With a huge passion for constant knowledge acquisition, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Tourism & Travel Management from the top 3 best economic universities in Vietnam – University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, I completed a Master of Business Administration program at VIU in August. I am currently working at Westmark Construction Ltd. in an Accounting Assistant position.
During this period time, I have worked in many different positions related to customer service. I had 3 years of working experience as a part-time waitress in restaurants while in university, helping me understand a lot about the restaurant industry as well as building a great passion in me for working in this industry.
After graduating, I worked as a salesperson at Fiditour Travel Joint Stock Company in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for around 3 months, which is strongly related to my major. In this job, I always reached the required target and satisfied customers. Moreover, I built a big loyal customer base for the company, which makes me still proud of myself.
Then, because I moved back to my hometown, Phu Quoc Island, I quit that job and applied to Phu Quoc Ocean Pearl Hotel to work as a salesperson. During the period of 9 months of sticking with the company, I achieved many achievements for the business and myself. I had a lot of experience working with the enterprise’s partners as well as improved problem-solving and creative thinking skills.
(Source: Internet)
While my career was on the rise, I made a very important decision in my life which was to come to Canada to study in an MBA program. To implement this plan, I stopped working and focused on improving my English continuously for two years. This adventurous decision helped me enhance my knowledge, skills, and experience to a higher level for my career.
Once I enrolled in the MBA program at Vancouver Island University (VIU) in Canada, I was confident to balance my studies and part-time job effectively. I couldn’t wait to look for a part-time job which is a deli clerk at Thrifty Foods. This was a completely new and challenging work environment for me but I still completed it excellently. I constantly learned from my colleagues and managers to deliver great service experiences to customers, increasing productivity for the department.
After 5 months working at Thrifty Foods, with the desire to experience working in the cosmetics and beauty industry, I applied for Sephora. Currently, I am a beauty advisor for the business, sometimes functioning in two more different positions which are greeter and cashier. My job is to recommend suitable products to customers, satisfying even the most demanding customers. The job helps me improve my communication and cash management skills as well as enhance my teamwork skills effectively.
Although my current master’s program is very heavy, I have always managed to balance my studies and part-time job very efficiently, which greatly enhances my time management skills. In addition, I possess good digital technology, computing, and general office skills, including smartphones, MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Here is an example I used PowerPoint to present a small Marketing assignment in my MBA program: Company Analysis Assignment – Thao Nguyen – Google Drive.
Thanks to the part-time jobs, I gain more work experience in professional and demanding environments in Canada as well as can cover living expenses here. I always remind myself to constantly learn and improve to become the best version of myself.