SLAMS ISSUE 7 Always be there with you
HELLO rmiters &
ELetter ditor
SLAMS
ROCK!!
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04
Con tent
16
Discover
SLAMS goes ONLINE
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02
JOBS
12
10 BITS & PIECES
Career Center
22
How to have a
GOOD
Internship?
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THANK YOU
NO
BIS
VOULUNTARY
degree ..........
BOUNDARIES between
-not a
DIFFICULT
52
SPIRITS
34 fromHCM toHN
.........
46
Content
The distance
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EL 04
ditor’s
etter
The SLAMs Newsletter has come so far to the 7th issue and when we set out to create this issue, we agreed right away that this journal will be a revolution for the SLAMs Newsletter, but at the same time, still remain our traditional value and purpose of a university magazine.
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So, what are the changes that make this issue different from previous ones?
irstly, our design team has explored their creativity to dress this newsletter
a completely new look. You might miss the familiar RED themes of the SLAMs Newsletter; however, we believe that the new dress without any specific theme is a sign of dynamic and refresh design. On the other hand, we still remain our core value of SLAMs which is “always be there with you”, therefore, the cover page is designed with a hand reaching out to express this message.
S
econdly, the first time in the SLAMs Newsletter’s history, we divide 4 catalogues of articles which are The SLAMs’ activities; My Career, My Dream; A Trip, A New Horizon and Insight My Favorite Subject. What you will find in the pages of the 7th issue is a collection of inspired and instructive articles written by honest and down-to-earth students who are thirst for sharing student’s stories, life experience and social activities. Also, we proudly have the contributions of many interviewees in order to make this issue more realistic to students. On behalf of SLAMs, I would like to thank our dedicated LSU staffs, co-editors, contributors and designers who have put great efforts to complete this issue. I also want to thank our friendly and active interviewees who have accepted our invitations.
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inally, our overarching goal with this issue is to please every reader not only in content
but also in design. I hope you will find meaningfulness and inspiration in every article in this newsletter. I also wish all the best to RMIT VN staffs and students.
Warm Regards, Ly My Nguyen
06
The
SLAMS
Activities “If we wish our nature to be free and joyous, we should bring our activities into same order” .Vinoba Bhave .
Let’s guess what was going on after a hard working semester? It was the SLAMs Party, where all mentors join and cheer together at the end of each semester. SLAMs Party - Semester A 2013 was one of the most special events in our experiences. Instead of having a lunch together in a restaurant as usual, the SLAMs Party was organized at Viet Climb, where “WE’RE GOING ROCK CLIMBING”. We were so excited and curious about new challenging activities. Interesting things had been started since all SLAMs members and the LSU’s staff were divided into 3 teams (Spider team: Nguyet, Giang, Sam; Skinny team: Duy Anh, Thanh, Huong and Mosquitoes team: Minh, Phuong, Van) to
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SLAMs conquer the toughest challenges of Viet Climb. There are 6 tough challenges: Speed climbing, Blind climbing, Top-rope, Core strength, Endurance and Balance. Becoming a winner in each challenge is like when you get high scores in your study. Each challenge requires unique tactics, special skills and hints. As a climber, you need to combine and use your skills such as adroitness, agility, observation and remembering abilities together if you want to become a champion. Warming-up and listening to rules and tips to climb safely and quickly are also the necessary parts for beginning climbers.
Yy D A E d RRea
I
n the Speed climbing challenge, each climber has to climb on a wall 2-3 m height as quickly as possible. The record of this challenge is 10 seconds. Unfortunately, none of us could even reach close to that. Sam, Duy Anh (0’22’’) and Quang Minh (1’30’’) owned the most quickly completed time of each team in this challenge. How to complete this challenge successfully? A hint here is that you need to have a quick strategy before starting. You should immediately identify where to put your hands and your feet certainly on in order to cut down the time as much as possible. The next challenge was blind climbing. In this mission, you have to climb without seeing anything; your team members will tell you where to put your hands and your feet to move forward.The feeling of blind climbing is really strange and exciting. Actually, doing team work is not much strange for us when we study at university; but, applying team work in this challenge created a special feeling for us about being a real team, together helping each member overcome the mission. However, Van and Quang Minh said that this challenge made their hands hurt. Core strength challenge was the hardest activity, I think, because a climber has to use a lot of mus-
! t r a t RT! toSTsA TO
BY NGUYEN DUYANH cle and durability to climb on a 60-degree aligned high wall. Of course, Sam – the tallest and strongest man – was the one who could win this challenge. Although trying their best, Minh and Duy Anh – 2 men left completed only a half of the way. It is quite boring when none of the beautiful ladies could complete this activity. Next, Top-rope, the most exciting challenge overall. This challenge made us feel like REAL PROFESSIONAL CLIMBERS because we climbed up a 4 to 5 meter high wall with the support of a rope. After completing this activity, Van said cheerfully “For me, this is my favorite activity as I nearly gave up when I got near the top because I was twisted and felt like I couldn’t make any move, then the others encouraged. And finally I climbed to the top and felt something as a great achievement”. Endurance was one of the last activities in the competition among 3 teams. This challenge requires each person to climb through a zigzag way (about 3-4 meter high and 8-10 meter length). Again, team work and durability are 2 significant keys to unlock the mission. Surprisingly, over a half of climbers passed this activity easily. The final challenge for us was Balance. Climbers start climbing to the top of a 4 meter high wall without hands, use only feet. It was probably the hardest one as you would feel you are going to fall
ROCK! backward. Maybe because it was the final activity in the competition, everyone felt exhausted or tired; so, only 3 climbers (Giang, Duy Anh and Quang Minh) completed it. This challenge trains climbers how to keep themselves unflappable and making right decision before moving their feet to another limb.
