I quit working in Vietnam to study in Europe and now earn 20 times more

By Son Nguyen   December 20, 2023 | 04:00 pm PT
Dissatisfied with my VND8.5 million (US$350) monthly salary after graduating from university, I decided to go overseas and continue studying, and raised my annual income to €70,000 ($76,800) after eight years.

I graduated in 2015 with a good degree in accounting. I got an internship in a major accounting company, which was a dream of many people in the sector.

But I realized it was not a dream job as the working hours were long and I had to work on the weekends and holidays as well.

Later I signed a contract as an official employee at the company, with a monthly salary of VND8.5 million, besides bonuses.

That did not leave me much for savings or spending on something special. I thought hard about it before I decided to quit and go to Europe to study for a master’s degree. I won a half-grant for a program.

The course took one and a half years, and during that time, I acquired a lot of experience from visiting different European countries and a lot of knowledge from my classmates from across the world.

It was not easy for me to find a job after graduating in Europe. I did not have a lot of professional experience and I could not compete with the locals in terms of language competence.

I applied to many companies and the first offer was not very suitable to me, but I still took it.

I had a new chance with a big finance corporation a year later, eight years after I left Vietnam.

And from then on, I started to enjoy the result from my big decision of quitting my home country.

I have bought a house and am in the process of applying for citizenship. I am also planning to take a part-time course for a second master’s degree. I am now making much more than €70,000 per year, to have a comfortable life and do things that I like.

So, things might not always be perfect, but if you work hard for something, you will get good results, sooner or later.

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