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Are you seeking a collaboration with the Student Association in Finland?

Hello! My name is Truc Hoang. I have been working at VSAF – Vietnamese Student Association in Finland for almost 2 years since November 2021 as a content writer, and promotion planner and was officially elected as Head of Communication at VSAF in early 2023. In this blog, I will discuss the activities and programs that I had the opportunity to participate in while at VSAF and see if we can collaborate in the future.

VSAF, patronized by the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the Republic of Finland, is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting Vietnamese students in Finland as well as preserving and promoting Vietnamese culture to the international community, particularly in Finland. While working at VSAF, I was given numerous opportunities to enhance my marketing skills such as creating content, managing social media channels, and skills in organizing events and expanding my network. Let’s take a look at some of the events I had a chance to do with our amazing team while working at VSAF:

First, I would like to mention the CV & Career Clinic, a career coaching program that my organization recently launched. This year, I am honored to be the project manager for this program. CV & Career Clinic, an annual program co-organized by the Vietnamese Student Association in Finland (abbr. VSAF) and the Vietnamese Professionals in Finland (abbr. VPF) since 2021 with the goal of providing a multi-dimensional and objective view of the labor market and potential career opportunities in Finland for Vietnamese students, particularly final year students looking for full-time jobs, internships, or traineeships in Finland. Throughout two months of the program, with the support and guidance in writing CVs and cover letters as well as receiving tips and tricks about job interviews, job search strategies from our coaches who have professionals experiences many years in each specific field, our participants will have the opportunity to determine their career paths, build their personal brand, gain a better understanding of the job application process and the necessary skills for their future career, particularly in Finland, from the perspectives of employers, as well as broaden their network. For the CV & Career Clinic 2023, the organizing team is delighted to invite 17 Vietnamese coaches who work in Finland to support program participants in six major career tracks: (1) Data, (2) Business, (3) Marketing, (4) Finance & Accounting, (5) Tech IT – Development, and (6) Design. For more information about this program, please visit here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7089293045405241344

Furthermore, I was the project manager for the Talkshow “Our job-seeking journeys in Finland – Stories from CV & Career Clinic 2022.” The talk show was held on 22 July 2023 with the goal of providing sympathetic stories and the first jobs journey of the three guest speakers in the talk show to Vietnamese young people who are studying and living in Finland. This is a private online talk show with over 70 participants held through the Zoom platform. More information here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7082414656706744320

In addition to programs aimed at career guidance and supporting Vietnamese students in finding jobs in Finland, my communication team and I decided this year to broaden VSAF’s target audience. New target audiences are new students who are going to come to Finland for their studies for the first time, VSAF has a series of posts on Facebook called “FINLAND 101” that provide necessary information for new students in five episodes (in Vietnamese), including:

Not only does VSAF support the Vietnamese student community in Finland, but it also works to preserve and promote Vietnamese traditional culture to the international community, as evidenced by the article posted on the occasion of the Vietnamese Ancestral Anniversary – Gio to Hung Vuong. VSAF only published a celebration post on the Linkedin platform: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7058115330371395584. However, on Facebook platform where we have more interaction and engagement from Vietnamese audiences, our team created a post in Vietnamese with 5 photos is equivalent to 5 historical stories about this day: https://www.facebook.com/vsaf.org/posts/618188713681246

Last but not least, one of the goals of the VSAF is to organize activities for Vietnamese students in Finland. This autumn and winter of 2023, my team and I are planning new events, including the Vietnamese student gathering event which is the annual gathering event, VSAF Football Championship, VSAF Badminton Tournament, and VSAF Chess Competition.

It is delighted to announce that VSAF has collaborations with other associations and companies such as (1) Swisscare  International Insurances Europe Ltd. – a Liechtenstein-based company that offers health insurance and travel insurance solutions online to students, tourists, and expatriates; (2) VPF – Vietnamese Professionals in Finland; and (3) KIKI’S Homebox. With the expansion of VSAF cooperation, I have received many learning and training opportunities from the president of VSAF and Head of Programs, Finance & Externals in the field of external relations, and seeking sponsorships, and finance planning for events. Therefore, if you want to have a collaboration with VSAF, you can contact VSAF via this email info@vsaf.fi or contact me directly at thanhtruc.hoang@vsaf.fi or my Linkedin account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hgtuc/

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the VSAF Board of Directors, as well as the extremely dedicated members of the Communications, Programme, and Finance & Externals departments who have been working with me for nearly two years. Thanks to everyone’s help, I’ve learned a lot of new things, discovered commonalities in everyone’s ideas, and organized many great programs in line with VSAF’s direction and goals. I am overjoyed to be a “piece” in VSAF’s puzzle.

Author: Truc Hoang

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