Expats! What are your jobs?

Myself I am retired w/ multiple pension in addition to real estate holdings in the U.S.A. And yes I can live comfortably and do not work here in VN.

I am an American who lives in Vietnam with my wife, I work for a Norwegian drilling company drilling for oil and gas in Qatar for a French oil company.

I am from the USA, been here for a year and just started teaching English so I could act productive. I also have a retirement pension and now I am making 40 million per month fromthe teaching.

Not an expat yet but the plan is my fiance will work to support us financially without having to rely on my multiple rental incomes and stock trading and investments that will stay in Canada.

Is this a survey?

mikeymyke wrote:

But as a foreigner who doesn't speak much Vietnamese, my job prospects seem limited to just teaching English

What do you do in Canada? Check out the job boards here, vietnamworks etc. They've been posted plenty of times before on here.

There are other jobs for expats here, but you need significant experience in your field and most are in management roles.

laidbackfreak wrote:

There are other jobs for expats here, but you need significant experience in your field and most are in management roles.

And remember this as well: An expat will never get a job in Vietnam that can be done by local Vietnamese. If you're competing for any given job with a local, forget about it.

If you already got a job in Canada, stick with it. Unless you can get an expat or semi-expat package, the salaries here are very low by comparison. I am a house- husband and do not work.

I'm a journeyman electrician of 5 years, chemical engineer of 2 years.  Yes I make a good salary here, but I just wanted to know what career options are available as an expat, but wow, I'm surprised so many people here have to depend on a pension, retirement account, or a rental property to live here.  I guess that makes sense because as expats, as someone mentioned, no one would hire us over a local, and even if they did, their salaries are tiny compared to us. 

It seems a common theme for expats is you must have a source of steady reliable income, like a rental property or pension.  Even though the cost of living is low there, we have to spend a lot.

You can find work in Vietnam working for a foreign company. They have to show that they tried to hire locally but they don't necessarily have to hire locals. There are companies that might hire you as a senior level tech adviser to assure that their operations are running smoothly and "senior" level employees face less scrutiny under the labor laws for expats. When I was working here in Vietnam there were certainly local workers who would have been qualified to do my job but my company decided that they wanted an expat in that position to protect their investment ie- equipment

mikeymyke wrote:

It seems a common theme for expats is you must have a source of steady reliable income, like a rental property or pension.  Even though the cost of living is low there, we have to spend a lot.

Then call me uncommon. I don't have rental property. I don't have a pension (yet). I'm far from retirement age. What I DO have, is 30 years experience in my profession. Most local Vietnamese in the job market aren't even 30 years old, so they will NEVER develop experience comparable to mine before I die (or hopefully just retire). My experience (and maturity) is the reason I was hired by my company to work and live in Vietnam. My boss counts on me to essentially be his replacement when he's not here, and he's not here very often. My job is my source of steady reliable income. Experience is the key. That's why there are so many native-speaking English teachers here. They've had experience speaking English all their lives, but I'm sure some of them are better teachers than others.

Edit: And what Don says above^.

I'm another retiree drawing multiple pensions. I taught English in Berlitz in the 70s in Puerto Rico, was a trial lawyer in Massachusetts for a year before going back into government service, and even spent six months as a bilingual welfare worker. Presently I write. We used to own a farm in southwest Puerto Rico, but the wife was unhappy because there were no Vietnamese she could talk to, so my present real estate holding is my house;-)

You guys are very successful at your careers, nice.

mikeymyke wrote:

You guys are very successful at your careers, nice.

That is why we are able to live and work here, beyond teaching English. Don't get me wrong teaching is a good career, IF you want to be a teacher, but I prefer my current chosen profession.

How many 'teachers ' in International  Schools stay beyond 2 years? I think with your fingers you can count them! They are all here while the going is good, live luxury for a bit and then vamoose, leaving the poor kids to continue to get used to one teacher after another. Exercise in relationship building..it's a farce, even Principals do not stay long..

I think there is no negotiation of the 'offer'(people who study hard to get degrees and with experience only think about a negotiation). Just hurry to get that position and join. After sometime they understand that their remuneration is too cheap for the current Saigon life! Then they move to a better offered position

Sploke77 wrote:

How many 'teachers ' in International  Schools stay beyond 2 years? I think with your fingers you can count them! They are all here while the going is good, live luxury for a bit and then vamoose, leaving the poor kids to continue to get used to one teacher after another. Exercise in relationship building..it's a farce, even Principals do not stay long..

mikeymyke wrote:

I was wondering for you expats living in Vietnam (saigon in particular), what are your jobs, and how do you support yourself?

Trying to outsmart THD with Google searches!

Just remember if you work in Vietnam you will have to declare your worldwide income along with your spouse (residential or not)unless you sever your residential ties with Canada. Which is one reason why I'm not too eager to be working in Vietnam. I'd rather grow my registered RSP and TFSA and if I ever need money I can rely on them without having to incur taxes.

