rosa - Luxemburg German implementation of the 3,000 graduate students
interviewed, 58.2 % do not know where to find a job, 42%

do not meet the

requirements of employers, 27% whose disciplinary majors are not in line with the
market, 18% even can not find a job because employers do not know their training
sectors.(USSH, VNU Hanoi, ,2011)
In the Asia series of global education dialogues: with the topic “Successful career in
Southeast Asia and the needs of human resource in the new economy - The challenge

for higher education”, the international speakers discussed that although having
achieved certain results and achievements, education in East Asia in general and
Vietnam in particular, still face many limitations as not supply a required number of
students who are equipped with the skills that businesses need. (T.Anh, 2012)
According to Nguyen Thi Hang, 2012 (former Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social
Affairs, Chairman vocational Vietnam), now, Vietnam has more than 50% of the
workforce equivalent 10 million workers are not trained basic skills regularly, which
is essentially learned by doing other simple tasks. From that we can see the
unbalanced overall picture of professional skills of the workforce and academic
institutions

2.

Problem statement & Rationale of the study

Over the past 3 decades a significant amount of attention in the form of research and
training has been directed in the area of successful career and the extent to which
secondary and vocational school graduates and attendees possess these skills.
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The much cited U.S. Department of Labor study (1991) entitled “What work requires
of school”: A SCANS Report for America 2000, focuses exclusive on those skills
employers stated were necessary requisites for career success and the extent to which
students are able to meet those requirements (Levenburg. 1996)
Also studies finished by Carnevale (1990) for the American Society for Training and
Development and Mehrens (1989) for the State of Michigan, have highlighted the
skills employers considers necessary for the worker to be productive. However
important researches on which skills and how to prepared college graduates are for
the job market is still lacking.

The suggestion of The U.S Department of Labor’s Bureau of Statistics (2005) showed
that the fastest growing segment of the labor force betwen 2005 – 2010 will be
professional and technical occupations. From the point of view of Shelly (2004),
nearly 50% work force, also a large percentage of college students, held jobs in
accounting, business management and computer information sciences, therefore, it is
imperative that employers know what extent thse graduates are being prepared for
entry-level jobs.
Modern employers want entry-level employees to possess the correct
combination of successful career to complement job specific skills, such as
engineering or accounting skills for example (Carnevale et al., 1990; Green&Seymour,
1991).
While students currently receive adequate training in the theoretical
knowledge, the successful career are not receiving sufficient attention. In a summary
of 36 studies that were conducted to establish the skills employers regard as important
to entry-level employees, Green & Seymour, (199)9 found that employers placed
emphasis on correct work attitudes and generic/non-technical skills. Many employers
believe that a skills gap exists between what is required in the workplace and what is
being provided by institutions of tertiary education. Porter & MacKibbin, (1988)
writes that there is a mismatch between employer needs and educational response.
A survey in year 2010 of 234 recruiters and 3,364 graduates from 20
universities, published in the research “Solutions for Enhancing Higher Education
Quality” by Ho Chi Minh University of Pedagogy, uncovered that both graduates and
recruiters shared a common view: 50% of graduates have to be retrained. The
main reason is professional skills do not meet the standards of recruiters. 36.3% of
recruiters responded that students must be retrained in all-around skills, 28.3% in
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specialized skills, and 33.6% in both skills and professional knowledge. Students are
weak at presentation skills, verbal skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork, the ability to

apply knowledge to practical situations, and professionalism.
Finding from Van Hoa newspaper (Kieu Giang, 2010: Students are lacking of soft
skills, 2010), Vietnam Institute of Educational Research said, as many as 83% of
students graduated are lacking of soft skills, 37% of students who can not find
suitable career due to weak skills.
Survey of the Ministry of Education and Training in collaboration with the U.S.
Educational Testing Service, showed only 50 % of graduates can meet English
requirement, and the rest do not respond or need additional training.
As investigation of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, (year) 13% of
students after graduation have additional training or new successful career, nearly 40%
need to be coached in the workplace and more than 41% have to spend probation
period to be familiar with their job.
Other reports (tinmoi.vn, 2012: Businesses are not eagered with new graduate
students, 2012) and (vnmedia.vn, 2010: 90% students lack of soft skills) support the
complaints from employers that entry-employees do not have full basic and successful
career at work.
The rapid technological, social and economic changes have made
organizations more complex and heightened the need for providing skills other than
technical skills to graduates entering the workplace for the first time. Very little
progress has been made by tertiary institutions in general to get students practical
application of knowledge acquired. There is a need to provide last year students with
the successful career to satisfy with the demands of the workplace. This will enhance
their transition from school to the workplace.
From those problems above, we need to find out the extent of influence to
students’ abilities of getting a job and how to equip these skills. The study focuses on
which are most necessary skills and the integration of successful career in post
graduate business curriculum, the relationship of successful career they possess and
how they are successful in career. It looks at those successful career employer
consider essential as identified by the U.S Department of Labor SCANS report (2004)
as well.

