báo cáo chuyên đề tốt nghiệp internship benefit level in different aspects to career growth among english majored students in hanoi university

While it is common among people to acknowledge that an internship is beneficial to interns, they do not notice the beneficial level of internship in different aspects.. There is a vast g

BO GIAO DUC VA DAO TAO TRUONG DAI HOC HA NOI TRUNG TAM DAO TAO TU XA

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge; the content of this internship report is my own work This report has not been submitted for any other purposes I certify that the content of this report is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this report and sources used have been acknowledged

Date:

Signature:

TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract

I Introduction

II Overview of the research matter 2.1 Background of the research 2.2 Previous Studies

2.2.1 Definition of internship 2.2.2 Benefits of internship

2.2.2.1 Gaining valuable professional experience 2.2.2.2 Strength Creation in the Job Market 2.2.2.3 Skills Development and Refinement

2.2.2.4 Network expansions

III Methodology

3.1 Data Collection Method

3.1.1 Methodological Approach 3.1.2 The survey Participants

3.1.3 Data Collection and Procedures IV Findings and Discussions

4.1 Findings

4.1.1 Demographic Overview

4.1.2 Benefits of Internship in Different Aspects

4.1.2.1 Gaining valuable experience

4.1.2.2 Strength Creation in the Job Market 4.1.2.3 Skill Development

ABSTRACT

In recent times, the strong economic growth of Vietnam has opened opportunities for more job creations as well as internships for understudies While it is common among people to acknowledge that an internship is beneficial to interns, they do not notice the beneficial level of internship in different aspects Therefore, this study is conducted for investigating the advantageous level of internship in several aspects Some major aspects are exploited to discuss in this issue, including gaining valuable experience, strength creation in the job market, skills development, and network expansions At the end of the research, some suggestions are included so that students are able to further improve themselves regarding this issue

Keywords: internship, the benefit of internship, undergraduates, hands-on experience

I Introduction

The internship issues have long been in the limelight and are increasing of paramount importance among students nowadays As a matter of fact, numerous organizations presently offer valid internship programs to recruit and seek the talent to commit endeavours for the firms Likewise, the demand for taking an internship among understudies is also accelerating It appears that taking an internship not only becomes an objective for students to advance in their career path but also being an invisible pressure for them There is a vast group of people who believe that an internship brings a variety of advantages to students; however, they do not clearly acknowledge the precise internship gain levels to the trainees in terms of different aspects

The objective of this study is to investigate the beneficial level of internship brings to English major students at Hanoi University in different aspects The internship impact on various sides will be detailly analyzed so that the last conclusion can enhance the student and others’ perception about the advantage level of taking an internship to numerous sides Recommendations and suggestions are also attached in this study to further improve this

concern

II Overview of the research matter

2.1 Background of the research

In the globalization context, Vietnam is famous for its quickly developing economy and a fast-evolving country, along with stable growth in GDP (Appendix 1) Thus, more jobs are created, followed by a wide variety of internship opportunities offered for freshgraduates and college students The internships cover majority of fields, ranging from economics to science and technology While employers can grasp the chances to take advantage of cheap labours to conduct the low level task which assists the completion of big projects or events (Pusiran et.al., 2020), interns are enabled to develop their profession background and a large number of skills That is to say, internship benefits students a lot in numerous aspects; however, the contribution of internship to each aspect is not clear Investigating this issue not only enhances the understanding of people regarding the level contribution of internship to trainees development in different aspects but also assists trainees and others in thoroughly exploiting the potential advantage of the internship

2.2 Previous Studies

2.2.1 Definition of internship

According to Jonathan (2016), an internship is defined as a period of temporary work for students or recent graduates that permits them to acquire experience and insight into a specific industry or field at an entry exposure level To be more detailed, the internship lasts between a month and three months and does not assure future employment for the candidates In addition, more businesses are now providing paid internships to eradicate the reputation of labour exploitation Meanwhile, trainees are able to apply knowledge to practical cases that are relevant to their majors, develop their hard and soft skills, and widen the industry networks at the internship

2.2.2 Benefits of internship

There is no doubt that an internship, which is renowned to be a foundation for students to advance their career path in the future, benefits students in various aspects Some notable benefits from internships to undergraduates will be thoroughly presented in the following piece of paper