Although 6 climbing challenges had exploited our strength and power, there could be seen clearly smiles and happiness on our faces. Then these smiles became brighter when we had a pizza party together with supportive Viet Climb instructors. Talking, laughing, chatting, taking photos… all of them created unforgettable memories in our minds. If you only read until here, you could probably think that this is the end of our story. NOT YET. There was also a summary part and all winners were given special prizes later. The SPIDER team was the champion (with 7 points on average) in the competition and they were presented with 3 free cards for the next time. Staying in the second and third positions were Skinny team with 5.8 points and Mosquitoes team with 5.1 points. We also had prizes (2 very nice T-Shirts for the best female climber and the best male climber). Obviously, Sam was the owner of the title “the best male climber”. On the other hand, we were very surprised when “Giang” was called for the title “the best female climber”. We received a lot of interesting things from the SLAMs event in Semester A 2013.
HEY,
SLAMS KEEP
CLIMBING!
10 11
s
LAMS
GOES
ON LINE
By Sam Graham - Learning Skills Advisor LSU Hanoi
The LSU launched SLAMs online this semester at www.reddit.com/r/slams, letting you ask questions and have them answered without coming in to the library. Why is there SLAMs Online? SLAMs can’t be in the library 24/7. In some subjects, a mentor is available for only two hours a week. SLAMs Online means that you can ask a question at anytime, wherever you are. SLAMs Online also means that we can pool our resources. A lot of questions are asked repeatedly by different people, at different times, and at both campuses. Online, you can search to see if anyone has had a similar question to you.
What can I expect from the SLAMs Online? You should get a response to your question within a week. Don’t always expect to just get an answer. Mentors don’t know everything about a subject, but they’re very good at figuring things out for yourself. Sometimes a mentor might just tell you where you can find the answer (where in the book or a link) or how to do it yourself. This should help you learn better, too. Don’t forget you can look at others’ questions and the answers as well!
Who can answer questions? Anyone! We ask our mentors to check SLAMs Online at least once a week and respond to any questions, but anyone can answer a question. If you have any thing to add, say it. If you disagree with someone, say why!
How do I ask a question?
Check the How to... guides here: www.reddit.com/r/ slams/wiki. It takes less than a minute to make an account. You don’t need to use your real name.
What can I do to make this work? A few things: • Ask questions • Respond to questions if you can • Up vote good questions and comments with the arrows on the left of a questions/ comment. This will help others to see them • Tell others! So, give it a go! Ask a question, get an answer, and let us know what you think.
D
ear SLAMs,
Honestly, I cannot find enough words to express how honorable it is to have been a SLAMs mentor since it reminds me of the splendid and meaningful time I had at RMIT. Time flies; two semesters being a part of SLAMs have already passed and it still surprises me that although I have been around that long, I still feel like I have barely started. Having been through ups and downs, I want to write a few words to recall the best memory I had with SLAMs and share with you some tips to become a ‘hot’ mentor.
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I, at first, only thought about the certificate and benefits I would gain. I have been wondering how many of you also share the same thoughts with me; nevertheless I guarantee you that once you join this big family, those thoughts will gradually disappear without any notice.
B Pie
With great expectation and enthusiasm, I entered my very first mentoring day and longed for meeting many mentees. Nevertheless, my anxiety actually ‘ruined’ my first day at work. When I saw a guy in a green T-shirt walking around with a ‘Marketing Principles’ book in hand and searching for a mentor, I suddenly got butterflies in my stomach. Instead of asking him whether he was looking for me, I sat motionless in my chair imaging how tough the questions could be and how embarrassed I would be when staring at them without having any answers.
Finally, he found me. Surprisingly, the student came up with a couple of questions asking for explanation of basic marketing concepts. Normally, those questions were as easy as ABC to me but at that moment, they turned out to be puzzling questions in an IQ test. I tried to mumble the answer but nothing was in my mind, seriously. Fortunately, my mentee was unbelievably patient. He smiled at me and waited until I had regained my composure. Then, everything turned out just fine.
After struggling with the first day because of my flutters, I soon discovered that mentoring was anything but easy. The only way to overcome it was to prepare the best for my mentoring session. I spent night after night reading my old slides carefully, reviewed my notes and tried to think of any possible questions and answered them. The more I prepared, the more confident I felt. The following days went better than I had expected. Eventually, I finished the semester successfully as a mentor and the result could not have been any better. Not only did I get to know many friends in SLAMs, but one of my mentees, the boy in green T-shirt at my first working day, unexpectedly ended up with being a mentor just like me, which made me really proud. When I received an email from that student telling me how I had inspired him to study and to become a SLAMs mentor like me, I nearly cried. Also in this email, he asked me the same question that I had been wondering for so long about what exactly motivated me to help him so much during the course. I simply told him that he would find the answer as soon as I did upon joining this big family. It is the beginning of my 5th semester, a semester without SLAMs. I left this family, leaving behind some of me to the ones I have loved so much. The memories I had, the experience I accumulated and the lessons I gained will always remain in my heart for a very long time, not to say forever, for sure.
So, to my beloved fellows, I hope you will open your heart to SLAMs, join the family, appreciate your roles, respect your mentees and enjoy every single moment shared with the people there. Just remember that SLAMs doesn’t simply give you recognition and certificates, but a lot more than that. I’m not going to tell you what you will gain exactly yet. You should discover it by yourself. Just get moving and embark on an amazing journey with SLAMs, and then sooner or later, you will find it.
