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HANOI UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
----------

INTERNSHIP REPORT

Topic:

FACTORS AFFECTING JOB SATISFACTION

OF EMPLOYEES AT TUE TINH NOTARY OFFICE

Student: Nguyen Khanh Linh


Students ID: 1206080042
Class: 3Q12
Location: Tue Tinh Notary Office

Hanoi, 27th April, 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This report would not have been accomplished without the help of other people who in one way
or another offered their wholehearted support in the preparation and completion of this report.
I would like to extend my sincere and heartfelt obligation towards Mrs. Le Thi Danh, Head of
Tue Tinh Notary Office for giving me the chance to work as an intern at the office and for her
guidance and feedback.
I am extremely thankful and pay my gratitude to ten employees at Tue Tinh Notary Office who
voluntarily took part in the interviews. Without their co-operation and support, this study could
not be completed.
I also acknowledge with my gratitude towards the entire staff at the office for devoting time from
heir busy schedule to teach me how work is done at the office.
Last but not least, I am ineffably indebted to my parents, who have always supported and loved
me unconditionally. Without each of you, I would be nowhere near I am today.
Any omission in this brief acknowledgement does not mean lack of gratitude.

Sincerely,
Nguyen Khanh Linh

STATUTORY DECLARATION

I herewith formally declare that I myself have written the submitted internship report
independently. I did not use any outside support except for the quoted literature and other sources
mentioned at the end of this paper. This report has not been previously submitted to this
University or any other institution.
I bear full responsibility for information given in this report.

Hanoi, 29/04/2016

TEACHER COMMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1: INTERNSHIP AT TUE TINH NOTARY OFFICE...........................................................1


I.

II.

Description of the internship....................................................................................................1


1.

Background.......................................................................................................................1

2.

Details of Internship at Tue Tinh Notary Office...............................................................1

3.

Introduction of the office..................................................................................................2

4.

Organizational structure of the Office...............................................................................3

Description of the job...............................................................................................................4

PART 2: INTERNSHIP SUBJECT..................................................................................................6


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................6
1.

Problem statement.............................................................................................................6

2.

Purpose of the study..........................................................................................................7

3.

Research questions............................................................................................................7

4.

Delimination......................................................................................................................7

5.

Limitation..........................................................................................................................8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................................................8


1.

Definition of job satisfaction.............................................................................................8

2.

Theories...........................................................................................................................10

2.1.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs.....................................................................................10

2.2.

Herzbergs two-factor theory.......................................................................................10

2.3.

Expectancy theory.......................................................................................................11

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................12
1.

Research design...............................................................................................................12

2.

Sample.............................................................................................................................13
6

3.

Procedures.......................................................................................................................14

CHAPTER 4: DICUSSION OF FINDINGS.............................................................................15


CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS........................................19
PART 3: REFLECTION................................................................................................................21
1.

Objective.........................................................................................................................21

2.

What I have learnt as an intern........................................................................................22

3.

Difficulties during the internship....................................................................................23

Executive of summary
This report is a description of my two month internship as a requirement of the International
Studies Faculty before receiving a bachelors degree in International Studies. The internship was
carried out at Tue Tinh Notary Office in 2016. Besides the purpose of fulfilling the requirement
of the faculty, the major objective of the internship is to help students gain practical knowledge
in order to support theoretical knowledge. At the same time, internship encourages students
experience the real working environment. As a student of international studies, I have studied a
variety of skills and knowledge related to economics, international relations, development in the
past four years. In that period, I found out that I have a huge passion on Sociology. As a result,
when being an intern, I try to focus on human issues. My topic is Factors affecting job
satisfaction of the employees at Tue Tinh Notary Office. I have tried to have an overview about
the level of job satisfaction of the employees here and what can be done to improve that degree
of job satisfaction.

PART 1: INTERNSHIP AT TUE TINH


NOTARY OFFICE
I.

Description of the internship

1. Background
The mission of the Department of International Studies, which was founded in 2002, is to
provide students with knowledge, confidence and essential skills to become global citizen, and to
have an awareness of complex international issues. It provides a bachelor program which
requires the students to finish at least two months of internship program. In the period of the
internship, the students need to write an internship report with the topic related to the
organization that they work.
It took me one week of considerable effort to find out all organizations that offer internship
program involving my skills. After the process of sending an application form as well as CV, I
received emails from recruiters that called for interviews. After considering all things, I decided
to have interviews at Tue Tinh Notary Office. I selected Tue Tinh Notary Office because it is not
far from my house. Besides, it is a small office compared to other companies and organizations,
so I can learn a lot of things from the bottom to the top.

