Vietnamese Job Search Take II

Last year, I approached my  job search like I would have in the US, not thinking that there was any need to adjust my methods to my new environment. After a long, frustrating search, I finally cobbled together a crazy schedule that included two days of "formal teaching," various private English lessons and tutoring sessions, a contract writing assignment on, ironically enough, "How to find a job in Viet Nam," and a few mornings at a local charity to maintain contact with my field and feel that I was giving back a little during the time I was here. This time around, armed with the cultural experience gleaned from my research, and a network of connected friends, I set about to find a job in Viet Nam.

The first thing that I did was disabuse myself of the notion that I was going to get a job doing what I wanted to do that paid any sort of salary. Then I set out designing my very own "business cards" with my name and contact information and no mention whatsoever of what kind of job I was looking for or was qualified for to allow for a little more versatility. Then I sent a few emails out to friends in the NGO sector for the dates of the next NGO luncheon and happy hour and put them on my calendar. The next step was to take my  cards out on the town and start networking.

The NGO luncheon was held a Sesame Restaurant, a French restaurant that provides hospitality training for underprivileged teens in Binh Thanh not too far from our house. The food was delicious, the money went to a good cause and I met a few people from various charities doing really important work. One that I was especially interested in was called, "Villes en Transition" or Cities in Transition, a French NGO working in the area of urban re-development and micro-loans. The organization is based on the principles of cooperation and sustainability and only works on projects in which everyone involved - local beneficiaries, local government, donors - is an active participant contributing to the success and sustainability of the projects. They work in high density, underdeveloped urban environments where a lot of people live in concentrated substandard housing and lack the basic necessities of access to clean water, electricity and an income adequate to sustain themselves and their families. VET provides expertise, supplies and labor to build new housing, local water sources and other improvements to local infrastructure, while training local residents on issues of sustainability like the importance of a clean water supply, housing safety, basic budgeting, etc. They also provide micro loans to families to help them start or improve existing businesses to increase their families income.

After speaking at length with the outgoing Head of Mission for VET, who was transitioning to a VET project in Cambodia, I introduced myself to the new Head of Mission, who had only been in Viet Nam for a week and gave her my card, expressing my interested in working with their organization.

The following Monday, I received a email asking for my resume, which I gladly sent over. A week later, I had a date set for an interview. A week after my interview, I had an offer for a "volunteer position with a stipend" (hiring expat staff is a difficult, cumbersome process that can often result in denial) as the "Outreach and Program Officer" for Villes en Transition. I happily accepted.

I will be working from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday - Thursday, beginning on November 1 at the exhorbitant salry of $300 USD a month and am quite excited about my new position. Hopefully, I'll be able to contribute quality work, learn more about urban development and poverty in Viet Nam, build my skills for whatever awaits me in my professional future, AND have more interesting stories for the blog! Wish me luck!