2.2.2.1 Gaining valuable professional experience

To begin with, it is common knowledge that internships create favourable chances for students to gain hands-on work experience that cannot be acquired in the classrooms In other words, it is a great opportunity for students to relate the acquired knowledge in school to real work cases, experiencing the first hand obstacles they must confront in the job Having surveyed the nursing colleges in China, Wei (2021) came to the conclusion that the clinical practice among nursing students extensively advances their professional identities This is in the light of students being exposed to the patient examination process in the hospital that school curriculums and content are insufficient In additioin , the author stated that there was a negative correlation between professional identities and academic grades, emphasizing that the higher the grade, the lower the level of professional identity and the significance of internship to understudies Thereby, the authors emphasize the importance of experience in internships that cannot be practically delivered at college theories Besides, Seyitoglu (2019) is also in line with the above ideas that internship opens up the chances for

gastronomy students to familiarize themselves with the professional workplace which is in the kitchen They are able to get used to the working environment and obtain vocational experiences which generates favorable condition for their career advancement (Pan et.al., 2019) After working in a professional environment, students’ learning skills and attitudes are also improved Another research taking the sample of students in the USF Chinese Learning Culture Program—Tier IT by He and Qin (2017) has reach to the conclusion that the 10-week internship in China enables the students to be exposed to the most requesting, continuous, and authentic professional workplace and culture they have ever experienced Specifically, whereas permitting understudies to naturally develop new language skills and professional information by having observation on the behaviours of their managers and associates, the internship also adjusted its goals from cultures and language to tools that are required in the working environment In this way, participants are able to not only effectively complete their assigned tasks but also enhance their occupation knowledge

2.2.2.2 Strength Creation in the Job Market

Another advantage of advantage of internship to students is the strength creation in the job market, making them stand out among peers Student’s strengths are examined through their professional working style and specialized experience that are obtained from the internship That is to say, an internship is a shred of clear evidence proving that a student already gets the hang of a professional working environment and procedures As a result, employers save their time by employing their available skills and efforts and not providing training sessions for them Research exploiting experimental data from a resume audit by Nunley and other writers (2016) have proved that there is a closed relationship between industry relevant internship experience and employment opportunities Job seekers, who already had an internship, gain approximately 14% higher interview rates than those without internship experience This figure is even higher in those who get high academic ability noted in their resume Another research at the University of Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom by Goodenough (2020) asserted that undergraduates having taken an internship owns a good foundation in career planning and perception towards employability Thanks to their practical knowledge and perception at the internship workplace, students are able to form clear career goals and targets, including working environment, salary, company culture, and so on (Jackson & Jackson, 2009) As a consequence, they impress employers with their

careful preparation and clarity of career goals In addition, by taking Portuguese business employees who had previously either taken or not taken an internship as the sample, Pinto

and Pereira (2019) also pointed out in their research that students who are able to take

internships at an early stage are more likely to get a higher starting earnings than their peers There is little doubt that this advantage is desirable for myriad of freshgraduates nowadays (Henneman, 2005) More profoundly, people getting an internship are more opened up to international opportunities thanks to their advantage in the professional knowledge and

advanced skill at work ( Pinto & Pereira, 2019)

2.2.2.3 Skills Development and Refinement

Besides, it is undeniable that profession skills involving the soft and hard skills of students are ameliorated thanks to the internship It is apparent that internship creates opportunities for undergraduates to be exposed to hands-on work experience; thus, they can develop their related-job skills and figure out their shortcomings to improve further Students under the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program also show their enthusiasm and engagement by developing their soft skills after taking an internship at the clinic (Sasnett, Harris & White, 2018) To be more specific, students acknowledge well the importance of teamwork and responsibility as everyone played a crucial role in the operation process in order to meet PCMH standards On top of that, they gain chances to improve their written and oral communication, as well as time management skills as practices have constrained time and employees to commit to the PCMH initiative It is noted that understudies admire the contribution and capable aptitudes of employees that encourage them to develop hard

and soft skills to achieve further career goals Khalil (2015) also affirms the effectiveness of

