Many IT students regret 'working with a salary of thousands of dollars but lacking a university degree'

In 2017, Nguyen Huu Hoang (born in 1999, from Son La province) became a freshman in Information Technology at the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, with high expectations from himself and his family. During his first two years of university, he excelled academically and consistently ranked among the top students in his class.

Willing to drop out of school to work part-time

Due to difficult circumstances, at the end of his third year of university, Hoang applied for a part-time job at a software programming and system administration company in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi to earn more income and gain experience. Here, Hoang was assigned to program and operate mobile applications such as online shopping, grocery shopping, and smart management.

Students drop out of school to work early. (Illustration photo)

At first, he received a salary of about 6 - 7 million VND/month. Later, with his knowledge and ability to do the job well, his salary was increased to 10 - 13 million VND/month, working hours and pressure also gradually increased. Hoang felt happy because his efforts were rewarded accordingly.

While he was on the verge of dedication, he thought he didn’t need a degree to work, and could even earn tens of millions a month. Hoang hid his family’s request to put his studies on hold to go to work, planning to continue studying when he had enough money.

After working for more than a year, Hoang realized that he had no time to go to school anymore and started to think about quitting school. After many nights of thinking, he decided to talk to his family about quitting school. Despite his parents' strong objection, he still decided to follow his own path.

However, things didn't go as smoothly as he thought. "After working for over a year, I gradually lost my enthusiasm for the job, because I was constantly looking at computers with long lines of code. I decided to look for a new job," the young man from Son La recalled.

From an excellent student, Hoang now has no degree, and it is very difficult to get a job. Under the pressure of making a living in the city, he had to apply for a job as a customer service employee for a foreign language training company with a salary of about 10 million VND/month.

"Because I wanted to earn money early to help my family, I gave up my university degree with so many opportunities open to me. I regret dropping out of school to start working so early," Hoang confessed.

Unpredictable consequences

Pham Huu Linh (born in 2000, from Nghe An province ) almost failed to obtain his degree in Information Technology from the University of Technology (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) due to being preoccupied with part-time work.

Having been passionate about computers since childhood, Linh applied to the University of Technology right after graduating from high school. In 2019, after being admitted to the Information Technology major, he enthusiastically studied and achieved many good results, receiving a scholarship from the school.

Entering his third year, thanks to his good academic performance, Linh was offered jobs by many companies. At this time, he began to hesitate between choosing to go to school or go to work.

Students put their studies on hold to go to work and the unforeseen consequences. (Illustration photo)

After many nights of thinking, the male student decided to accept a job offer at a programming company in Cau Giay, Hanoi. Here, he specializes in web programming, producing websites for companies and units in need. Each month, the salary is 12 - 15 million VND and increases gradually over time.

At first, his work and school schedules overlapped quite a lot, so Linh had to take many days off from school to ensure his work progress. Realizing that taking many days off from school was not a good solution, he asked to put his study results on hold to focus on work.

A year later, the company promoted him to a higher position with a generous salary of 20-25 million VND/month (not including sales bonus). However, the company required a university degree. At this time, Linh was shocked because he had taken a year off and did not have a degree.

The company promised to wait for Linh to get her degree and promote her to a position that suited her abilities. Linh quickly completed the procedures to return to school, which meant having to minimize her work or doing it online.

Going back to school, Linh had a hard time catching up, and couldn't grasp the amount of knowledge. Struggling with the amount of content from years 3 and 4, he often felt discouraged and wanted to give up, but thinking about the future, the male student tried and made an effort to overcome.

In August 2023, Linh graduated from university. With a good degree in hand, he returned to the company. At this time, the new graduate was surprised to see that his previous job position now belonged to someone else. The company explained that because they had waited too long, they had to find someone else to replace him.

"I feel sad because I didn't try hard enough to study for all four years, but instead took a year off just to work. If I had tried harder in school and only done a few simple jobs that matched my knowledge, I would have graduated a year earlier, and my opportunities would have been different," the male student expressed.

Mr. Pham Thai Son, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, said that currently, part-time jobs are quite common among students, many students from wealthy families still work part-time to gain experience. In addition, many students from poor families work part-time to make ends meet.

According to him, working part-time with moderate time is good, it brings experience, finance, and allows students to test the knowledge they have learned at school. However, if students get carried away with part-time work, they will have to trade their time and effort. Worryingly, the work cycle makes them more tired and overloaded, and then their studies will decline.

Citing a student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade, Mr. Son said that in 2018 and 2019, real estate was booming. Dang was passionate about this job because of the high income and decided to drop out of school, despite the teachers' advice. Dang now feels regretful but it is too late.

"I encourage students to take on part-time jobs to gain experience and social knowledge, but not to become overly involved in it. Students often talk about people who drop out of university and still succeed, but the reality is that very few people who drop out of university actually succeed," said Professor Son.

Khanh Son

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