Foreign Trade University valedictorian surpasses thousands of candidates to be accepted into a multinational corporation

Tran Vy Tra, born in 2002, received a full-time job offer from Central Retail, Thailand's leading retail group, from January 2024, after just finishing her third year of university. To achieve this result, the Tay girl, from Bac Kan (old) had to put aside her inferiority complex, find ways to adapt, break through, and gradually achieve her goals.

Tran Vy Tra was the runner-up of block D01 nationwide. Photo: NVCC

Vy Tra was a student majoring in Mathematics at Bac Kan High School for the Gifted. In 2020, Tra took the D01 exam and scored 28.95/30 points, becoming the national runner-up and valedictorian of the Foreign Trade University. Thanks to these achievements, in the same year, Tra was honored at the National Commendation Ceremony for Outstanding Ethnic Minority Students and Youth.

Since receiving that title, Tra feels more motivated to continue striving.

However, when she first entered university and met confident city friends with clear thinking and outstanding soft skills, Tra felt lost and sometimes lost faith in herself.

But after a while, Tra realized that instead of just paying attention to other people's stories, she should focus on her strengths, balancing between studying and accumulating practical experience.

“At Foreign Trade University, many students focus 100% on studying and scientific research to strive to become a PhD student after graduation. However, I do not want to follow that path,” Tra said.

Tra is a former student of Foreign Trade University. Photo: NVCC

With an early orientation to work in multinational corporations, Tra continuously accumulates practical experience and soft skills suitable for future job requirements.

Since her first year, the female student has joined the school's International Business Club. Here, Tra has experienced many roles such as member of the professional committee, head of the committee and president of the club, leading a team of about 60 members.

Not rushing to work part-time from the first year, Tra believes that the jobs for students at this stage are often repetitive and have little opportunity for development. Instead, she devotes a lot of effort to clubs, organizing competitions and practical projects. Through that, Tra learns how to make decisions, manage groups, practice leadership and take responsibility.

The female student cherishes those experiences and believes that many of the skills learned during that period became the foundation that helped her confidently enter career opportunities later.

In the third year, Tra applied and had the opportunity to intern at a French corporation, in charge of managing input materials for the production line. During her time working here, Tra realized that the most important thing she needed to equip herself with was the ability to adapt and coordinate to create the best efficiency for her work.

Learn to believe in your own path

Thanks to those experiences, at the end of her third year of university, Tra decided to apply for the Management Trainee program of Central Retail Group. This program is for candidates with less than three years of experience, aiming to nurture and develop young talents to become future leaders for the group.

Tra and about 2,000 other candidates had to go through 5 rounds, from reviewing documents, online testing, direct interviews, to solving business operation situations. Tra assessed the final round as the most challenging because the candidate had to present how to solve a situation related to business operations in front of veteran leaders.

“At that time, I had just finished my third year, but I had already completed the program and had a basic foundation. I just tried my best, not thinking that I would be accepted due to the high level of competition,” Tra said. Unexpectedly, Vy Tra became one of the eight selected candidates.

Tra currently works at Central Retail Group. Photo: NVCC

After being recruited, Tra had 2 years of training, rotating through 4 different departments, each position lasting 6 months to improve business thinking, develop leadership capacity and foster innovation.

In particular, through the program, Tra had the opportunity to work for 6 months at Central Group Thailand. Here, she was assigned to develop a marketing strategy for a group of customers. Despite the pressure, for the first time presenting a strategy to the group's senior marketing director, Tra was happy to see many of her suggestions highly appreciated and even implemented.

“This experience helped me feel more confident in my own abilities. During the 6 months in Thailand, I also changed my mindset in the way I work,” Tra said.

She believes that when recruiting young people, what the corporation wants is not a candidate with a lot of work experience. They appreciate the way of thinking and approach to work.

Currently, Tra manages two general warehouses of the food retail sector in Vietnam and is in the process of completing a two-year probation period at the end of December this year.

Looking back on her journey, Tra said the most important thing she received was not the title or the opportunity to work internationally, but the confidence in herself. From a girl from the countryside, pressured by the talented friends around her, Tra gradually realized that everyone will have their own path.

“It is not necessary to follow someone else's path or achieve what others have to be successful. Focus on your own path and do well what you are doing to get to your desired destination,” Tra said.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/thu-khoa-ngoai-thuong-vuot-hang-nghin-ung-vien-trung-tuyen-tap-doan-da-quoc-gia-2466021.html