2. Details of Internship at Tue Tinh Notary Office

Name of the Organization

Tue Tinh Notary Office


260 Xa Dan Residential Quarter, on Da

Address

District, Ha Noi City


Phone: +84 4 2246 1666
Email: congchungtuetinh@vnn.vn

Position

Intern

Department

Records and Archives

Working Duration

2 months

Work hours

8:00 am 5 pm (Mon - Fri)


8:00 am 12 am (Sat)

Name & Designation of Internship

Mrs. Le Thi Danh, Office Manager

Supervisor at Tue Tinh Notary Office

3. Introduction of the office


Gradual socialization of notary practice is a deliberate policy which mentioned in several
documents and decrees. Socialization of notary activities is the inevitable trend of the notarial
profession. Notary Act in 2006 is an important milestone that allows qualified notaries to set up
notarial offices. According to article 26 of Law on Notarization, notarial offices can be set up
under two forms. First of all, a notarial office set up by a notary is organized and operated in the
form of a private enterprise. The second form of a notarial office is a partnership form in which a
notarial office is set up by two or more notaries. 1 Following that trend, Tue Tinh Notary office
was set up pursuant to the Decision No.333/QD-UBND dated 16/01/2009 of the Peoples
Committee of Hanoi City on establishing notarial office, pursuant to the decision for
transformation and operational organization in the form of partnerships (No. 4899 / QDCommittee dated 22/9/2009). In the process of operations with the several times of changing
register, at present, Tue Tinh notarial office is operated under the registration certificate of the
Notary Office No. 32 / TP-DKHD by the Department of Justice, Hanoi dated 18/09/2015.

1 Vietnam National Assembly. (2006, November 29). Law on notarization.


2

4. Organizational structure of the Office


Tue Tinh Notary office is located in 260 Xa Dan, Phuong Lien Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi.
The office was set up by notary Le Thi Danh and notary Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa and the office
was organized and operated in the form of partnership. The legal representative of the law is
notary Le Thi Danh. Pursuant to the law on notarization, like any other notarial offices, Tue Tinh
Notary office has its own head office, seal and bank account; operates on the principle of
financial autonomy with funds contributed by notaries, notarization charges and remunerations
and other lawful revenues.2 Besides two partnership notaries, there are other contract notaries
and assistance including technical secretary, notary record keeping, accountants, and treasurer. A
following model will help us have an overview about the organizational structure of Tue Tinh
Notary office.
HEAD OFFICE
NOTARY L TH DANH

PARTNERSHIP NOTARY
NGUYN TH KIM THOA

Assistance unit: technical secretary, accountants, treasur

CONTRACT NOTARY
NGUYN VN TIT

CONTRACT NOTARY
TRN V BNH

Tue Tinh Notary Office is established with simple and proper organizational structure, small and
medium sized. The office operated by four notaries and substantial assistance unit meets the need
of the job. There are two forms of notarization practice organization: notarial bureaus and
notarial offices. Unlike the notarial bureaus which are set up according to the provincial-level
Peoples Committees decisions, notarial offices are established by notaries. Moreover, while the
requirement for bureaus head is a notary and appointed by the provincial-level Peoples
Committee president, a legal representative of the notarial office is a certified notary. Tue Tinh
2 Vietnam National Assembly. (2006, November 29). Law on notarization.
3

Notary Office is run in accordance with the law on notarization and law on enterprises.
Employees of the office are recruited according to the needs of the job and the structure of the
office in order to help the office operate efficiently and effectively.
With regard to financial issues, notarial office is autonomy with budget revenues coming from
the contributions of notaries, notarization fees, notarization remuneration and other lawful
incomes. Besides the join capital, the income of a notarial office depends on the quantity and
quality of notarial services that meet the requirements of persons in request for notarization.
Other lawful income can be understood as revenues of notarial office when persons in request for
notarization require for proposal verification, evaluation or notarial practice conducted outside
the office. These revenues are decided by the parties to come to the agreement. Contrary to
notarial bureaus, the revenues of notarial offices after the deduction of tax obligations as
prescribed by law will belong to the office. The office has the ability to use that money and make
decisions without being controlled. The revenues will be used to pay the cost of their activities
such as: office rent, salaries of employees, the procurement of equipment, and stationery.

II.

Description of the job

I had the opportunity to work at Tue Tinh Notary Office as an intern for two months from
February 18 to April 18, 2016. It is a requirement of my International Studies Department in
order to receive my Bachelor degree. I worked in Records and Archives as an intern where I had
-

learnt about working in an office and doing paperwork. I was assigned to do the jobs below:
Administrating the use of the office seal based on the content of documents and papers for

appropriate stamping.
Receiving documentary and categorizing them in incoming archive and outgoing archive book.
Classifying and distributing documents to departments and providing records on request.
Delivering documents and reporting to the department of interest
Composing letters of recommendation and letters of working certification
Excel in typing and making photocopies of documents related to the job
Organizing papers and documents to store into records and keeping track of file circulation
Keeping the information of documents and papers confidential
Staying on telephone and fax duty
Managing and supervising the administration of papers and documents of the office
Composing short hands and documents, papers of the office upon the demand of supervisors
Welcoming customers and offering drinks
Assisting in meeting of the office
Involving in the enquiring of basic necessities (tea, coffee,) for the office
4