Bits & 1 eces 2
Along the way, I have accumulated some tips to become a “hot” mentor.
Never be afraid to tell everyone that you are a SLAMs mentor. Actually, tell as many people as possible you are a mentor. To be specific, once in a lab-room, I heard some students complaining that they didn’t understand some concepts in Prices and Markets, I immediately told them that I was a P&M mentor and suggested that they should come and see me. Guess what? They did come.
Keep your promises. As I experienced, many mentees will ask mentors for documents or papers related to their study and almost 9 out of 10 times, the mentor will promise to lend them those papers. Unfortunately, there the likelihood that he/she will forget, or be too lazy to find them. So, mentors, only promise if possible and never go back on your word. Once you break it, you will lose your mentees’ trust.
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By Nguyen Nhu Thach Truc
Do not forget to smile. Keep in mind that SLAMs is emotional work. I know that there are hundreds of things in life that make you frustrated, stressed or even angry but before your sessions, stop in front of the library for a while, take a deep breath and leave all those feelings there. Otherwise, your bad moods will ruin your sessions..
End the conversation with an ‘open’ closing. You’d prefer mentees to return rather than just drop in once and never come back, wouldn’t you? So end all mentoring sessions with an open closing to encourage them to come back, such as telling them the next topic is quite challenging, or promise to give them last semester’s practice questions for the next time they are back.
Be honest. Tell mentees what you know and what you do not. I know it is not easy for a mentor to admit he/she cannot answer a question. ‘I don’t want to let my mentee down.’, ‘I feel I will lose face if I cannot answer it’; yes, you may have hundreds of reasons for making up totally unreliable answers for those questions, but trust me, it’s best to be honest. Answering a question wrongly does not only affect your mentee and yourself, but also impacts negatively on SLAMs reputation in general. Share time and talk to your mentee as a friend if you have time.
After love, the most sacred gift you can give is your labor . Don Alan Pennebaker
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RMIT AND JOBS S
tudying is to enhance one’s knowledge by theories while working is to apply theories into practice. Working is not only for earning money but also for increasing your self-esteem. This article will introduce 5 students who are working from different fields. Let’s hear what they say about their jobs, their difficulties and what motivates them to keep up their good work. Proposed by Ly My Nguyen
Truong Minh Xuan Thao Bachelor of Commerce - Entrepreneur
Teacher at John Robert Powers A personality and talent development school John Robert Powers is my family business and I will inherit it from my mother, therefore, being a teacher is the first step that I choose to access to the business. Specifically, my job is to teach visual poise and dining etiquette for kids and preteens because it is important to maximize full confidence through self-discovery, image enhancement and communication skills. The result is that student will become more confident and achieve self-fulfillment which can definitely benefit for their future career. My job does not waste my time much because I only teach at John Robert Powers on weekends. Moreover, I also assist my mother in operating the school after classes in RMIT VN. I think that a good schedule is important for me to manage the work and the study at the same time. To me, working is a good opportunity for me to apply what I learn from school into practice because I believe study must be accompanied by practice.
“ I believe study must be accompanied by practice. ”
Pham Hoang Diem Thuy Teacher Assistant at VUS and Private Tutor
Actually, I intended to reject this offer because what came to my mind was studying Commerce and I should do something relating to what I am studying. I decided to take this opportunity because I want to be independent of my parents by having my own income and challenge myself through learning to adapt my knowledge to working environment. Since teacher is a highly responsible job which requires many tasks to be completed like preparing lessons or spending more time to assist slow students who are not as good as the others. The biggest challenge, to me, is the time management, especially in the period that I have final exams. T.A is an interesting job which helps improve my English skills by working with foreign teachers. However, the biggest motivation that encourages me to continue this job is to witness my students’ improvement no less than recall my childhood. To me, it can be said that Internet is not a good way to look for jobs. The recruiters rarely confirm you whether you are failed the application or not. However, relationships can provide you trustworthy vacancies. As a result, asking the current network for help may be easier for students who want to get part-time jobs.
“relationships can provide you t r u s t w o r th y v a c
Being inspired by my family, I have had a desire to be a teacher since I was a child. The dream came true when I was offered a job from VUS –which is being a teacher assistant.
s” cie an
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Bachelor of Commerce - Management
Mike Nguyen Bachelor of Applied Science - Fashion & Textile Merchandising
Founder and CEO at The Mike Style
The Mike Style is a new brand of DD&L Company, a Garment and Textile Company which was founded 20 years ago by my parents. The Mike Style is a new applied -fashion brand in Vietnam, and its mission is to design and sell clothes with high quality with very competitive price to Vietnamese market. In the first 6 months, the Mike Style coped with many challenges in recruitment so I had to handle all steps from design to customer service. Now, I am managing the website and Facebook page of The Mike Style (TheMikeStyle.com), designing new products and shooting photos to promote products for every season. It is hard to work and study at the same time but fortunately, I receive many useful of advices from my parents, and the knowledge I get from university also helps my business a lot.
