Job Discussion Forums

[andabre]

Hi,

Yes not yet new to Vietnam but thinking about it. Im 53, Trinity qualified with 2 years post qualifying experience and 18 months pre-qualifying as a teacher of English. All of it in Europe with a couple of weeks teaching in a state high school in India a few years ago. I also have loads of experience as a trainer within the UK NHS - Health Service. So I know how to teach and to put ideas across. I have my Police check but haven't done the medical check yet.

So I understand its unusual to agree up contracts prior to coming to Vietnam, that the usual way is to arrive, spread your CVs about and wait, wait and hope.

The question is, given the above, what do you think the chances of me finding work in Vietnam are? An almost unanswerable question I know, given all the variables but I would be interested to get some kind of feedback prior to booking my ticket.



Cheers

[vabeckele]

[skarper]

Yes - even with no degree you will find work. It might not be the best work but you will have some work within a month if you apply yourself and thereafter it will get easier before it tapers off and can actually get harder - say two years in.

If you want to make a lot of money or develop your career perhaps Vietnam is not the right place.

Health check has to be done here so leave that for now. This only matters for a work permit and if you have no degree you cannot get a WP anyway - barring major shenanigans.

Lots of threads on here to help you with visa procedures [machinations?] and cost of living/job search/housing etc.

Have a good look at these before posting basic questions again. Your post is so like so many others that it has really already been answered. If we are going to give more apposite advice we need more information. Degree?, goals, have you even visited Vietnam recently? Stuff like that.

I'm assuming you have no financial responsibilities that will need to be kept up because paying for children or university fees would be difficult here. Likewise if you have elderly parents who might need you to return often or before you've spent the 2-3 years it takes to make back your start up costs.

I don't think many people enjoy their first year here since they have to hustle too much and also because that is the year they are easy prey for scammers, crooked employers and perhaps dodgy relationships!

[Prof.Gringo]

[andabre]

Hello,

Thanks for your replies, very helpful and I take your point about checking earlier posts. Yes I have a couple of degrees, MA first degree and then MA postgrad, good to see that they actually mean something...

I have no first-hand knowledge of Vietnam at all - except the fact that I live in the Czech Republic, the third largest Vietnamese population in the world and eat pho bu most days for lunch, breakfast or whatever. Most of my more recent impressions come from these pages, on the whole a great deal more positive than the Chinese pages which are an endless litany of rip-offs, pollution and depression. So that's why I dropped a couple of job offers in China and decided on the sunnier option of insecurity in Vietnam. Thanks for your help.

[vabeckele]

[1st Sgt Welsh]