Performing other tasks upon assignment by head of the office

PART 2: INTERNSHIP SUBJECT


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Problem statement
Since Doi Moi policy in 1986, Vietnam has seen a rapid economic growth. Along with this
development, there is an increasing demand for human resources. Organizations have shown
major concerns about issues of human resources, specifically in employee recruitment. However,
the story is about not only recruiting the right staff but also how to avoid employee retention.
Employee retention refers to the ability of a business to keep their employees. According to some
research, when a salaried employee is replaced, the cost that businesses have to bear is 6 to 9
months salary on average. Others believe that the loss can be even higher, especially to a highpaying job. Staff stability is crucial to a business as it involves in many aspects. First of all, the
cost of recruiting a new employee which includes advertisement, interview, and hiring is
5

reduced. Besides, training and management time for new staff can be saved. More importantly,
the level of productivity is maintained or even boosted. As a result, an individual will find this
business a dream place to work and to promote their capabilities.3 If staff stability plays a vital
part then how can we keep employees committed to the organization? According to many
researchers, providing job satisfaction is a must. When job satisfaction is derived, an employee
will have motivation to work harder, which leads to better performance. Job satisfaction is so
important that the omission of job satisfaction often results in listlessness and diminished
organizational commitment.4 The research was carried out with the purpose of understanding the
level of job satisfaction of office workers at Tue Tinh Notary Office and finding out the affective
factors of job satisfaction. With the acquired statistics from the survey and data analysis, the
expectation of this study is helping managers get further insight into what satisfies employees.
As a result, they will have appropriate policies.

2. Purpose of the study


It is my intent with this study, which focuses on the notaries in Tue Tinh Notary Office, to
examine the fundamental elements contributing to the job satisfaction of the notaries, and the
most significant variables relating to the current level of their job satisfaction will be identified.
Such knowledge will be useful to the administration of the Office and the Lawyers Office
Managers in their effort of improving job satisfactions level among employees.
The purpose of this study can be accomplished by answering the following two crucial questions:
-

What is the level of the notaries job satisfaction in Tue Tinh Notary Office, and what are

the main elements of that level?


With respect to job satisfactions level of the notaries, what possible actions could be
recommended to the management of Tue Tinh Notary Office so as to improve job
satisfaction of notaries?

3 Merhar, C. (2016, February 4). Employee Retention - The Real Cost of Losing an Employee
4 Tella, A., C.O. Ayeni, & S. O. Popola (2007). Work Motivation, Job Satisfaction, and Organisational
Commitment of Library Personnel in Academic and Research Libraries in Oyo State, Nigeria
6

3. Research question
1. What is the degree of job satisfaction of the notaries at Tue Tinh Notary Office?
2. What are the factors that influence the job satisfaction of the notaries at Tue Tinh
Notary office?
3. What are the factors that influence the job dissatisfaction of the notaries at Tue
Tiinh Notary office?
4. What factors could help increase the level of job satisfaction of the notaries at Tue
Tinh office?

4. Delimination
This study was limited to employees at Tue Tinh Notary Office. It is operated as a purposeful
sample that is not likely to generalize to the entire population.

5. Limitation
i.

The information gathered through this study is only representative of the Tue Tinh

ii.
iii.

Notary Office where participants are notaries.


The data reflect the degree of job satisfaction at the time interviews conducted.
Communicating with the interviewees was restricted. This was mostly because
interviews were carried out in the working time, as a result notaries were

iv.

supposed to go back to their work as soon as the interview was done.


Linguistics was also a problem. The interview was carried out in Vietnamese, so it

v.

could be not totally accurate because of the researchers subjective understanding.


Participants could decide whether or not they would like to attend the interview,
thus leading to a self-selected sample. Even though participants were made aware
that the interviews were extremely confidential and anonymous and would not be
connected to their name, there is a possibility that they did not express truthful
feelings. Respondents might share their feelings in a way they thought they
should answer.5

5 Jacob, M. J. (2010). Parental Expectations and Aspirations for their Children's Educational
Attainment: An examination of the College-Going Mindset among Parents
7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW


1. Definition of job satisfaction
The concept of job satisfaction has been defined in various ways. According to Cambridge
Dictionary, job satisfaction is explained as the feeling of pleasure and achievement which you
experience in your job when you know that your work is worth doing. 6 Hoppock (1935), cited
by Rast and Tourani (2012), defined job satisfaction as any combination of psychological,
physiological, and environmental circumstances that causes a person truthfully to say, I am
satisfied with my job .7 What we can understand from this approach is that there are several
factors leading to a feeling of satisfaction. Despite the fact that external factors do have influence
on job satisfaction, internal aspects also matter.
One of the most cited definitions of job satisfaction is introduced by Locke (1976), who stated
that job satisfaction can be understood as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting
from the appraisal of ones job or job experiences. 8 Based on this approach, Hulin and Judge
(2003) articulated job satisfaction consists of multidimensional psychological responses to ones
job. These responses are considered to have cognitive (evaluative), affective (or emotional), and
behavioral components.9
Regarding the level of feelings of employees towards their jobs, two types of job satisfaction are
concerned, according to Mueller and Kim (2008). The first is global job satisfaction, which
means the overall feelings of employees regarding their jobs. The second type is job facet
satisfaction, which mentions about feelings towards specific job aspects including salary or the
quality of relationships with ones co-workers.10