In the first stage of The Mike Style, I do not open my own shops but distributing the clothes through other stores and the products are available in Ho Chi Minh City, Hue and some Northern provinces. I think the motivation that makes me work hard is my passion. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life" is my favorite quote.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life"
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Vo Thanh Hieu Bachelor of Professional Communication
Supervisor and Manager Assistant at The Press Corner
As my sister owns 40% of this coffee shop then I thought I could do something to help her to run the business, as a result, I did an interview and was accepted by the manager. My job is to supervise all workers in the coffee shop like waiters, waitresses, shisha makers, bartenders and cashiers to make sure that we always provide the best quality service to our clients. In addition, I also have to solve minor problems at work as well as external issues such as wrong orders or wrong quantity of products from suppliers. To improve the service of the coffee shop, getting feedback and providing solutions are also my tasks that I have to complete. I have gained many skills through working such as manage crises, conduct and analyze business plans, create events to attract customers and deal with working issues. However, I have problems with time management, especially when the final exams come or assignments meet the deadline. Every job has its difficulties, to overcome the difficulties from my jobs, I always compare it with benefits I get from the job and I am motivated by the benefits which are much more than the obstacles that I have to cope with.
My shop is specialized in luxury clothing and accessories imported from US and other European countries like Germany, UK and France. I had the idea to own this shop because I have great desire in fashion. However, since I had never had experience to do business before, it was quite diďŹƒcult for me to handle the business in the beginning. Fortunately, my boyfriend helps me a lot to operate my business. Every day we have to list out the tasks that we have to do in the next days and do the diary expense to keep track the money and expense. Wrong products and delivered time from suppliers waste my time to exchange the goods then I cannot distribute the goods on time to my customers as they expected. It is the hardest situation that I have ever met. Fortunately, after doing business for three months, I can solve this problem by communicating with my suppliers regularly. As a RMIT VN student, the relationship with other students and the reputation of the university help me increase the sale because my major source of customers is from RMIT VN. It is my pleasure and I'm really happy to share this information to other RMIT students. I wish you all success in studying and in your future career .
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DISCOVER CAREER CENTRE WITH PHOENIX HO! by Nguyen Minh Ha
The Career Centre was established in 2009 and aims to develop career plans together with students. This article will help students discover how they will be helped by Career Centre with an interview with Phoenix Ho– an experienced career counselor of Career Centre.
Q: Hi Phoenix, thank you for accepting my invitation. To start, could you please introduce yourself to SLAMs Newsletter’s readers? A: I was born in Vietnam and moved to the US with my parents when I was 14 years old. I graduated from the Bachelor of International Business and then achieved the Master of Education with RMIT Vietnam and the Master of Career Counselling with Santa Clara University. I have worked at RMIT Career Centre since 2009. Before that, I worked as a counselor at a non-profit organization that helps clients with substance abuse problems and as an educator at an elementary school in San Jose, USA.
Q: Therefore, your experience helps you truly understand the feelings and problems of students who are seeking for career advice. Could you provide more information about how the Career Centre can help students with career decision?
Q: Why did you choose to become a career counselor? Did it happened by accident or was it planned? A: Actually, I never had an idea about what I would do in the future or who I would be. I studied a Master of Education because I thought it was cool to do so, just like my friends did at that time. Or I decided to attend the community college just because it was extremely beautiful. In short, I had done every wrong thing that a youth could do before I realized what my desire was. I discovered my passion when I helped people realize their strengths and make their career decisions.aaaaaaaaaa
A: We have different programs for different levels of students. For example, we have workshops for students in the English programs to identify their interests and skills, strengths with the hope that they will eventually find the most appropriate future career. For newbies doing Bachelor and Diploma degrees, we organize workshops on orientation days. And students can come to the Career Centre whenever they want to seek help in program choice decision, job seeking techniques, and other career related matters. Students can drop in during the walk in hours without making prior appointments, or students can make an appointment to meet with our career consultants.
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Q: There are some cases that students blame their parents for forcing them to study the major that they do not really want. What do you think about these cases?
A: Actually, most of Vietnamese secondary and high schools do not invest much in career guidance for students. As a consequence, students will choose the major that their friends choose or parents suggest them to. After that, when they recognize that major is not suitable for them, they might blame their parents. In my opinion, these students are innocent. If students know their desires, research about the program that they will apply and demonstrate to parents that it is the right decision, I am sure that parents will believe in their choices and support them. Career Centre understands the influence of parents over student’s decision, therefore, we always welcomes parents to collaborate with us to find the best advises for student’s career.
Q: In case students realize they are not really suitable to the major that they are taking, how will Career Centre help them? A: We have many interesting approaches to motivate these students. For example, if a student is in accounting program but realizing his strength belongs to design, we will encourage him to join design club or any club so he can work as a designer. It’s best that students come and talk to us individually so that we can provide proper support.
Q: What programs is the Career Centre planning to assist students?
A: We plan to reach more students via Facebook and other online resources as well as organize more workshops. At this time, we have already organized Career Week, Workplace Preparation Program, workshops and networking events to create opportunities for students to communicate with HR managers of multinational companies in every semester.
Thank you Phoenix for spending time with us!
Q: Do you have any advice for students now? A: You are the only person that is responsible for your future career. Therefore, you should visit Career Centre if you think you are unsure of your future, when you are studying the major that you do not like or even you have graduated but not happy with your job.
NOTE: When visiting Career Centre, students will be given advices from a career counselor and workplace preparation sta to develop a career plan. There are various books and computer based resources to assist students to learn the career planning process and develop skills to adapt to the requirements of their future jobs. The Career Centre also provides a range of materials to research top companies to work when students graduate. (Source: RMIT VN)
g o a o e d v rnship inte
w t o H o ha
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by Ly My Nguyen With the contribution of Ms.Tuyet Nguyen – Internship Coordinator and Mr.Michael Healy – Career Consultant from the Career Center, Student Services - this article will deeply uncover what students should prepare for an internship. Moreover, we also get an insight from Mr.Nguyen Tuan Phong who has experienced 3 internships.