internship in respect of skill development through his survey in Kuwait University In his study, 147 understudies ranging from years to years and majors have expressed their satisfaction about their summer business internship program through its contribution to their improvement in numerous skills More explicitly, some notable skills that are observed to have considerably advanced after the internship Some can be named were adaptability to the workplace, team playing capability, professionalism, computer and communication skills, and time management skill Participants in the internship also confessed that they learnt a lot from their mistake during the workings and then witness imrprovement in the next period As a consequence, it is inferred that the perspective of students at Kuwait University with respect to their career potential and engagement boosted after the internship

programs Another research exploiting experimental data from a resume audit by Nunley and others (2016) have reported that approximate 98% of interns are able to develop their occupational skill, as well as familiarize with the professional workplace environment Most notably, the internship gains in terms of professional skills can be applied in both their study at colleges and career in the future The more their specialization with that professional skills, the easier and quicker they get their job done

2.2.2.4 Network expansions

Last but not least, it is inevitable that internships extend the network for interns In other words, an internship supports undergraduates to expand their minds by establishing new relationships with peers and people working in their fields More significantly, the fact that these partners gave students sharings and recommendations has provoked their skills and career engagement Harris and other authors (2019) had claimed in their research that internship assists students not only in expanding their relationships in the industry but also give them a better overview of their future career Under this study, students in the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program were given the chance to have direct contacts with the assistant manager of a local clinic As a matter of fact, the assistant provides students with practical and specific knowledge about the job requirement, the working environment at the clinic, and the job prospects in the long term In this way, students were able to widen their knowledge about the reality of the selected profession On top of that, this novel relationship also facilitates undergraduates in the job search process after graduation because people in the industry have a myriad of connections and capture lots of information (Berger, 2012) As a consequence, it is noted in the writing that the interest and engagement of students was growing thanks to the honest sharings from that enthusiast assistant manager

(Harris et.al., 2019) Another agreement comes from the case of Heather Leary (2010) at

Utah State University who has taken the position as an ECT Intern in four months She claimed that the internship created favourable chances for her to forge many friendships and build connections with workers in her industry Most importantly, these connections not only supported her career by sharing information and giving advice but also become a companion in her life More explicitly, they became connected in light of not only similarities in personality and perspectives but also the respects for each other's differences Apart from

that, Leary was able to learned details about publication production by attending AECT leadership and listening from the experts and peers sharing regarding the above issue On the whole, according to the various arguments and perspectives of different authors based on numerous samples in different fields, researches have clearly shown that there is a myriad of benefits that internship brings to the interns regardless of their study levels and majors Some outstanding advantages that can be named are valuable experience, strength creations in the job marketplace, skill development, and network expansions

3.1.2 The Survey Participants

This study was delivered to 50 students at Hanoi University regardless of which year they are in In addition, there is no preference in participant’s recruitment experience, ages, previous internships, and education in order to ensure the quality of the research outcome Students in any year level are selected to take the survey because the results from this group reflect the most common viewpoint of undergraduates about the internship Therefore, the data can represent the belief of individuals at this age about the above issue

3.1.3 Data Collection and Procedures

The questionnaire includes multiple choice questions and Likert scales which are built to suit each question purpose More detailedly, the multiple choice questions are designed to

ask for the perception of understudies towards the significance of internship to them On the other hand, Likert scales show the insight of students in regard to various advantages of benefits towards different areas by allocating their perspectives in different ranks The survey was formed with the support of Google Form and distributed to students through the online network in two days, between 23 June 2021 and 25 June 2021 As a result, the survey enables respondents to actively answer through their smart devices The sample size was 50 which was recruited not based on any privilege or their traits Apart from that, all the respondents only cater for the research purposes in this paper

IV Findings and Discussions

4.1 Findings

4.1.1 Demographic Overview

@ Freshmen @ Sophomore @ Junior @ Senior

Figure I: Distribution of participants in the survey

Figure | clearly illustrates that all students at any level in the English department at Hanoi University have taken part in this survey, with the majority coming from the seniors (30%) Besides, the number of junior and sophomore takes up to 26% and 20% respectively of the survey respondents In addition, 24% of English majored freshman have been recorded in the proportion of survey participants

Figure 2: The percentage of students who see the importance of internship @ No @ Yes

Figure 3: The percentage of students who have taken an internship