6 Job satisfaction [Def.1]. (n.d.) In Cambridge Dictionaries


7 Rast, S., & Tourani, A. (2012). Evaluation of Employees Job Satisfaction and Role of Gender
Difference: An Empirical Study at Airline Industry in Iran, 3
8 Nature of Human resource management/ Job satisfaction (n.d.).
9 Judge, T. A., & Klinger, R. (n.d.). Job satisfaction and Subjective Well-being at work. 393-413
8

Job satisfaction in Robbinss perspective is individual general attitude about his job. However,
Mullins (2005) found out that job satisfaction is beyond an attitude; it is an internal state that
links to a personal feeling of achievement. Job satisfaction was believed to be the feeling and
attitude that a person has towards his job. His statement was all positive and negative facets of a
specific occupation play a part in the development of feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.11
It can be seen that the concept of job satisfaction refers to different things to different people.
However, it can be simply understood that job satisfaction is the comfortable feelings that a
person has towards his job. A variety of research on job satisfaction has been done, and every
researcher has their own perspective and explanation towards variables of job satisfaction. In the
next part, we will review some of the notable previous theories about job satisfaction.

2. Theories
2.1.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

A Theory of Human Motivation written by Abraham H. Maslow in 1943 introduced the idea
that human behaviors are directed toward goal achievement. Maslows Hierarchy of needs has
been depicted as 5 hierarchical levels within a pyramid. This five stage model can be divided into
physiological needs (four lower-order needs) and growth needs (the top level). Lower level basic
needs must be satisfied before moving up to higher level growth needs. 12 According to this
theory, a manager must know which level his employees are so as to encourage them by meeting
their needs. For example, the lowest level of the pyramid is physiological needs, which includes
basic needs such as air, food and water. As a result, an employer is supposed to provide his
employees with favorable working environment and meal breaks. Similarly, social needs are
10 Singh, R., & Gupta, N. (2014). Analyze the Affective Factors of Job Satisfaction A Case Study of
Telecom Sector in India, 3(8).
11 O, O. E. (2013). Job satisfaction and its predictive measures on job satisfaction of administrative staff
in South West Nigeria, 9
12 Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
9

satisfied when an individual has satisfaction in relationship with his employers and co-workers
for instance.

2.2.

Herzbergs two-factor theory

Herzbergs two-factor theory of work motivation, also known as motivation-hygiene theory was
published in 1959, which developed a useful approach to motivating employees. According to
the theory, job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are influenced by separate factors. The
characteristics related to job dissatisfaction are labeled hygiene factors, which include company
policies, supervision, and relationship with supervisor and co-workers, work conditions, salary,
status and security. Motivation factors bring about constructive job attitudes as the need for selfactualization is fulfilled. Motivation factors consist of achievement, recognition, the work itself,
responsibility, advancement and growth. 13 Herzberg came to the conclusion that job satisfaction
and job dissatisfaction are not opposite. The opposite of satisfaction is no satisfaction. The
opposite of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction. Eliminating job dissatisfaction doesnt lead to
satisfaction. It can prevent poor performance by meeting hygiene factors. On the other hand,
only by satisfaction of the motivation factors will lead to performance improved. 14

2.3.

Expectancy theory

Not providing specific ideas on factors motivating employees like Maslow or Herzberg, Victor
Vroom (1964) proposed an expectancy theory which concerned about the cognitive variables
related to work motivation and the close relationship between them. In this theory, three key
variables are concerned: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.15
- Expectancy is the estimation of an individual of the probability that job-related effort will
bring about a given level of performance. It is measured by the relationship between
Efforts and Performance.

13 Herzbergs Motivators and Hygiene Factors


14 Stello, C. M. (n.d.). Herzbergs Two-Factor Theory of Job Satisfaction: An Integrative Literature
Review
15 Simone, S. D. (2015). Expectancy Value Theory: Motivating Healthcare Workers, 5, 19-23
10

Instrumentality is the estimation of a person of the probability that a given level of


accomplished task performance will result in numerous work outcomes. It is measured by

the relationship between Performance and Rewards/Work outcomes.


Valence is the strength of an employees preference towards the rewards or work
outcomes. It is measured by Rewards/Work Outcomes and Personal goals.16

According to the theory, these elements are strongly correlated to each other through the
equation:
Effort or motivation = Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence
Vroom believed an employee is motivated to the degree that he or she believes that (a) effort will
lead

to

acceptable

performance

(expectancy),

(b)

performance

will

be

rewarded

(instrumentality), and (c) the value of the rewards is highly positive (valence). 17 As a result, the
expectancy theory provides suggestions for employers in order to motivate their employees by
improving those relationships: effort-to-performance expectancy (strengthen the belief that
employees are qualified of implementing the work successfully), performance-to-reward
expectancy (reinforce the belief that good performance will bring about valued rewards), and
reward valences (promote the expected attractiveness of rewards resulting from desired work)18

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
The following chapter describes the method and procedures applied in the study to determine the
affective factors of job satisfaction. Following sections are included in this chapter: research
design, sample and sampling procedures, instrument and data analysis