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This study seeks to provide relevant information to educators, students, and
employers about the status of the business school curriculum in preparing last year
students for their career sucess. The fast advancement and availability of technology
have made the global business environment so competitive that entry-level workers
need to possess the essential successful career to be productive and bring real value
to their employers.
Moreover business graduates specialize training and their dominance in important
areas in many corporations make it possible for them to advance to middle and upper
management positions in corporations in next 10 to 20 years after graduation (Gordon
& Howell, 1959)
Therefore, it is logical to assume that if these workers are exposed to essential skills
required for sucess in the workforce, they can contribute important value to the longterm viability to their employers and companies.
3.

Research questions

The research looks at the successful career that students consider essential and address
the following research questions:

4.

-

What skills needed for students to be successful in their career after school?

-

Which skill is most important to their successful career?

-

How to improve essential employability skills for students?
Research objectives

Although there are a lot of studies on successful career have emphasized the
weaknesses and strengths of entry level workers from empoyer perspective (West &
Aupperle, 1996). Information in this research would be useful in considering that
yearly Vietnamese business senior students facing employability skill’s issues in real
workplace through the survey and experiences of lecturers and MBA students who
have already gone to work.
-

Identifying which skills needed for students’ success

-

Among those skills, determining which skill most powerful impacts on

students’ successful career.
-

Giving out some suggestions to improve employability skills for students

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5.

Research methodology

The research would use the SCANS report (US. Ministry of Labor, 2004) with 4
dimensions: Basic skills, People skills, Personal Qualities, Thinking skills, also from
the findings of (Timothy & John, 2011), (Zinta & Brian and Dan, 2008) with the
dimension: Sucessful career.
The research uses a 5-point Likert scale, with “Very bad” equal to value 1 and “Very
well” equal to value 5. Quantitative method will also be used through questionaires in
the direct survey or interview.
Secondary information source are witndrawn from references of theories from
newspapers, magazines, books, reports, results of a conference …
6.

Scope and limitation

The survey will be mainly conducted in Hochiminh city, where is convenient for my
survey and target group is MBA students from International University (IU), Banking
University (BUH), Open University in HCMC (OUH), Hochiminh University of
Technology (HUTECH). The other reason for that, the compared results between
these institutes will be applied to the curriculums of IU. One more reason, these 4
Schools of Business have experiences in training MBA programs and have a large
enough number of students for conducting my research.
I concentrated on master level instead of undergraduate because nearly half of MBA
students have gone to work for few years so they have real experiences in working
environments and can estimate well which skills they posses. From those I can
generate which skills are essential to have good performance at the office.
This research will be replicated with a focus on students who have already completed
their bachelor degree in business and are employed in an entry-level proffessional

position. This would enable educators and practitioners to determine if the curriculum
is adequate to prepare students for their first job or if they need to have extensive
interaction in the workplace beyond that provided by experiental strategies like
internship or part-time job.
The limited samples were just conducted by non-profitable and convenient method.
7.

Implications of the study

This study tries to withdraw which successful career do the students master and they
perceive how they are successful in their careers. From the data analyzed, there will

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be some suggestion to help students to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses,
then to improve necessary skills. Secondly, base on that the right goals, strategies can
be set by themselves. It also aims at adding workplace skills to the last year
curriculum of School of Business to shoot up skills for students’ careers
I hope MBA students and also lecturers on School of Business will benefit from the
study’s findings. Therefore, the School of Business learning outcomes will be better
and more practical implications will be provided for students.
8.

