Salary expectations

Some get paid Vietnam salaries and some get paid U.S. salaries.

It is somewhat amusing that people who have never been to Vietnam seem to think that their skills will automatically insure their employment at European or American wages in Vietnam.  For most occupations, the only way to be sure to receive high wages is to be sent by an multi-national corporation and then the duration of your stay may be limited.  Vietnam is far from being a fully developed country but it presently has more college graduates than its economy can absorb. 

As an ad executive, how would Ms jb00266 or her partner expect to negotiate with clients?  How would she know which jingle should accompany a product?  These things have a cultural component. There is still demand for English teachers but, except for rare cases that does not generate a wage comparable to the west and at some time in the future even that demand may level off.  I taught English at home to people who answered directly to the country managers of multi-nationals.  One was an HR manager the other worked in corporate training.  With the exception of the top man and a few on temporary assignment, the white collar staff of their companies was entirely Vietnamese.

I was very fortunate. As I was hired as a sales Manager for a furniture manufacturer a t a very good wage....higher than most Vietnamese make. It was however less than half of what I am used to earning in the united states. So you have to adjust for the Vietnamese economy I think.

jimcantrell65:  Do you handle sales to foreign customers?  If so, this could be a valid niche for foreign employment.  I have a hard time envisioning you selling furniture to Vietnamese. 

I do know people who are in business selling and shipping Vietnamese products to their home countries but I always felt this was more of an entrepreneurial opportunity than an employment opportunity.

Do a search on some of the job recruitment sites, there are jobs advertised specifically for foreigners. You can also type in jobs for expats and get an idea what is available.

Many thanks for your responses and to THIGV for sprinkling positivity and helpfulness onto the thread. My partner has already been offered a role as business director as he is transferring offices from London, so no assuming here.. Just wanted to get a better understanding of the salary types in this area

jb00266 wrote:

Many thanks for your responses and to THIGV for sprinkling positivity and helpfulness onto the thread. My partner has already been offered a role as business director as he is transferring offices from London, so no assuming here.. Just wanted to get a better understanding of the salary types in this area

Just ignore the rants, I thought it was a valid question.

One person's negativity is another persons realism.  As I mentioned the top dog is often foreign but it still will be harder to find good employment at EU wages once you are in the country.

I can't see where she asked if it was equal to EU wages, what she did ask was is it well paid, it could mean well paid for Asia.

jb00266 wrote:

Many thanks for your responses and to THIGV for sprinkling positivity and helpfulness onto the thread. My partner has already been offered a role as business director as he is transferring offices from London, so no assuming here.. Just wanted to get a better understanding of the salary types in this area

The information you are after is unpublished about Vietnam.

Hello and all the best for your move!

I think it's important to also know if you're advertising/marketing in which industry, and to locals? I would think that it differs from industry to industry, and this job for the local market would be very different from roles in a developed country, hence it's interesting to find out how valuable the role would be.

Can't tell from your post if you simply want to compare your situation with locals or if you want to receive guidance on the salary that you would receive as an expat.  There are many Vietnam salary guides available online (e.g., search Adecco Salary Guide Vietnam).  Those guides are of course focused on salaries for local people.  Expat salary vary widely depending on a variety of facts, but you can probably get a sense by comparing current salary received in the UK vs salary for an equivalent position in Vn by looking at the salary guides.

I downloaded the Adecco pdf file for 2015.  As I expected the wage pyramid is pretty steep.  In advertising, which the OP had an interest, the entry level account executive was only 10 million VND going up to 20 million for someone with a few years.  That's for what a friend of mine in advertising once told me the business calls "the suits".  The production side entry level looks a little lower.   JB;  if you work on the artistic side and have an extensive  production portfolio to show, it might be possible to get in that side of the business above entry level, but becoming an account executive could be tricky since the clients will be largely be speaking Vietnamese.

Here is a link that goes straight to the pdf and avoids the signup routine at Adecco:  http://outsourceit.no/wp-content/upload … _Guide.pdf

You can see for yourself which job description you think you fit to.  For reference, as an English teacher you could fairly easily make 20 million working half time.  So unless you have a strong aversion to teaching, you could call that a minimum wage that you might take.  The Vietnamese white collar work week most places is 6 days.

In other sectors, I was surprised at how high the salaries in retail banking were with branch managers pulling down 60-80 million/month especially when you consider that there seems to be a bank branch of some kind on every corner in HCMC.

By contrast, salaries in IT, which would seem to be an area where foreigners could participate, looked low to me.  I guess that Vietnam has an abundance of young people who can code custom business software and set up local networks.  I hear of a lot of foreigners working in IT.  I guess their experience and education must be considered superior or else they are freelancing.

Aloha, I'm looking to move from Hawai'i to Vietnam and/or travel around Southeast Asia. I've been to all continents, except Asia and lived in four different countries. I'm doing a lot of research that is why I even read your thread, which has absolutely nothing to do with my idea, but I'm looking everywhere for info.
My advice for your sake is do a lot of research because you will have to live of your salary. In my case I have Social Security and a pension to live on plus I own a house that I will rent which will pay for my loan on the house and have a surplus has a back up.
All this to be able to say:
If you are wondering if wages in Vietnam are comparable to European wages.....I believe you need to do a tad more research.
Best of luck on this or any other endeavor you may try. Aloha nui loa

Best way to ensure a good salary in your field (advertising and marketing) is to remotely work with your own clients.
Here in Vietnam, you might expect between 1500 and 3000 usd gross as a director I think.

THIGV wrote:

I downloaded the Adecco pdf file for 2015.  As I expected the wage pyramid is pretty steep.  In advertising, which the OP had an interest, the entry level account executive ...

Fantastic insights - thank you!  My BF and I are planning a move to HCMC, and while I want dearly to leave technology, we are wondering if it might be a good "first step" as far as employment for me (I'm 8+ years in for on/offshore tech/IT).

My dream for some time is to be a teacher or instructor.  However, if tech PM offers a bit more income, it might be the best place for me to start working as we make a big move to SE Asia.

Exciting time, for sure!  Thank you again for the info