On March 19 and March 26, 2017, a training course on information technology and computer science skills was held at the library hall on the second floor of the University of Civil Engineering for 20 Microsoft YouthSpark Scholarships recipients and 40 Merali Scholarships recipients.

Students of Microsoft YouthSpark and Merali in the training

How can students set goals and manage time effectively?

Students nowadays often spend time in a wasteful way and do not know how to set long-term and short-term goals. Therefore, after graduation, they often take a long time to adapt to work and start work effectively. This is a major shortcoming in teaching soft skills in general education. Understanding this problem, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), collaborated with the Center for Education and Development (CED), the University of Civil Engineering to hold a two-day course to improve soft skills for female students in Microsoft Youth Spark and Merali Scholarships.

How to set goals using the SMART model (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timebound) is a popular model. At this training, Mr. Hoang Manh Duc shared with the students concrete and lively examples. Girls were divided into groups to do hands-on exercises to understand the knowledge they had learned.

A group presents how to get the salary 1000 USD per month when just graduating

Also, the trainer taught the students how to plan using the 5W1H2C5M method. (Why, What, Where, When, Who, How, Control, Check, Man).

Mr Hoang Manh Duc shared the method of 5W1H2C5M

“Applying IT to studying is necessary.”

Mr. Hoang Manh Duc, the lecturer who participated in the training session, said, “Information technology is developing very fast and supporting users a lot in studying and working. If you know how to use them, these tools will help you save time and increase productivity.”

During the lecture, Mr. Duc mentioned the use of LinkedIn to find a job and create a personal CV to impress employers, or use e-mail effectively with MS Outlook or synchronize data, Calendar, Note,… with Onedrive, email with Hotmail, outlook.com, create survey form using Microsoft Form for teamwork exercises, build online marketing channels, website, WordPress blog, fan page, Youtube, SEO supporting tool. In addition, time management training with Microsoft Calendar, using Office 365 to plan work are also important in the course.

Through this program, students feel that this is a very useful course and they want to have more skill training sessions so that they can improve their soft skills, which can help them feel more confident on their career path.

See more photos of the program. here