AI and job loss statistics from the career website Zippia indicate that AI could create 97 million jobs but make 375 million jobs obsolete over the next decade. Approximately 400-800 million individuals worldwide could be displaced by automation and need to find new jobs by 2030.
Guiding students towards non-existent careers
The exact impact of AI, especially Generative AI, on the job market remains debatable. However, one truth is widely agreed upon: “AI won’t replace you, but those who can use AI will do it.”
Therefore, today’s workforce needs to not only “upgrade” their skills to navigate the AI-driven world but also keep pace with the rapid rate of change in various fields to avoid becoming “outdated”. Career counseling and equipping young people with adaptive skills have become indispensable, starting from school.
In the rapidly evolving career landscape, it is challenging for parents who possess expertise and in-depth knowledge in specific fields to provide their children with comprehensive and accurate career guidance.
Furthermore, the generation gap, the influence of globalization, and other factors can create significant barriers. Therefore, timely and accurate career guidance requires collaboration between families and schools.
Mr. Gilles Mahe, CEO of XCL Education, the educational group owning the Vietnam-Australia International School (VAS) and 16 other schools in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, emphasized in his talk with students at the VAS Talk event at the beginning of the school year: “60% of you will work in careers that don’t exist yet. Schools cannot prepare you with skills for professions that haven’t emerged, but they can train you to be ready for those jobs.
“60% of you will be working in fields that don’t even exist today. Schools cannot prepare you with skills for jobs that haven’t appeared, but we can train you to be ready to embrace those jobs”.
To achieve this, VAS has implemented the “University and Career Counseling Center” (UCCC) since 2017.
The career guidance roadmap at VAS is built on scientific principles, implemented consistently for students from grades 8 to 12, ensuring each student receives necessary counseling at crucial milestones.
The program provides practical counseling through personality and career assessments, general orientation sessions, one-on-one consultations, university visits, “Career Talk” seminar series, etc. Through this, students can explore themselves, identify suitable fields of study based on their abilities and aspirations, and develop concrete plans to achieve their goals.
The UCCC Process at Vietnam Australia International School (VAS)
Career guidance keywords: Survival, Happiness, Usefulness, Sustainability
Recently, VAS successfully organized a series of four “Career Talk” workshops for students and parents from grades 9 to 12, including: “Let’s step on the pathway”, “Into the majors”, “Accompanying your child to conquer the desired career and university”, and “Exploring student life”.
During the program, Dr. Yen said: “Career guidance should start with why and whether your child can survive, be happy, and be useful in that career”.
According to her, career choices can be influenced by many factors, such as childhood memories or a favorite game, a movie, a book, etc. If parents accompany their children long enough, they can easily identify what their children truly love and are suited for.
“Particularly, the influence of literature and films on career choice is significant. Parents can watch movies and read books with their children to discover their true passions,” she shared.
Regarding concerns about choosing the wrong career, she emphasized: “There are no truly wrong steps if our approach in each stage is wholehearted and dedicated.”
Speaker Hoang Lam, Founder & Managing Director of Etest Vietnam, Honorary Ambassador of Arkansas – USA, added the keyword “sustainability”. This is one of the trends in business administration and all professions.
During the program, speaker Hai Nhan, Founder and CEO of Geek UP, also shared significant figures, such as: IT worker productivity surpasses other fields by eight times; IT sector acts as a backbone, supporting all professions, and currently, two-thirds of recent IT graduates lack immediate job readiness.
Thus, one of the considerations when choosing a major is the value the field contributes to society. This is also an aspect of the “usefulness” keyword mentioned by Dr. Yen.
These figures also highlight the need for graduates to thoroughly understand business demands and the skills required in each field, thereby planning their studies and skill development to meet employer expectations.
For more information about the career guidance program and study pathways at Vietnam Australia International School (VAS), please contact:
Website: www.vas.edu.vn
Hotline: 0911 26 77 55