16 Parijat, P., & Bagga, S. (2014). Victor Vrooms Expectan Cy Theory of Motivation An Evaluation,
VII(9)
17 Lunenburg, F. C. (2011). Expectancy Theory of Motivation: Motivating by Altering Expectations, 15
18 Simone, S. D. (2015). Expectancy Value Theory: Motivating Healthcare Workers, 5, 19-23
11

1. Research design
This study was designed as a qualitative research. Data was gathered by collecting responses
from participants to interview questions and a demographic survey. Qualitative research purpose
is to give privilege to the participants point of view and to illuminate the subjective meaning,
actions and context of those being researched.19 Qualitative study is appropriate when the aim is
to learn from the participants in a setting or a process the way they experience it, the meanings
they put on it, and how they interpret what they experience. 20 For the purposed study, qualitative
was used because literature and theories about notaries and lawyers job satisfaction is very
limited, as well as research questions focused on exploring issues associated with notaries.
According to Patton (2002), qualitative research brings about a thorough understanding of
interpretation of what is observed and leads to rich data21
In more detail, the qualitative research method Structured interviews will be adopted. A
structured interview is a sequence of questions in which participants are asked in the same order
and the same way. However, this may leads to some drawbacks, consisting of limited flexibility
in linking the interview to specific individuals and cases; the naturalness and consistence of
questions and answers are constrained due to the standardized wording of questions. 22 This
interview was composed of 4 open-ended questions derived from the previous research study (in
addition to the general information of the participants), they are listed as follows23:
1) How satisfied are you with your job?
2) What factors affect your level of job satisfaction?
19 Fossey, E., Harvey, C., McDermott, F., & Davidson, L. (2002). Understanding and Evaluating
Qualitative Research, 717-732
20 Atieno, O. P. (2009). AN ANALYSIS OF THE STRENGTHS AND LIMITATION OF
QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH PARADIGMS. Problems of Education in the 21st
Century
21 Dimitris, V., Sotiropoulos, I., Georgakopoulos, G., & Galanou, E. (2010). The Effect of Reward
System on Job Satisfaction in an Organizational Chart of Four Hierarchical Levels, 6, 102-123
22 Sung, T. S. (1999). Job satisfaction among special education teachers of special schools for severe
grade mentally handicapped children in Hong Kong (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Hong
Kong.
12

3) What brings about dissatisfaction on your job?


4) What do you think your employer can do to increase your level of satisfaction?

2. Sample
Respondents were 10 notaries at Tue Tinh Notary Office. All of the participants were interviewed
in Vietnamese, which helps them not only have a better understanding of questions but they also
feel more relaxed to express their feelings. The sample populations attendance at this study was
completely voluntary. The profile of research attendants are shown in the following table.

Participant

Gender

Age

Marriage status

Education

Tenure

Male

34

Married

Bachelor

Male

52

Married

Bachelor

Male

27

Married

Bachelor

Female

24

Single

Bachelor

1.5

Female

25

Single

Bachelor

Male

31

Married

Bachelor

3.5

Male

27

Single

Bachelor

Female

45

Married

Bachelor

Male

32

Married

Bachelor

2.5

Female

24

Single

Bachelor

23 Ogbonnikan, E. O. (2012). JOB SATISFACTION AND EFFICIENCY AMONG HOTEL WORKERS


Case Study of Giant Star Hotel Lagos, Nigeria (Unpublished master's thesis). CENTRAL
OSTROBOTHNIA UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
13

Among the 10 notaries who were interviewed, six of them are male, and the other four are
female. Their age varies from 24 to 52 years old, four are single and the other six are married.
Their tenure ranges from 1 year up to 7 years. All of the respondents have a bachelor degree.

3. Procedures
Prior to study implementation, the demographic questions as well as four open-ended questions
were given to 4 notaries (not included in the sample) to complete as a trial interview of the length
of time to complete together with identifying unclear questions, spelling mistakes or sensitive
questions order. Additionally, changes were made to clarify questions and correct typing
mistakes according to trial response. Finally, all of the questions were revised before conducting.
The first part of the interview is demographic data. Each notary was asked to give some
information related to his or her gender, age, marital status, education background and years of
experience together with interview questions about his or her job satisfaction. The first question
asked participants about their overall level of job satisfaction. The next two questions asked
respondents about factors that drove their level of job satisfaction as well as job dissatisfaction,
which helped the notaries to discover the relation between job satisfaction in general and other
facets of job satisfaction. The last question asked participants point of view in terms of things
should be done by employers to increase the level of job satisfaction.
We used face to face instrument. Each notary was contacted in person so as to figure out if they
would take part in the personal interviews which last about 40 minutes. Some of them turned
down. Finally we have 10 voluntary respondents. Each of them was told that their participation
was extremely confidential.
Ten notaries were interviewed formally and all interviews were audiotaped and documented with
written notes. All participants were acknowledged that their interviews are transcribed and
translated into English. The interviews period occurred from March 1st to March 24th 2016.

