Graduating with honors is still difficult to meet recruitment requirements
Many excellent graduates still find it difficult to find jobs due to lack of practical skills, not meeting the recruitment requirements of businesses.
New bachelor only meets 1/7 skills surveyed
A survey of nearly 400 businesses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City shows that new bachelors only meet 1/7 of the capacity required by employers. This remarkable figure comes from the Vietnam Human Resources Amélioration Report 2026 announced by the British University Vietnam (BUV) and Decision Lab in early October.
The 6 industry groups surveyed include: Technology and Digital Economy, Business and Marketing, Logistics and Supply Chains, Hotels and Tourism, Manufacturing and Industry 4.0, Finance and Banking.
The results showed that employers assessed 7 competencies of new graduates, including: teamwork and collaboration, communication, problem solving, adaptability, time management, critical thinking and digital competence at a very important level with a fluctuation rate of 74-86%. Communication, teamwork and collaboration are the most focused competencies for new graduates, with rates of 85% and 86% respectively.
Time management is the biggest shortage for new graduates when they only achieve a performance of 54%, while employers assess this factor as important with a rate of 80%, creating a fairly large difference. Next is problem-solving ability, the level of importance is 84% while new graduates only meet 61%.
The following groups have a smaller gap, when communication is rated as important with a rate of 84% while labor meets 72%. Digital competence is the only point that new graduates meet expectations, reaching 77% efficiency compared to 74% level of importance.
The gap between business needs and the capacity of new graduates
Speaking about this issue, Prof. Dr. Rick Bennett - Vice Rector cum Vice President of the British University of Vietnam (BUV) said that for decades, a university degree has been considered one of the most reliable certifications. The degree shows that the holder has gone through a learning process, been tested, evaluated and proven their knowledge.
However, Prof. Dr. Rick Bennett noted that the world around the degree has changed very quickly and universities have also changed. The focus is shifting from theory, academic debate to application and preparing for learners to enter the working environment.
Students are increasingly prioritizing industries with clear job opportunities such as information technology, artificial intelligence, finance, supply chains and health sciences, instead of humanities.
Sharing his views on the reality that many students have good academic results but still face difficulties when entering the business environment, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan - Rector of the International School, Vietnam National University, Hanoi said that the biggest gap does not lie in knowledge. It lies in the fact that the problem in the lecture hall has been designed in advance, but not outside the business.
A good student is someone who solves a problem quickly and clearly. Young managers must identify themselves as the core and central issue in a pile of things that no one has arranged" - Mr. Tuan said.
Three-house cooperation is a problem to help improve the quality and efficiency of training
Prof. Dr. Rick Bennett said that the previous approach was usually: "These are our training programs. This is what we will provide. If you want, come and learn. We know what is best for you." However, he said, society today is changing too fast for education to continue to operate in that way. Universities have had to adapt, and must adapt very quickly.
Agreeing with this view, Dr. Vu Van Ngoc - Director of the Institute of Advanced Training, High Quality, Business Analysis & POHE, National Economics University said that the connection between universities and businesses brings benefits to all parties.
For schools, cooperation with businesses helps lecturers and students access knowledge and practical experience, thereby completing training programs suitable to the requirements of the labor market. Businesses can recruit students to meet requirements, reduce retraining costs. For students, this is an opportunity to access new knowledge, consolidate skills and improve recruitment capabilities after graduation.
From teaching practice, according to Dr. Vu Van Ngoc, for cooperation to be effective, it is necessary to identify schools and businesses as symbiotic partners, cooperating on the basis of mutual benefit. The two sides need to build a regular dialogue mechanism, a specialized department on business relations and a common database system on partners.
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