How should students prepare for their internship in terms of knowledge, relationships and extracurricular activities?
The more information you can access and refer to, the more you will under stand the position, the industry or company culture. This is important because companies hire interns that fit their company culture and show that they will contribute to the company. Students should enroll in the Work place Preparation Program (Course code - WPP 1000) the semester before going on internship to learn how to present themselves as the candidate who is the best ‘fit’. Joining clubs or doing volunteer work is a great way to develop some employ ability skills that all employers look for. These skills include teamwork, leadership, organisation, and communication. It also gives an employer an idea of your other interests and how you may contribute to the work environment. You can talk to the Student Engagement team in room 1.1.06 about the various activities you can join.
Before going on an internship, it is important for students to research the industry, company, and position they want to work for in order to understand what type of skills may be required and what type of company culture the company has. Research could include: Researching the company’s website, articles written about the company’s products or services, and job descriptions of the position you are interested in. Interviewing someone who works in the industry, company, or position that you are interested in.You could start by interviewing family friends or RMIT alumni, or using linkedin.com to find contacts. Networking at industry networking events to meet other professionals in the industry.
Not doing enough research is the biggest mistake students make when looking for internships. It can lead to students not finding a position because they aren’t highlighting the correct skills or experience in their applications, or they are applying for unsuitable positions. Even if they can get a position, they may be unhappy because they didn’t understand the day to day reality of the position or the company culture doesn’t match their personality.
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Poorly prepared resumes, cover letters, and portfolios, or not preparing well for interviews are also big mistakes that students make. Companies invest a lot of their time and resources in looking for and hiring an employee. Students must also think about it in the same way. Well-prepared resumes and cover letters or well-designed portfolios will reflect the time and effort that you invest in yourself. If you are willing to invest in yourself, the company is more willing to invest in you.
Within RMIT VN, you can learn more about internships from the Career Centre and the Internship Course Lect -urers within your degree program. When you enroll into an internship course, there will also be an Internship Information Session that provides you with more details regarding internship. Another great resource to learn more about internship opportunities is to talk to industry when they are on-campus during Career Week and the various Company Information Sessions that are open for all students. Look for announcements about these events on the intranet.
Take the time to do research. During the process of doing research, you will develop an understanding of which companies are reliable and stable.
Yes, it is appropriate to have an internship while you are still a University student. If you are planning on doing an internship, it is best to enroll in an internship course, which will help you apply what you have learned in school to the work that you will be doing in your internship. It is recommended that students complete their internship towards the end of their degree program as students may be oered full-time employment based on their performance as an intern. It is much easier to transition into a full-time employee if you do not need to return to University to complete more courses.
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Before accepting an internship offer, students need to think carefully about the company they want to intern for. Ask yourself these questions: Am I excited about what I will be able to learn at the company? Do I find the people in this company/industry inspiring? Do I fit with the company’s culture?
When you accept an offer to be an intern for a company, you have made an agreement or contract with that company. As an RMIT intern, you can only agree to be an intern for one (1) company. If you are not sure about being an intern for a company, you can politely decline and look for another company that is a better fit for you. Sometimes students don't realize that when they are on their internships, they are also an ambassador of the University. What you do reflects the values of the University, its students, lecturers and staff. RMIT expects its students and graduates to act responsibly andprofessionally during their internship.
Article Contributors Ms. Tuyet Nguyen Internship Coordinator, Career Development and Employment, Student Services Mr. Michael Healy Career Consultant, Career Development and Employment, Student Services
g on
After 3 internships, Phong collects some valuable experience that he wants to share to SLAMs Newsletter’s readers:
gu r. N yen Tuan Ph
He participated in the import and export trading in this company and the high competitive working environment improved his ability to adapt with the challenges. Phong also stated that after the internship in Unilever, he knew this company is a good environment for him to develop and he will apply into this company after graduation. In his last internship, he applied job to a foreign country - Helsinki, capital city of Finland with the assistant from AISEC organization. After 3 rounds of interviewing through Skype, he was recruited as an international teacher that taught global issues for high school students. This job made him excited because he can talk a lot as talking is his strength as mentioned above.
M
Mr. Nguyen Tuan Phong who is currently the student of Bachelor of Commerce – Marketing stream describes himself as an open-minded, dynamic and talkative person has experienced 3 internships. In the first internship, he worked as a Marketing Executive Assistant in CitiBank and he learned how to set his working style that fixes him the most and way to arrange the tasks to achieve the most efficiency in work. He also proudly stated that he had learnt many value experience and knowledge from the HR Manager of CitiBank. As a result, what he gained from the internship in CitiBank was an advantage for him to get the second internship in Unilever.
Enhance the research skill is important to look for a good internship Avoid to mention about your weaknesses in the interview Companies have paper tests to evaluate candidates then do not mention your GPA if it is low. Employers, especially in international companies prefer candidates who have good soft skills like teamwork, presentation, aetc. They also choose people who are open-minded and have good attitudes.
‘‘
‘‘
The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.
– Samuel Johnson
HOR
A NEW TRIP-
RIZON
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NO BOUNDAIRES
Voluntary between
Spirits by Nguyen Nhu Thach Truc
C
oming
back from a volunteer trip to Dong Thap, my heart is filled with love, memories and lessons. I feel a great urge to write down these precious moments to keep the spirit of volunteerism with me forever. I also want to share this experience with you and, hopefully, you will see volunteering as worth-trying , mind-widening
and simply, fun.