But seeing as you want to sponsor your fiance I don't think you'd want to severe it.

Perhaps it is not a matter of us "having to have a pension or real estate" just the fact that we are old farts and that just happens to be our station in life. We are done working and no one wants us and we have accumulated real estate. Heck if I were young and working in the West I probably would not have come here to live. I personally haven't a clue about the working environment here in VN.

Saigonmonkey, what do you do? Are you a programmer?

jakejas wrote:

Saigonmonkey, what do you do? Are you a programmer?

SM a programmer.....  I'm saying nowt.....

CodeMonkey

VungTauDon wrote:

CodeMonkey

Lol, I should have checked his profile. He works for a furniture manufacturing company.

laidbackfreak wrote:

jakejas wrote:

Saigonmonkey, what do you do? Are you a programmer?

SM a programmer.....  I'm saying nowt.....

OK 'freak... just because you're an IT guy, no need to poke fun at those less technical and more old school than you.

If I was a programmer, it would have been with punch cards. That's what we used when I was in college. Old school...

khanh44 wrote:

Just remember if you work in Vietnam you will have to declare your worldwide income along with your spouse (residential or not)unless you sever your residential ties with Canada. Which is one reason why I'm not too eager to be working in Vietnam. I'd rather grow my registered RSP and TFSA and if I ever need money I can rely on them without having to incur taxes.

But seeing as you want to sponsor your fiance I don't think you'd want to severe it.

I would never severe my ties from the U.S.A. I just plan on travelling around Vietnam for a few months each year.

I am from Canada, I took a job in advertising in a NYC agency that has offices all around the world. Life is good here, salary can cover everything and savings.

I write software at home.  Some for remote clients, some to sell online.  iPhone, iPad, Mac.  Coming out of a career mostly in Windows.

iPhone/iPad: Photo World, find geotagged photos
iPhone: NotifEye, alerts for Facebook
Mac: OmniPop Lite & Pro, add hotkeys to OmniFocus

House wife, though Viets here love suggesting every single day I should teach English because you know... I speak English. If only the credentials were that easy to be a teacher in US.

I'm a house husband and I get the same suggestions just because I grew up in an English speaking country. Guess they don't know about the discrimination towards asian looking teachers.

Hi,

I've been teaching in HCMC for the past 4 months.  I have a degree, TEFL etc and have just found out that the company I'm working for it charging me too much tax (20%).  Anyway, I need to broaden my options.

Do you know of any extra teaching hours going?

Cheers,

Kellie

I am also an expat. Born and live in vietnam, working as Networking and e marketing employee and freelancer. Hope could have a job with high salary or buniness. I dont know why an English teacher could earn over 40 Million for a month. There are not much in Hanoi

hwanghuydo wrote:

I am also an expat. Born and live in vietnam,

Mayhaps you ought study more.
An expat(expatriate)is a person who lives outside their native country.OR a person who settles outside of their native country.

jimbream wrote:

hwanghuydo wrote:

I am also an expat. Born and live in vietnam,

Mayhaps you ought study more.
An expat(expatriate)is a person who lives outside their native country.OR a person who settles outside of their native country.

I am sorry. I mean " i also not an expat" as Khanh44 ^^.

I write software for remote clients, and for the AppStore.

iOS, Mac, mostly.  Background is Windows but I don't like .NET.  Might learn Android soon.

ChrisFox wrote:

I write software for remote clients, and for the AppStore.

iOS, Mac, mostly.  Background is Windows but I don't like .NET.  Might learn Android soon.

ChrisFox wrote:

I write software at home.  Some for remote clients, some to sell online.  iPhone, iPad, Mac.  Coming out of a career mostly in Windows.

iPhone/iPad: Photo World, find geotagged photos
iPhone: NotifEye, alerts for Facebook
Mac: OmniPop Lite & Pro, add hotkeys to OmniFocus

Hope your coding is not as repetitive

How can an expat who doesnt speak vietnamese at all, teach vietnamese people english? how the hell does the translation goes??? Sign language? or with your arm and legs?
lol

a person who settles outside of their native country.

Actually, Jimbream, that would be an immigrant rather than an expatriate, since settling implies a permanent stay.

How can an expat who doesnt speak vietnamese at all, teach vietnamese people english? how the hell does the translation goes??? Sign language? or with your arm and legs?
lol

Correct me if I'm wrong, Hotpot, but using the host country's language in class, as opposed to the language of instruction (English or whatever) is considered wasting the student's time. Berlitz was definitely against it. Teachers aren't there to show the students how well (or badly) they speak Vietnamese, but to concentrate on teaching Vietnamese speakers English (and etc.)

mickeymike, this is a interesting topic, good job Mickeymike.

" I am also an expat. Born and live in vietnam, working as Networking and e marketing employee and freelancer. Hope could have a job with high salary or buniness. I dont know why an English teacher could earn over 40 Million for a month. There are not much in Hanoi "

You were born and live here in VN,and you are an expat  ???? I dont understand.