Research structure

The structure of the thesis is organized in five parts covering theoretical framework,
methodology and the final results. The content is organized as following:
Chapter I: Introduction. This chapter provides the background, research objectives,
the scope and limitations, the implications of the thesis, methodology, the structure of

the research and the reason why I choose the topic.
Chapter II: Literature review. Chapter 2 presents some previous significant
definitions, concepts and basic theories discussed on the framework.
Chapter III: Methodology. I explain in detail the methodology used in the research. It
introduces basic methodology steps from constructing the sample sizes, evaluate and
scale to conducting questionnaires survey. Method of collecting and analysing data
are also covered in this part.
Chapter IV: Data analysis and discussion on findings. The phases will be presented to
analyze the data collected through the survey from chapter III and test the Hypothesis
research. After the analysis, we discuss and summarize findings. The final part
presents briefly information regarding to main questions and objectives of the
research.
Chapter V: Implications- Recommendations and Conclusions. From the findings of
chapter IV, the study will withdraw implications and recommendations and suggest to
a further improvement in curriculum. Results on these information will be proposals
for further analysis
9.

Summary of this chapter

Generally, this part consists the problem statement, rationale, object, research
methodology, scope and limitation, implications of the study and its structure.
Literature review, key previous concepts, the way how to approaching will be
supported clearly in the next chapter

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Chapter 2: Literature review
The first chapter has already introduced shortly about the necessary and significant

components of the research. The aim of chapter 2 is to show the previous findings,
important concepts of successful career.
1.

Key Concepts

- Employability skill: are competencies considered essential for a worker to possess in
order for him/her to be successful on the job (Carnevale et al., 1990, p.255)
- Employability skill: A set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal
attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in
their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community
and the economy. (Yorke, 2006)
- Employability: is not just about getting a job. Conversely, just because a student is
on a vocational course does not mean that somehow employability is automatic.
Employability is more than about developing attributes, techniques or experience just
to enable a student to get a job, or to progress within a current career. It is about
learning and the emphasis is less on ‘employ’ and more on ‘ability’. In essence, the
emphasis is on developing critical, reflective abilities, with a view to empowering and
enhancing the learner. (Harvey 2003)
- Successful career: are defined as “skills required not only to gain employment, but
also to progress within an enterprise so as to achieve one’s potential and contribute
sucessfully to enterprise strategic directions” (Little, 2001)

2.

Basic skills

Reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens and speaks
(U.S. Department of Labor, 2004)
- Reading: Identify relevant facts; locate information in books/manuals; find

meanings of unknown words; judge accuracy of reports; use computers to find
information (U.S. Department of Labor, 2004)
- Writing: Write ideas completely and accurately in letters and reports with proper
grammar, spelling, and punctuation, use computers to communicate information (U.S.
Department of Labor, 2004)

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- Mathematics: Use numbers, fractions, and %ages to solve problems; use tables,
graphs, and charts; use computers to enter, retrieve, change, and communicate
numerical information (U.S. Department of Labor, 2004)
- Speaking: Speak clearly; select language, tone of voice, and gestures appropriate
to an audience (U.S. Department of Labor, 2004)
- Listening: Listen carefully to what a person says, noting tone of voice and body
language; respond in a way that shows understanding of what is said (U.S.
Department of Labor, 2004)
3.

People skills

Necessary skills to work, communicate and interact with others (U.S. Department of
Labor, 2004)
- Negotiation: Identify common goals among different parties; clearly present one's
position; understand party's position; examine possible options; make reasonable
compromises. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2004)
- Leadership: Communicate thoughts and feelings to justify a position; encourage
or convince; make positive use of rules or values; demonstrate ability to have others
believe in and trust you because of competence and honesty (U.S. Department of
Labor, 2004)

- Teamwork: Contribute to group with ideas and effort; do own share of work;
encourage team members; resolve differences for the benefit of the team; responsibly
challenge existing procedures, policies, or authorities. (U.S. Department of Labor,
2004)
- Working well in cultural diversity: Work well with people having different
ethnic, social, or educational backgrounds; understand the cultural differences of
different groups; help the people in these groups make cultural adjustments when
necessary (U.S. Department of Labor, 2004)
4.