It all started
with a friend of mine who talked me into applying for this trip in a non-government organization, ECO Vietnam Group. Then, we and eight others Vietnamese volunteers together with 44 Singaporean, half hearing impaired and the other half from Nanyang Technological University, participated in a nine-day community project, named No Boundaries. We built a road and a restroom, refurnished a classroom, taught English and organized an exchange session with Vietnamese hearing-impaired friends. I joined this trip feeling both anxious and excited. I’d been desperate to travel for so long but I was too insecure to step out of my comfort zone, leave all the conveniences behind and go to a needy place. Actually, I had never even dared to bear the thought that someday I was going to throw myself in a long trip with people from another country, especially when I couldn’t communicate with some of them normally. But
things turned out just fine.
I had never even dared to bear the thought that someday I was going to throw myself in a long trip with people from another country especially when I couldnt communicate with some of them normally
The
36 37
DAILY ROUTINE
We met and soon those days lived and treated each other like a family. Every morning, we of living with woke up early, made bed, washed up and had breakfast together. When the my new friends clock struck seven, we were divided into five teams, got on a boat and travelled to our working site, leaving a “housewives” team at “home”. After four hours of working, we rushed back to the hall since none of us could resist the urge to “reunite”. In the afternoon, we continued the work; however, hot weather and the burning sun made everyone much more exhausted. After a tiring day, we came home with a thirst for a bath. So friends, at this point, you’re probably imagining us fighting for the human right to bath first, right? But no, we took turns and did everything in order and we, Vietnamese volunteers, decided to show our hospitality by bathing last.
.
About the food
I can say without hesitation that I remember exactly what we ate throughout the trip and it’s Every night, after the reflection of the day, we usudefinitely not because we ate alally did the washing together. Five or six people most the same thing over and over gathered in a circle with a bunch of washing again! *sarcastic mode* Since some basins, talked nineteen to the dozen in the of my Singaporean friends were forbiddark of night and reluctantly immolated den to eat this (religious reasons), while our blood to hundreds of mosquitoes out others were allergic to that, we ended up there. After that, as if we hadn’t seen with the only things that the majority can each other enough, we continued gossiping and never went to eat: pork and eggs, for the entire nine days. bed before 1 AM. Yes, you heard me, long live pork and eggs!
Five to six people gathered into a circle with a bunch of washing basins talked nineteen to the dozen in the dark of night and reluctantly immolated our blood to hundreds of mosquitoes out there After that, as if we at On thegbodawe hadnt seen each other enough, continued y n i work r u o r o f dy a e R gossiping and never went to bed before one AM road building was the most back breaking activity since we work under the sun After a tiring day we came home and thirst for a bath So friends at this point youre probably imagining us f ighting for the human right to bath rst right ouBut we took r dinningno hall turn and did everything in order and we Vietnamese volunteers decided to show our hospitality by bathing last
The art charm of building a toilet and its
38 39
Among the five different jobs we did at Dong Thap, the most exciting activity to me was toilet building. We considered ourselves as outstanding architects and artists, not simply workers. We did a serious deal of careful measurement, like how much sand and water were enough to make cement; we placed every single brick carefully on the wall, plastered cement on them slowly and delicately as though we were painting a masterpiece. Looking at the wall growing taller and taller, we felt like we were building a castle.
‘‘
we were buildisntgle a ca
‘‘
On one hand, the work was back-breaking; not only toilet building but road building, classroom refurnishing, teaching and even house-working, as well. However, on the other hand, they were filled with joy, voluntary spirit and pleasant encounters. Indeed, the people I met during those days are
In the warmth of the burn camp f ire we Vietnam volunteers t Singapo the hear impaired fr and the vill stood close to each oth khnowing t we were tr
gifts of live home
ning
Dong Thap has enormously kind and hospitable people. They helped us in everything, lent us tools and gave us advice to do our work and treated us like their children. There was a time when we were building the road and a villager living near the place brought us a huge bottle of coffee. I love coffee, but, surprisingly, my Singaporean friends were addicted to it. The coffee, hence after, ran out in a blink, so she went back to her house and brought us two extra bottles.
mese the oreans
warm
hearts
There was another villager that was called “Thím Năm”; she was our saviour. During work, one of my friends was attacked by a giant worm and the bites were extremely itchy. Thím Năm suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, just like a fairy, washed his T-shirt and treated him with her secret remedy. It is also hard to forget the love the children gave us. They often came and played with us, drew us pictures and also followed us everywhere we went, “like our security guards.” On our leaving day, they wrote letters in Vietnamese to our Singaporean friends, hugged and kissed them. At that moment, I know that I had already left behind bits and pieces of me to those little sisters and brothers. After five days, we finally accomplished our jobs. We said goodbye in a “Cultural night”, which was surprisingly delightful with special performances from all of us. In the warmth of the burning camp-fire, we – Vietnamese volunteers, Singaporeans, the hearing impaired friends and the villagers - stood closely with each other, knowing that we were truly “home”.
ring riends lagers ely her that ruly
e
The people – the villagers, the children and their
frankly
what I remember
most in the village in Dong Thap province is
40 41
ainsect dreadful
If you ask me about the deepest impression that Dong Thap left on me, I will answer without any hesitation: mosquito bites. Oh, yes! The mosquito, a small insect with a long proboscis was the most dreadful enemy we faced. Regardless of how much Soffell (mosquito repellent) we applied, we were all terribly bitten. Every little bit of skin that was not covered by clothes was instantly attacked awfully. After coming back to the city, I am still obsessed with that darned creature. On the first night at home, I unconsciously woke up at midnight and started looking for my Soffell. To make things worse, during lunch time at RMIT, my friend – also a volunteer in the trip – and I were eating and scratching at the same time, attracting tons of attention.
