Young people should give serious consideration to taking gap year ( Illustrative photo)
A gap year is usually a constructive 12-month break taken from study or work in order for the individual to pursue other interests, which are generally different from their regular life or line of study or work. In the past few years, this concept has been a popular trend among modern youth to solve their own crises, especially those related to psychology.
Deciding to reserve a year of study at school and apply for a job at an event organization - a media company in Thao Dien Ward in Thu Duc City, 19-year-old Mai Thuy Tram said that she chose to take a gap year partly because she had just experienced an unhappy love affair.
Therefore, she was unable to concentrate and uninterested in studying, so she applied for a reservation at the school. She added that she will take a one-year break and will return to schools later. She wanted to go out for a job because she was not good at talking with others; therefore, she hoped to improve her communication skills more.
Anphabe Company specializing in comprehensive employer branding solutions and operating a management-level career community network in Vietnam unveiled results of a survey of its nearly 14,000 correspondent members who are students nationwide that 95 percent of Gen Z know what they like and don't like to work in. But another survey from Anphabe has shown that in the first two quarters of 2022, more than 60 percent of young people of Gen Z graduating from school and going to work within 1-2 years changed jobs in the first year.
Spending savings from more than four years of working on the gap year, Nguyen Thoai Khanh, a salesman in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Thanh District said that he has worked for three companies because of workplace conflicts that are present at all companies; as a result, he decided to take a year off to travel to release himself from pressure and rethink everything. He admitted that he had to monitor his daily costs because he did not have income.
Scores of young people groups on social networks shared their experiences of taking a year off to do what they like. Many of them took a gap year to start over, take a different direction, heal from psychological trauma, or travel, depending on each person, but several of them have been facing pressure when returning to normal life.
Deciding to take a gap year after three years of working in the banking sector, Nguyen Thanh Vuong, a 28-year-old man in District 8 faced a harsh reality. During the gap year, he started to make videos introducing the country’s beautiful scenes on a social network. He said that one year of rest and wandering is also good, but he faced financial difficulties though he saved an amount of money before taking the gap year.
Accordingly, he had to apply for jobs immediately after one year of traveling. He said that he doesn’t have experience in vlogs, and it's not easy to make money from social networks, so he gave up.
Just over three months after quitting her work, advertising designer Pham Thi Thanh Truc in Go Vap District also started looking for a job. According to Truc, a gap year is also good, but this trend is not followed by everyone. When she was a student, her parents agreed to support her, but now she has to manage all her expenses. Those wanting to take the gap year must prepare for their daily expenses and build an accurate budget; otherwise, they can’t.
Because she doesn’t like conflicts at work and the constraints of the office, she took a break for a few months and started working as a freelancer before finding a new company. She dared not to take a year off because she will feel like she was falling behind when others are moving forward after a long time break.
Gap Year is essential when young people need to stabilize themselves, but interrupting everything for a year and restarting is not an easy thing, especially for jobs that require updating knowledge, and trends. Balancing life and the pressures from work and social relations is also a challenge in the youth journey for young people to grow up.