Personal qualities

Displays responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management (U.S. Department
of Labor, 2004)
- Sociability: Demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and
politeness in new and on-going group settings. Asserts self in familiar and unfamiliar
social situations; relates well to others; responds appropriately as the situation

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requires; and takes an interest in what others say and do (U.S. Department of Labor,
2004)
- Self-Esteem: Believes in own self-worth and maintains a positive view of self;
demonstrates knowledge of own skills and abilities; is aware of impact on others; and
knows own emotional capacity and needs and how to address them. (U.S. Department
of Labor, 2004)
- Self-Management: Assesses own knowledge, skills, and abilities accurately; sets
well-defined and realistic personal goals; monitors progress toward goal attainment
and motivates self through goal achievement; exhibits self-control and responds to

feedback unemotionally and nondefensively; is a "self-starter." (U.S. Department of
Labor, 2004)
- Responsibility: Exerts a high level of effort and perseverance towards goal
attainment. Works hard to become excellent at doing tasks by setting high standards,
paying attention to details, working well, and displaying a high level concentration
even when assigned an unpleasant task. Displays high standards of attendance,
punctuality, enthusiasm, vitality, and optimism in approaching and completing tasks.
(U.S. Department of Labor, 2004)
- English: the language of communication, now is the most widely used language in
the world. It is widely learned as a second language in Vietnam and is an official
language of the European Union, many Commonwealth countries and the United
Nations, as well as in many world organisations (wikipedia.com)
5.

Thinking skill

Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes (U.S. Department of
Labor, 2004)
- Creative Thinking: Use imagination freely, combining ideas or information in
new ways; make connections between ideas that seem unrelated. (U.S. Department of
Labor, 2004)
- Decision Making: Identify goals; generate alternatives and gather information
about them; weigh pros and cons; choose best alternative; plan how to carry out
choice. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2004)

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- Problem-Solving: Recognize problem; identify why it is a problem; create and
implement a solution; watch to see how well solution works; revise as needed. (U.S.

Department of Labor, 2004)
- Visualization: Imagine building, object or system by looking at a blueprint or
drawing (U.S. Department of Labor, 2004)
6.

Successful career

Can be defined as the real or perceived achievements individuals have accumulated as
a result of their work experiences (Judge, Cable, Boudreau, & Bretz, 1995). Most
researchhas divided career success

into extrinsic and intrinsic components

(Khapova, Arthur,and Wilderom, Chapter 7; Guest and Sturges, Chapter 16).
Intrinsic career success: is defined as individuals’ subjective appraisal of their
success and is

most

commonly expressed

in

terms

of

job,career, or life

satisfaction (Gattiker & Larwood,1988; Judge et al., 1995).

Extrinsic career success: are indexed by three most commonly used criteria :
pay, ascendancy or number of promo-tions, and occupational status. The last factor
is perhaps the most intriguing. Occupational sta-tus can be viewed as a reflection of
societal per-ceptions of the power and authority afforded by the job (Blaikie, 1977;
Schooler & Schoenbach, 1994). Occupational status has long been stud-ied

in

sociology as a measure of occupational satisfaction (the sorting of individuals
into occupations of differential power and prestige).
- Pay: the amount of salary/ income people receive. (Zinta, Brian and Dan, 2008)
- Promotion or ascendancy: the number of fair promotional opportunities people
get in the job. (Timothy & John, 2011)
- Organizational Commitment: shows that the employee is willing to stay in the
organization for the rest of his/her career and owns the problems faced by the
organization as his own. (Timothy & John, 2011)
- Job satisfaction: is traditionally defined as a pleasurable or positive emotional
state that results from one’s appraisal of one’s job or job aspects” (Parker, 2007,
p.406).
- Job satisfaction: is an outcome to an individual’s work life, which in turn can
affect personal and organizational outcomes. Many factors affect job satisfaction,
such as feelings over the workplace, coworkers, and job performance among others.
(Sharon K. Parker, 2007)

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All these factors contribute towards the successful career and are measured
independently
7.

Related researches

Successful career are skills that apply across a variety of jobs and life contexts. They
are sometimes referred to as key skills, core skills, life skills, essential skills, key
competencies, necessary skills, and transferable skills. (Commonwealth of Australia,
2012).
Knight (2001) and Yorke (2001) consider the concept of employability to be a
synergic combination of personal qualities, skills of various kinds and subject. It is a
concept that is much more complex than the relatively restrictive key skills agenda, as
focused on by Dearing (1997) which has obscured a greater understanding of
understanding employability (Yorke, 2001; Knight & Yorke, 2001). Yorke (2001)
also little emphasis has been placed upon a student’s personal qualities, but that these
could have suggests that traditionally considerable bearing on a particular student’s
success.
Employability results from a blend of achievements in four broad areas, and is
represented in the USEM model of employability'.(Knight and Yorke, 2003 p.8),
which considers the following four factors:


Understanding of disciplinary subject-matter and how organisations work;



Skilful practices in context (academic, employment, and life in general)



Efficacy beliefs



Meta-cognition

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