14

CHAPTER 4: DICUSSION OF FINDINGS


1. Question 1: How satisfied are you with your job?
Question 1 discussed about the notaries degree of satisfaction. Three participants felt satisfied,
four participants felt neutral and the rest three participants felt dissatisfied. That means one third
of the participants claimed that they were satisfied with their job. This group said that working
with people was a driving factor in their degree of job satisfaction. Participant A stated, I would
say Im very satisfied with this job. I think that my job is very important and I cant imagine how
the society would be without us. Participant D share her thoughts, Our job involves in
interacting with people every day. Sometimes, besides the official work, we also act as
psychologists when we hear stories from our customers. That is interesting. Remarkably,
working with people was also a driving factor leading to the feeling of dissatisfaction of three
participants. Participants B shared, I would say my job satisfaction is quite low. I often have to
work with annoying customers. Some of them are very impolite; some tell you every detail about
their life story. Four participants felt neutral about their job which means they are neither
satisfied nor dissatisfied about the job. Participant G stated, I would not say Im satisfied with
the job or not, I feel quite normal. Everything is just fine to me. I rely on this job to earn a living.
That is it.

2. Question 2: What factors affect your level of satisfaction?


Question 2 explored elements that affect this level of job satisfaction. Responses from
participants showed that this degree of job satisfaction is driven by many factors. Factors are
different to different participants. Those factors include: financial payments, recognition and
achievement, relationships with colleagues, and work conditions. To three participants, good
relationship with colleagues was the driving factor that brings about their job satisfaction.
Participant D shared, Some of my colleagues and I became good friends. We shared a lot of
things, with regard to work issues or even personal issues. They have been supported me a lot
since I started working here one year ago. When I first worked here, I tackled with many
difficulties in terms of working style and communicating with customers. As a result, I felt really
stressful. However, some of colleagues told me what I need to do to handle all this stuff. I really
15

appreciate their help. Participant E expressed her feelings, My relationship with colleagues is
definitely the reason why I still work here. We formed a close friendship. We hang out together;
go to the gym three times a week and many other things. We take care of each other. In terms of
financial payments, three participants stated that monetary factor was the motivating factor for
their job satisfaction. I graduated from university last year. I was supposed to have a job as soon
as possible in order to share the economic burden with my family. This job offered good salary
so I am quite satisfied. (Participant H). If you do excellent work, the bonus is quite big.
Moreover, before national holidays, all employees get an annual bonus. Such generosity makes
me satisfied. (Participant K). Two participants mentioned that it was work conditions which
drive their job satisfaction, i.e The working hours are really fine to me. I can balance my work
and my family life. (Participant B). I feel much secured to work in that working environment
(Participant I).

3. Question 3: What brings about dissatisfaction on your job?


Question 3 explored factors that drive the level of job dissatisfaction. Poor relationship with
colleagues was one of the factors. Surprisingly, relationship with co-workers is very important to
some people and is the factor leading to their job satisfaction; however, it does not work the
same way to the other. I do not think that my colleagues really care about me. They just pretend
to do that. I remember when I first working here, I had difficulty in getting used to
administration work, computers and photocopy machines. A girl helped me, and she expressed
sympathy for me. At that time I thought she was such a nice girl. However, I found out that she
talked behind my back. I was very upset. (Participant H). Recognition from boss was also a
factor driving the level of job dissatisfaction. Participant K shared, I feel very upset when I have
never been appointed to a position of trust. It seems like I still do not do the work well enough to
earn her trust. I try very hard, I do not mind working overtime, but she does not recognize me. I
just want my boss to recognize all my effort and appreciate what I have contributed. One time
my boss saw me surfing the web during working hours, she was not satisfied. She thought I was
a lazy employee. I do not do that regularly, only when we do not have customers. Since that day,
she often keeps her eyes on me. Even though I try to devote all of my effort, my boss does not
really appreciate that. Besides two factors above, the thing that leads to job dissatisfaction of
some participants is customer. When asked what factors contribute to the level of job
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dissatisfaction, one responded, The nature of our job is interacting with customers every day.
We meet all kinds of people. There are some people that are really annoying. For example, when
our office is full of clients, the latter is asked to wait. It is custom law, you know, first come first
serve. However, there are impolite people; they do not want to wait and they make such a fuss.
Another element brings about job dissatisfaction is work load. Participant A stated, Sometimes I
feel like work load is too great to me. I have too much irrelevant work to do. However, more
work does not mean that you are more recognized.

4. Question 4: What do you think your employer can do to increase


your level of satisfaction?
Participant F addressed needed improvement with this opinion:
What should be done to increase my personal job satisfaction is raising my wage. If you are in
your twenty-something, and you have your parents take care of you then this amount of salary is
fine. However, when you get married and have a whole family count on you, you will have a lot
of things to think about. Sometimes, my job requires me to work overtime, but more working
hours does not mean receiving much more money. The bonus is not reasonable to me.
Participant C needed some healthy competition in the office.
What needed to be done to improve the level of job satisfaction of the employees? Well, I
think we need more motivation by competing fairly. Each month, the office should vote for one
person with the title Best employee of the month. This person can be the one that has the
highest number of customers or the one who performs the work professionally. In my opinion,
this kind of competition will encourage people to try harder.
Participant K expressed, Everything is quite simple to me. Life is not all about money. What can
increase my personal job satisfaction is mental life. I hope that my employer can pay more
attention to our mental life. Small gifts or bonus before holidays are really appreciated. That
means the boss cares about his or her employees. It would be much greater if every year the
office can have vacation together. Spending time together besides working hours help everyone
know more about each other and buildup a close relationship among people.