Let’s continue with my journey. After leaving Dong Thap, we headed to Ho Chi Minh City and had a wonderful, yet challenging time with the Deaf Community Organization HCMC (DCOH).
Breaking sound barriers
Some of you may wonder how I communicated with my hearing impaired friends. The answer is using everything I had. Besides a little bit of sign language I had prepared, I made the fullest use of my body and facial expressions. However, not until the exchange session between DCOH and us did I realize how enormous our barrier was. Vietnam and Singapore use different sign languages hence a message must be communicated from a Singaporean hearing-impaired – that were four times of interpretation in total. Now, I think you may have already imagined how difficult the situation was for us. But, you must multiple it by five, that’s how hard it was when we entered into an ice-breaker game. We signed, waved our hands and did a lot of things to understand the others. No one can possibly imagine that inside such a silent room, we played, laughed and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon together.
Mission accomplished
Every little bit of skin that was not covered by clothes was instantly attacked awfully After coming back to the city I am still obsessed
with that
A
42 43
sweet new friends memory with my
Right after the exchange session with DCOH, it was shopping time, in Ben Thanh market. That night, I must pretend to be a foreigner since I was told that vendors there would be really irritated when a Vietnamese tried to bargain for foreigners. Truthfully, acting was much tougher than I had expected. I was more frightened to be “compromised” than actually enjoyed the show. Looking at my nervous face, a Singaporean boy dragged me into his arms, hugged and comforted me like treating his daughter. It was so sweet of him though.
‘‘
‘‘
my new friends
There were times when I was in danger as well.
went wrong
A little adventure that
On the last days, we moved from HCMC to Vam Sat Forest in Can Gio Province, where we played “The Amazing Race”. That was really fun even though my team didn’t win. We all came out cover in sweet and flour. Anyway, after the race, I and a volunteer came back to the forest at twilight to collect things. The two of us had to carry two chairs, two 15-litter water bottles (empty but enormous) and two big heavy bags of stuffs. To make things more difficult, the road to the camping area was nearly impassable and night fell so quickly. We had neither a flash light nor a mobile phone.
We were desperately groping in the darkness, trying to find the entrance but instead, we penetrated deeper into the forest. We mistakenly got on a rope bridge once and walked into dead-ends twice. Luckily, my life hadn’t ended there yet (I thought I would be rotten in that forest), we managed to find the right way out and saw two friends who was looking for us. Almost bursting into tears, I ran to them like a little duck that had finally found her parents after a long day lost in the forest.
Dear friends
There are still so many things in my journey that I want to tell you, but it will be a never-ending conversation. And this blog is already ridiculously long, so please stay with me for the last story I want to share, won’t you?
The stormy
in the storm
On the ferry before the storm
There are still so many things in my journey that I want to tell you but it will be a never ending conversation And this blog is already ridiculously memory long so please stick with me for the last story I want to share,
Goodbye
It was the last day of the project when the storm hit us during our ferry back to HCMC. How fierce the storm was! We, 54 people, half deaf, were almost knocked overboard with the catastrophic wind. The ferry was so tiny in front of the cruel and deadly storm in the middle of the river. Somewhere echoed a scream ‘Die, we are gonna die!’. Right after the ferry reached the harbor; we ran off quickly and led our Singaporean friends to a safe place. It was chaotic and nerve wracking as the storm kept on raging, people running and yelling. This was not the way we wanted to say goodbye to our Singaporean friends at all, but, well, until the moment we sent them off to the airport we were as wet as a fish and our teeth were still chattering because of the cold.
What a
Time flied so fast
44 45
I returned to my normal life without my big family, feeling sad rather than relieved since I still own my Vietnamese and Singaporean friends, the villagers and children in Dong Thap an enormous thank-you for being with me throughout this journey and showing me how volunteering spirit can break all boundaries. I will always cherish our time together– those summer days we lived and worked for the same purpose: serving the community and learning to be our better selves.
‘When will we see each other again?’
I don’t have the answer for this question but I believe I can see those sisters and brothers more often if i keep my enthusiasm for volunteering.
dear friends This is the end of my journey. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I do. If this story can inspire even one person to pursuit voluntary work, it has paid off. About me, until next time, I might be back from another voluntary trip,
Probably
This is the end of simply said my journey I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it If this story can inspired even one person to pursuit voluntary work it has paid off About me until next time we meet might be Ive just been back from some voluntary works until next time we meet might be Ive just been back from some voluntary works until next time we meet might be Ive just been back from some voluntary works until next time we meet might be Ive just been back from some voluntary d n e e h t works until next time we meet might be Ive just been back from some voluntary works until next time we meet might be Ive just been back from some voluntary works until next time we meet might be Ive just been back from some voluntary works until next time we meet might be Ive just been back from some voluntary works until next
A LIFE TRIP IN
46 47
14DAY S
OF
LY VINH HUNG by Ly My Nguyen
Riding from Ho Chi Minh city How long does it take to travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Ha Noi?
