A.

Rationale
Career orientation for student not only is meaningful to individuals but also has
important implications for the quality of human resources of each country. An
accurate career orientation will help students maximize their capacity and work
interest. Thus the work performance will be significantly enhanced. At the same
time, the accurate career orientation will help students meet the demands of human
resources for society.
In career orientation, a student is influenced by many factors: personal interests,
family influence, social environment... The level of impact of these factors on each
student is different. This depends on not only preferences, individual capacity but
also background, social condition of country and relation network in their lives.
There are plenty of factors; however, in this study we focus on the effects of
relation network on career orientation.
In 2005, Leoth Ferrazzi, the founder and CEO of the Los Angeles- based strategic
consulting firm published an inspirational book called Never Eat Alone, which
has instantly become the best-seller in many countries, including Vietnam. The
reason why a so foody-titled book has gained a lot of fondness lies under the
message of the author, which is the importance of building a good relation network
in life. Though the concept of networking appears to be strange for the
Vietnamese, especially Vietnamese undergraduates, it could be seen as connecting,
building genuine and lasting relationships with people for mutual benefit and
enjoyment.
It is no doubt that having good relationships would be priceless for those who wish
to climb the ladder to success, however, like many other supposed straightforward
things, very little attention in school is paid on exactly how relationships affect
students success, or else, their future careers and how to network effectively. For
that reason, the study on the effects of relation network on career orientation can
serve as a significant contribution to answer the question.
One of the main issues carried out in the study will be the correlation between a
students relation network and his occupational preference: how it affects his
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choice and by which way is he exploiting his network? Also, the study can help
supporting the consistency of the best-seller mentioned at the beginning of this
rationale, that we all benefit from a wide circle of contacts, contacts from all walks
of life, and they in turn benefit from their relationship with us, thus provide some
techniques for students to enhance their networking, in terms of both quality and
quantity.

B. Objectives
Concerning the importance of networking, Business Insider
(published May 26, 2011) wrote: Your net worth is only as good
as your network. In the context of globalization, nowadays, it is
undeniable that the flow of information and relation network
plays a pivotal role in creating career success. Nevertheless,
countless Vietnamese students do not seem to be familiar with
the concept of networking. In the light of this situation, this
study is to find out whether social relations take part in 721 third
year and fourth year students decision making for future career; thus it
will suggest some techniques to help students extend their
relation network and make the most of it.

C. Research questions
The following research questions guided our research:
1) Are social relations important for future career in the perspective of 721 second
year and fourth year students at FELTE?
2) How do social relations affect career orientation of 721 second year and fourth
year students at FELTE?
3) Do social relations help bringing career opportunities to 721 second year and
fourth year students at FELTE?
4) How to improve networking skills or building relationships as a student?

D. The scope of study

In doing this research, a survey will be conducted among a number of 721 second
year and fourth year students. Initially, this research would cover how 721 second
year and fourth year students set up their career orientation and whether it is
affected by their social relations or not. As the ones who are on the point of
graduating and participating in the labor market, senior students seem to be the
subjects having most clearly career orientation. In addition, since senior students
have spent almost 4 years at the university, they must have taken part in many
part-time jobs and extra activities which students in the second year might have
not experienced. Therefore, it is probably true that senior students have more
social relations than their juniors. Thus, this research is carried out in order to
identify the differences between fourth year and third year students regarding the
social relations they have and the impact of social relations on their career
orientation. Besides, one of last-year students concerns is seeking for internship or
job opportunities whereas second year ones might pay more attention to their
academic study. For this reason, fourth year students might have a clearer view of
the effects of social relations on their career opportunities seeking-process than
their juniors. This research would provide a general comparison between these two
groups of students by collecting and analyzing information about their career
orientation, the influence of social relations on their career choice, seniors
recommendation and so forth.