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From the perspective of participant I, expressions of appreciation and acknowledgement of effort


are necessary in order to increase the level of job satisfaction.
Do you know the rule of esteem? It is believed that people always need praise and
recognition. I remember a quote of Mark Twain: I can live for two months on a good
compliment. Im sure that you know what it means. When we were children, we wanted our
parents to applause when we did something good. The story is still true until we grow older.
Recognition and appreciation from the boss is something that can improve my job satisfaction a
lot. If I were an employer, I would observe my employees closely. I would pay attention to their
effort and gave them compliments on their work. I would thank them for continuously working
and contributing for the office. It really matters.
From all opinions and ideas above, we can see that there are three main factors that these
participants think their boss should do so as to increase their job satisfaction: salary, mental life
and recognition from employers.

CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS


10 notaries at Tue Tinh Notary Office voluntarily participated in the interview to find out what
factors leading to their job satisfaction. The review of previous literature along with interviews
with 10 participants helps researcher come to conclusions.
Conclusions from the study
Conclusions from this study were determined by the research questions involving the factors that
lead to the level of job satisfaction of employees at Tue Tinh Notary Office. The process of data
18

analysis is based on the interviews of 10 voluntary participants. The main points for this study
are:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The level of job satisfaction for notaries,


Factors driving this level of job satisfaction,
Factors contributing to the degree of job dissatisfaction, and
What needed to be done to increase the level of job satisfaction for notaries.
The level of job satisfaction for notaries
Research question 1: What is the degree of job satisfaction of the notaries at Tue Tinh Notary
Office?
Findings
One third of the participants feel satisfied with their job and the number of participants that feel
dissatisfied with their job is exactly the same. Four out of ten participants find moderate about
their job, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
Factors driving this level of job satisfaction
Research question 2: What are the factors that influence the job satisfaction of the notaries at Tue
Tinh Notary office?
Findings
When asked what factors bring about the sense of job satisfaction, the majority of participants
said financial payment and work condition provide them the tremendous satisfaction in their
jobs. Relationships with colleagues were also essential to participants. Besides, recognition is
another factor that affects their level of job satisfaction.
Factors contributing to the degree of job dissatisfaction
Research question 3: What are the factors that influence the job dissatisfaction of the notaries at
Tue Tinh Notary Office?
Findings
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If relationship with colleagues is the factor leading to job satisfaction of the employees, it is also
the factors that influence the job dissatisfaction of the notaries. Poor relationship with co-workers
was considered a main component of their job dissatisfaction. They found out that their
colleagues do not provide wholehearted support for each other and the daily interaction is too
formal. Annoying customers are another huge element in their job dissatisfaction. A job that is
supposed to communicate with a lot of customers every day causes study participants stressful.
When asked about job dissatisfaction, participants also mentioned about financial payment
factor. Work load and recognition from employers are two final factors raised by study
participants when talking about elements that drive the level of their job dissatisfaction.
What needed to be done to increase the level of job satisfaction for notaries
Research question 4: What factors could help increase the level of job satisfaction of the notaries
at Tue Tinh Office?
Findings
After asking participants about their level of job satisfaction, factors that drive their degree of job
satisfaction as well as factors leading to their job dissatisfaction, the interviews came to the final
question that was about what needed to be done to increase the level of job satisfaction of the
employees. Three themes are found out: increase in salary, healthy competition in the office, and
expressions of recognition and acknowledgement of effort from employers.

PART 3: REFLECTION
In this part I reflect on my internship. First of all, I will point out my objectives before working
at Tue Tinh Notary office, and then I will discuss my experience to see whether I achieved my
objectives. Moreover, difficulties and challenges during the internship will be discussed and
lessons learnt are taken.

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1. Objective
The main objective of the internship is to satisfy the requirement of the faculty in order to
receive bachelor degree. Along with that, the goal of the internship is to obtain practical
knowledge and experience the real working environment.
To be more specific, the objectives of the internship were as follow:
-

By the end of the internship, I will improve my Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel skills.
By the middle of the internship, I will conduct interviews to gather information for my topic

involving the level of job satisfaction of the employees at the office.


By the middle of the internship, I will manipulate the knowledge acquired in subject Research

Methodology to analyze information from the interviews and discuss the findings.
By the end of my internship, I will obtain practical experience in the real working environment.
By the end of my internship, I will develop stronger people skills when working with people of

diverse backgrounds.
By the end of my internship, I want to build my self-reliance and self-confidence in a real

working environment
By the end of my internship, I will improve my organizational skills, especially my time
management skills and priorities setting.

