Industrious, diligent, passionate about his chosen major, since he was a student, Mr. Tran Nguyen Hao – a student of Class 44 of Management Information Systems has always tried to cultivate and develop himself. . Let’s listen to Mr. Hao’s sharing after going through a long way on the road to fulfill his dream!
Interviewer: Thank you, Mr. Tran Nguyen Hao, for taking the time to join today’s conversation. First, can you introduce yourself a little bit about yourself?
Nguyen Hao (NH): My name is Tran Nguyen Hao, a student of class 44 of Management Information Systems, School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics. I was born and brought up in Vinh City, Nghe An Province. Currently, I am the CEO of Citigo Software Joint Stock Company, which is the main manufacturing enterprise of the Kiotviet software product, which has been used by 150K businesses nationwide until now.
Interviewer: As a CEO, the position requiring a lot of analysis and experience, can you describe briefly the job you take charge of?
NH: Citigo’s vision is to become a prevailing provider of technology solutions in Southeast Asia, the company’s target is to enhance life standards through technology solutions for the benefit of the community, what I have to do is to lead the company to materialize that vision and target.
Interviewer: To make a go of your business at the present, do you find it easy to apply for a job when you graduate? And do you have to apply in multiple places?
NH: I did my internship early, in the summer of my third year. At that time, I joined an internship at a software company and after three months, I became an official employee of that company, together with going to school.
I think, for students pursuing Technology, you should accumulate a large amount of practical experience. Therefore, you should do many internships and work part-time as soon as possible. At school, teachers only guide and deliver basic and fundamental knowledge; if you get the opportunity to work early, you will have more chances to apply and develop the knowledge you have learned in school to solve practical work problems. Additionally, when involving in new jobs and projects, students will receive interesting knowledge and experiences from their predecessors and from the work they are doing, which will help bring out the best in themselves.
Interviewer: When you went to recruitment sites, was the knowledge provided by the school enough and made you confident to accomplish the employer’s answers? If not, how do you fix it at that time?
NH: When participating, like other candidates, I have both strengths and weaknesses, but I had focused on your strengths to behave most confidently when applying for jobs. In the process of developing his business, I realized that employers all have things in common. A professional company will evaluate candidates in 4 aspects:
1. Personality: whether the individual’s personality matches the position they are recruiting for and the culture of the organization or not.
2. Algorithm consists of 3 elements: Computer Science, Problem Solving & Intellect
3. Technical Knowledge is knowledge about technology and techniques
4. Continued Excellence is the ability to develop, make excellent contributions after being accepted to work in their organization.
The training of individual characteristics , university environment and family along with friends will help you develop a good disposition. The knowledge at school is the foundational knowledge to help you develop. Algorithm, Technical Knowledge are mainly based on your actual work experience. As for Continued Excellence, it will depend on your passion for the profession and the position you choose.
Fresh graduates are often lacking in Technical Knowledge, so to easily apply for a job or to receive a high salary, you should join an internship or get a part-time job early.
Interviewer: It is known that Citigo is a renowned company that provides technology solutions for businesses in Southeast Asia. And more especially, its “brainchild” – Kiotviet currently holds the highest share in the sales management software market in Vietnam. Since when has this project/technology solution been cherished by you?
I was born in a family specializing in distributing electronic equipment and I saw the hardships that my mother had to encounter while managing such a business. I had a sensation that his mother was always busy with arrangements, operations, management, … and had very little time for herself and her family. Therefore, after graduating and going to work, he always wanted to create a solution to help retailers like his mother, make business easier and more efficient. Since then, his mother and his relatives and retailers can manage and run their businesses more easily and efficiently as well as spend more time for themselves and their families.
Interviewer: Joining a startup is not an easy story, there have been many students and entrepreneurs who stood up to start a business and “missed the step”. As for yourself, in the beginning, did you encounter any difficulties and how did you overcome it?
NH: I had an array of difficulties just like everyone else did. The most difficult thing is recruiting people, because I just started a business, I don’t have money to pay high salaries, the company is small and new, so it is difficult to build up credibility to attract talented people. So I need to persuade everyone to agree to join the company with my perseverance, sincerity and the significance of the work I want to do. And after a period of perseverance in building and developing, the sweet fruit has also bloomed.
Interviewer: In the process of building and developing the business, how do you evaluate the students of Mathematics and Information Technology, Management Information System of the School of Applied Mathematics and Informatics, as well as the level of application and practice. practice in the real life of your students?
NH: The students of Hanoi University of Science and Technology in general and students of the School of Mathematics in particular are the best members of my company. Currently, Mr.CTO (chief technology officer) of the company is also a K44 student of our math institute. I took a management information class and Mr. CTO took a math class. Therefore, I always welcome and desire to accompany with Math Institute students to practice and work at the company.
Interviewer: In your opinion, which knowledge plays as the most basic and necessary in the training program that has helped you in the process of working as well as developing your business?
NH: As regards the technology industry in general, I find that learning any part helps a lot. And especially, the subjects related to math and software. As for me, when I majored in Information Systems and Management, there were more subjects related to management, finance and economic analysis that helped me a lot in becoming a CEO originating from software engineering. I grant you this is an interesting and potential feature of the Management Information System industry.
Interviewer: After many years of involving in the market, how important do you feel about the role of the field of Mathematics and Information Technology, Management Information System in an enterprise? And now, how do you evaluate the human resources in these two areas at your own business?
NH: Now is the digitization era of all aspects. The economy is accelerating and best flourishing during this time, so the current and future human resources in Mathematics or Management Information Systems will be one of the most prevalent industries. Like my company, in which human resources for these two areas are in great demand and are recruited continuously.
Interviewer: The 4.0 revolution is coming very close, as an operator with many years of experience, what do you share about learning, research as well as skills for students who want to pursue a career in this field?
NH: Foreign languages are mandatory and the key to discovering knowledge. Because by virtue of the increasingly explosive internet today, when combined with a good foreign language proficiency, you can get access to the latest quintessential knowledge of mankind.
Don’t let your knowledge just stop at theory, look around and see how you can apply your knowledge to solve real-world problems? Let’s start from the problems we understand the most, the smallest, the simplest, maybe it is the beginning of a Unicorn in the future.
Interviewer: Thank you for your interesting sharing, wish you a lot of health so as to bring your projects with Citigo to reach the world successfully.