Student’s name: Dương Thành Trung

Student’s ID: 1712250028

Personal Learning Paper

Real life experiences

How could I choose a fulfilling career?

When I passed the university entrance exams and began to study in Foreign
Trade University, I had a lot of interests. However, which interest should I pursue
and try and turn into a job? At that time, I was really interested in philosophy. I
had read a lot of philosophies of many famous philosophers in the world. But one
of the philosophers I most enjoyed reading, Peter Unger, recently said
‘Philosophy is a bunch of empty ideas and there is no job in philosophy, anyway’.
So that was out.
I was really interested in investing and finance and I had even taken a
portion of small savings I had and invested them into authentic shoes at that
time. I knew that following the finance root would be a well-paid career, but I was
wondering maybe I would not make as much difference as I could in that, it would
not help the society. So in the end, it would not really be that fulfilling. I was left
with the question: How could I choose a fulfilling career?
I realized I did not even know how to choose a career and I read various
books, I went to career advisors but I still could not really find the information I
really needed: What skills should I learn now? Which areas are there a great
social need where I can make a difference? Well, it’s true that one of the main
things I discovered is that I have a lot to learn. Choosing a career is a complex
problem. I had done many researches and conclude that careers advice today
focuses on the wrong thing. Throughout most of the history, people basically did
what their parents did. I had thought I would follow my father’s work as an
economic inspector in the government. However, after finding out that the
environment local councils and government are working is corrupted and it could
not help me to develop myself, I quit that thought. Our generation grew up with
some differences advice in comparison with the previous one and that is you
should follow your passion. The use of this phrase increased dramatically from
the mid-nineties. After reading several articles and heading about the future
works of graduate and post-graduate students, I found that I need to move
beyond ‘Follow my passion’ as my career advices focus on and instead of asking
what my own interests and passions are, I should be focusing much more on
what I can do for other people and to make the world a better place.
When I received advices from career advisors, I saw that the ‘Follow your
passion’ rule have three steps: the first is to identify your greatest interests, the
second is find careers that match those interests, and the final is pursue those
careers no matter what. The theory behind this advice is when you get your
passion match, then you really enjoy your work, you are really motivated so you
are more likely to be successful, and if you succeed in doing what you are
passionate about you have a fulfilling career. This seems right, however, the
majority of people fail when they follow their passion (I saw this on a survey) so
the second step does not work.
I think that my interest are not a decisive factor, other things matter much
more like what your skills are, and what your mind set is. People consider
interest matter a lot more than they do because we underestimate how much
they change. When I was four years old, I was going to be an Iron man. When I
was nearly at the end of secondary school, I used to think that I wanted to be the
winner in X factor. When starting to learn in the university, I found myself
interested in playing video games with virtual characters. And now I am keen on
shoes, authentic shoes in particular, such as Nike, Adidas, Fila, et cetera. As my
passion and interest changed a lot when I grew up. I am not sure whether I
decide rightly or wrongly. People usually say if you do not try, how can you find it
is suitable for you? Therefore, I tried. I opened a small business online, a store
on facebook, just because I liked finance and shoes, ordering and selling
authentic shoes. I was happy because my interest came true and I could share
ideas and knowledge with other people who also have the same interest with me.
I gave my customers advices and recommends for them, I knew I was helping
them to get their favorite shoes more easily and effortlessly, it was a valuable
work. However, I stopped. It was neither because I had lost in my business nor
my passion with real shoes ended, it was just because I felt this field of work was
not for me.
At present, I am taking several works, including graphic designer, video
editor, coder, et cetera and various courses to an appropriate field for my fulfilling
career. Although I have not find it, I feel that it is very close to me.

When I am studying HRM, I have acquired a lot of new information about

the working situation and opportunities in Viet Nam now. With the influence of
AEC, Viet Nam experiences a lot of challenges and opportunities.
Increased in Human Capital
Perhaps the greatest resource available to any company is the workforce it
acquires and retains. As a company extends its base to a foreign shore, the
impact of that globalization on HR procedures will extend to current workers and
also to new employees. The HR department will need to increase support of its
current staff, as they transfer overseas to new positions. Assistance with visas,
work permits, and housing will be required, as well as training in cultural issues
and perhaps language acquisition. New local talent must be acquired and
developed, as well.
Corporate and cultural differences
Another significant impact of globalization on human resource development
is the necessity to consider cultural differences, both in and out of the workplace.
Businesses tend to have their own corporate cultures or ways of operating, but
there are societal and cultural differences between people as well. Cultural
norms within a society affect the workforce and how workers view their jobs,
especially in relation to time spent with their family and ideas about employment
expectations. Some cultures may also have varying mores about gender roles,
particularly concerning the role of women in leadership. While a female in a
managerial position is not uncommon in American culture, the same many not
hold true elsewhere.
Employment and tax laws
HR departments need to be prepared to deal with different tax rates, benefit
requirements or labor and environmental regulations. These requirements may
be in addition to or even in conflict with current corporate policies, so adjustments
to maintain compliance with local governments are necessary. HR managers
must become experts in issues that not only pertain to their industry, but keep
current with issues and government policies within the countries in which their
company now operates.
Long distance Communication Challenge
In a small, local business, the HR manager can ask an employee to stop by
the HR office to sign a form, discuss an issue with their paycheck or to handle a
policy-related issue. When managing employees over great distances and
perhaps in several sites spread around the globe, HR departments face a bigger
challenge in communicating with their employees. Often, they must rely on
technology such as email or conference calling to relay information, thereby
eliminating some of the more direct human elements of interaction.
I have found a vision and mission for myself when studying HRM. The
former is I want to have my own business, in spite of not having the exact field,
and the latter is change the air condition in Ha Noi. Initially, see that my vision
and mission do not match with each other. However, after analyzing it is really
sound.
VISION: There are many factors that create my vision. My interest area is
finance and investment, I am a risk-taking guy and I want to try things that few
people can do. Moreover, I want to have my name known by many people. So
the only way satisfying my passion is have my own business.
MISSION: To complete the mission, I need to have much money so this is
one of the important factors that form my vision. This mission is not only for me
but for many other people in Ha Noi. At present, there are many articles about
the air pollution in Ha Noi and the amount of fine dust in Ha Noi according to
many scientists is highest around the world. Citizens will get serious diseases,
including lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, et cetera if they live in Ha Noi. I
want to change this situation, I want that people have healthy environment to live
and fresh air to breath.
Forming the vision and mission, I decide that I must go abroad to study
more about the ways that foreign country are using to prevent the air pollution
and give these lessons to the council and government in Ha Noi to educate the
citizens.