2. What I have learnt as an intern


Working as an Archivist for Tue Tinh Notary Office helped me develop and acquire a lot of
things. As an archivist, I had to handle with different work. In the very first part, I listed out the
tasks that I have worked which related to records and archives. This job requires me to deal with
a lot of paper work. When I was in my high school, I was a member of the Standing Committee
of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. As a result, I am familiar with working with papers.
That is a good new for me. This experience helped me a lot when I did my internship. I learned
how to create and maintain accessible database. I studied how to organize and prepare archival
records so that people in the office can easily access to the information they need.
I got insight into professional working environment. I saw the way notaries do their jobs, the way
they interact with clients. Involving myself into a real working environment helped me develop
21

my people skills. The way people care about each other and communicate at work is different
from the way students like us do in the university. Students like me or others are quite simple and
we really care about each other. However, things get more complicated when you are at work.
Some people do not find making friends at work important to them. Some care about work
productivity and salary.
I also manipulated the knowledge I acquired from the subject Research Methodology. When I
studied this subject at the university, I was taught mostly about quantitative research. We
conducted a quantitative research in a group of 5. In terms of qualitative research, we learned this
type of research in theories. Conducting a research during the process of internship helped me
put this knowledge in practice. I knew how to carry out in-depth interviews with the participants.
Besides, analyzing and coding the information getting from the interviews are also very
important.
As an intern at Tue Tinh Notary Office, I had to use computers every day. The requirement from
the job helped me improve my Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel skills. At the end of the
internship, Im proficient at Microsoft Office. My typing speed is fluent (56 WPM) while the
result before was just average (45 WPM).
I improved my organizational skills a lot. I learned how to organize my working space, how to
organize documents that allow people to easily access to. Among those organizational skills, my
time management skill was improved the most. This skill is very essential not only for my work
in the future but also for my life in order to get things done timely.
My personal skills were developed not only by interacting with people at the office but also
communicating with the clients. Sometimes when there were too many customers at the office, I
was supposed to take care of them by offering them a cup of water for example. There were
some clients really annoying that they made a fuss at the office. And this job taught me that even
when you faced with people like that, you still have to be polite and calm as much as you can.
This is good for me if I want to work in human resources in the future.
At the beginning of the internship, my objective is to work effectively. Halfway my internship, I
achieved my goal by organizing work and using a to-do list. The to-do list help me identify
whether I have done all of my work. It also helps me realize priorities to do first thing first.

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Two months of internship help me develop my characteristics a lot. There is a time that I feel
really confident about myself but there is also other time I feel timid. I used to live in a
comfortable environment where everyone is really nice and friendly. My parents rarely scold me
for my bad performance. My friends are awesome, too. However, I know the fact that life is not
easy. That is one reason I really appreciate what I have learned after the internship. Sometimes, I
am criticized for doing work inaccurately, but I know it is good for me. I can learn how to do
things right after that. When I receive compliments and recognition from my boss, I feel really
happy and confident. I cannot know what I can do if I never put my steps into a real working
environment.

3. Difficulties during the internship


At the beginning of my internship, I found out that I did not communicate much with other
people. One reason is that I am quite reserved and I find difficult in communicating with new
people. Another thing is that I was a new comer, I was not getting used to new environment,
working style and many other things. After three weeks I have improved this by communicating
more with other employees in the office. In the break time, I talk to each person about their first
day at the office in order to find the sympathy. I ask them to show me the way to do specific
work.
At the beginning, I had troubles in using the photocopy machine and the fax machine. I am not
good at modern technology so it was even more difficult for me to deal with that much buttons.
Halfway my internship, I have improved this by asking, note taking and practicing. I asked an
employee there about how to use the machine, and then I took notes every single thing to
remember. When the office does not have any clients, I use waste papers to practice using
photocopy machine.
At the beginning of my internship, I suffered from stress. Even though I was aware that the
internship would be challenging for me, I was in trouble to get familiar with the new
environment. In the eyes of employees at the office, I am still a teenager. I was not really
welcomed at that office. Some people were reluctant to show me the way to use the machine or
the way to deal with paper work. They thought that it would be time consuming. The age gap
23

quite mattered. However, it takes time to work it out. I tried to be polite to everyone, help people
with little things and perform well. At the end of my internship, I think that everyone had a good
impression on me. I received some helpful advice from those employees at that office. I also
gained some new perspectives about life and work from these people.
At the beginning of my internship, I found difficult in getting along with my boss. I seemed
always nervous to read her mind. She is a tough person and I did not know whether or not she
was satisfied with what I did. Most of young employees in this office are somehow afraid of her,
too. As a new intern in the office, sometimes I felt like I was getting lost. After one week, I tried
not to think the way like I thought before. I was there to study new things. I am a young person;
therefore, I am willing to face challenges. I stopped trying to read her mind. Instead, I tried my
best to do my job carefully and efficiently. That made me more comfortable; as a result, my work
performance was better. I also found out that my boss is not as indifferent to her employees as I
thought before. This job causes her to have that characteristics but it does not mean that she does
not care about people in the office. She does that in a different way.

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