Advice for finding American jobs in Ho Chi Minh

jonmai24 wrote:

I’ve lived in Vietnam for about 8 months and now I’m currently with my wife here in America. I’m looking for a job in Vietnam and it’s hard to find them while I’m currently in the states. Is there a better way to find a job there while I’m still in the USA? If so what would be your recommendations. I also should mention I do not speak fluent Vietnamese although my wife does.

Your profile says you are a "sales manager".

Anything else, re: education or experience?

I’m a high school graduate whom started in the car business fresh out of high school in 2007. Got promoted within the dealership from sales to finance in 2014. I’ve taken finance and insurance classes that the dealership paid for. I went from finance to sales management in early 2015. I was a used car manager at the dealership for 2+ years then transitioned to New and Used sales management for the next 3 years which I’m currently doing. I’ve had the privilege of taking several Management classes in the dealership as well as taking Joe Verde’s Management training. So after all being said I’ve been in the Car Business going on 14 years.

However long you've been in the job, your sole experience is in car selling which is not the same here as in the States.  Without any other skills and without knowing the language, I don't think you'll be able to find a job in Vietnam unless your supervisors, co-workers, and customers all speak English.  Such positions only exist in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) enterprises, and they all require certain level of knowledge in many aspects of international business.

In the rare chance that you do find one of those jobs, the monthly minimum wage last year for unskilled workers in the most expensive areas (Area 1, downtown Saigon and Hanoi) is less than 4.2M ($180).  Even with the low cost of living here, I don't see how you can live within that income.

I agree I wouldn’t be able to live there on that income however I’m not looking for only a sales job. Just anything really. My wife made a living baking and selling cakes in Saigon which is where we lived for 8 months. She’s lived in district 7 her whole life. My cousins whom live in Vung tau can get me a job teaching English even without speaking fluent Vietnamese but I want to see what else I could find. Even if I have to learn how to speak Vietnamese I will. My parents speak it and my wife speaks it to my daughter so it wouldn’t take a long time to learn. If you think I have to speak fluent in Vietnamese in order to find a job that’s what I’ll need to do but if I can find a job in my current profession not speak Vietnamese even better.

Ciambella wrote:

However long you've been in the job, your sole experience is in car selling which is not the same here as in the States.  Without any other skills and without knowing the language, I don't think you'll be able to find a job in Vietnam unless your supervisors, co-workers, and customers all speak English.  Such positions only exist in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) enterprises, and they all require a certain level of knowledge in many aspects of international business.

In the rare chance that you do find one of those jobs, the monthly minimum wage last year for unskilled workers in the most expensive areas (Area 1, downtown Saigon and Hanoi) is less than 4.2M ($180).  Even with the low cost of living here, I don't see how you can live within that income.

If you don't mind improvising a bit, moving from car industry to education yet not wasting your sale experience, every now and then I have seen several colleges in Southern CA, TX or even Australia, UK looking for Country Director/School Rep operating an office in HCM. I'd start with vietnamworks.com first, a plethora of openings. Good luck!