to Ha Noi
It will take 1 hour and 50 minutes by flight and 30 hours by train. But, how many hours does it take by bicycle? Ly Vinh Hung – a student from Bachelor of Marketing has ridden this distance with his 3 other friends Sang, Tan and Sinh from University of Economics within 14 days. Hung first had this idea in the beginning of his last semester because he wanted to make a step beyond in his life and Unfortunately, in the next day, Hung sufhe achieved it. fered a severe stomach ache but it was 4.30p.m . andthey still had 65km to reach Hung and his friends started this to the nearest city – NhaTrang. Hung said trip to Ho Chi Minh City and their he did not understand why he could had first destination was BinhThuan. This forgotten his pain and kept riding to Nha was their first time to ride with such Trang as expected. They continued riding a long distance so all 4 people endto Tuy Hoa – Binh Dinh- Quang Ngai – Da ed up the first day with painful… Nang – Hue – Quang Binh- Dong Hoi – buttocks. Every day they had to ride Vinh – Thanh Hoa – Ninh Binh and finto a city to have accommodation for ished in Ha Noi. And their trip kept goresting, if not, it would be dangering with different challenges and the most ous and difficult to have a rest place frequent accident they met was their tires in remote area . had been broken.
the mos t memorable
48 49
accident was that the bicycle’s tire of Sang was broken in Hai Van mountain pass and it wasted them a lot of time to fix it. As a consequence, they had to ride at dark night to catch up with the schedule and suffered the severe climates . They had to ride through the heavy rain in Cam Ranh then experienced the North wind in Quang Tri and they even had to ride heading into the wind in Quang Binh. Four young men, first time riding from Ho Chi Minh City to Ha Noi, had a chance to gaze with veneration the beauty of Vietnam. They said they love the peace of Lang Co Beach, being amazed by the impose of Ninh Binh or called Ha Long Bay-on-land, and felt Quy Nhon Song Cau is the most beautiful scene. They also visited the famous Ngu Hanh Son in Da Nang and they thought Hai Van mountain pass is not as dangerous as rumour .
Hung stated the purpose of this trip is to self-discovery and challenge them. The beauty of this trip, to Hung, was not the view , or the beautiful nature, but the team spirit. They were dependant on each other in every detail. If someone’s bike was broken, the other would push his bike or four of them fixed the bike together. They was not scared on this trip because each person understand that no matter what happens, other members would unquestionably give their hands and made them go further. In addition, there were accidents even they had planned cautiously. However, they still finished their trip successfully because
they always kept their
will
and
it
them to overcome
difficulties.
help ed
g, Hun l o t p, fu is tri e beauti h t f o th eauty view or irit. b e sp Th he not t the team s a t w re, bu natu
‘‘
‘‘
s b an
Tu
52 53
Nguy
e
u T n
Not a difficult degree
Some students believe that Business Information System (or BIS for short) is one of the most difficult degrees offered by RMIT. Why? You may ask. Well, because in this degree, students have to study courses related to business and information technology (IT) at the same time.
Some students believe that Business Information System (or BIS for short) is one of the most difficult degrees offered by RMIT. Why? You may ask. Well, because in this degree, students have to study courses related to business and information technology (IT) at the same time. However, have you ever thought about this in a different way - if this degree is more difficult than the others, why doesn’t the university award Business Information Systems graduates with 2 certificates or at least one and a half ? As a matter of fact, Business Information Systems graduates, like those who are studying Accountancy, Marketing, Finance and Management, are awarded a Bachelor of Business degree. Therefore, I, as a Business Information Systems student, personally believe that this degree is not as difficult as it sounds. In this article, I will try to provide you a different view of the degree that I am studying. It is true that Business Information Systems students have to study courses related to business and IT at the same time, but this doesn’t necessarily mean being more difficult. The business and IT knowledge gained is used to improve the smoothness, effectiveness and efficiency of business processes by the application of IT in an appropriate manner. To have a better understanding in business processes, students have to take 8 core business courses like everyone in business degree does. To apply the right IT solution in a business process, students have to study IT related courses such as database, hardware, networking, and systems analysis and design. This might sound complicated and difficult but it isn’t that much.What would you think about courses such as International Monetary Economics, Investment Law, Risk Management (Finance); Audit, Company Law, Taxation (Accountancy); Internet for Business, Logistic, Management Accounting and Business (Commerce); Market Research, B2B Marketing, Strategic Marketing (Marketing)? I have seen students complaining about the difficulty levels of those courses, so why do you keep thinking that those degrees are easier than Business Information Systems?
You probably know that businesses in the current stage are driven by technology. Businesses without proper IT implementation might lose competitive advantage and market share or even at risk of shutting down. Let’s take Facebook as an example. I’m sure most of you are familiar with Facebook and some of you may be online the entire day chatting with friends and comment in your friends’ posts. But here, some brilliant businesspeople have been using Facebook to engage with customers. For instance, they create pages promoting their products and also allowing customers to comment on. This is a simply typical example showing how IT can be applied to businesses. I know that every degree program can make contributions to a particular business area, and so is Business Information Systems. The role of Business Information Systems graduates can assist to bridge the gap between businesspeople (who know nothing about IT) and IT practitioners (who know nothing about business). I’m not criticizing other degree programs or promoting the degree I am studying, so please don’t misinterpret the purpose of this article. What I’m trying to do is to help you have a quick overview of this degree and provide evidence to show that Business Information Systems is as EASY as the others.
Editors
Writers NGUYEN TUAN TU SAM GRAHAM
Editor- in- Chief
LY MY NGUYEN
Thank 54
NGUYEN NHU THACH TRUC
Designers BUI XUAN QUYEN
NGUYEN DUY ANH
LE THI NGUYET MINH
NGUYEN MINH HA
You! CAO HOANG YEN
NGUYEN MAI ANH
REFERENCES
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