Leadership Development & Doing Business in Vietnam

The level of support provided from ABROADER Vietnam was great, and I loved the activities where everyone was involved, including the local buddies!

The program coordinator and local buddies were the best and they contributed greatly to the amazing experience of studying abroad. I loved how caring the program coordinator was, whenever I have slight health problems, she was always available to make everything okay. The local buddies were always readily available and eager to interact with us. The activities within the program were planned and well-coordinated. Activities were fun and informative and they were great opportunities getting to know the city, Vietnamese culture. They all contributed in a positive and supportive fashion to my overall study experience.

The experience of doing an internship in Vietnam certainly was not easy for me but I have no doubt that it was tremendouly valuable. At first, I actually had a lot of culture shocks, for example, sometimes it was hard to communicate with Vietnamese people because not a lot of people speak English and some had very strong accent. However, Vietnamese people were very kind to me and took well care of me especially the host family and program coordinator. I realized that it’s difficult to understand another culture but it’s also really necessary to accept other culture, their life and their way of thinking. At the hotel where I did my internship, I could learn a lot of things. For example, I learnt how to communicate politely with customers, how to make them satisfied and how to manage the hotel. Everyone from the supervisor to my co-workers was helpful and accommodating, I was included in all the daily meetings and the supervisor was very open to share her knowledge about hotel management which was really helpful to my future work. I really had a good experience in Vietnam. I appreciate the people I’ve met and the experience I’ve had. This is going to be very useful in the future. Thank you ABROADER Vietnam so much for the valuable opportunity to learn about my field of work in your beautiful country!

I have always been an extremely shy person, when I was small, my face would turn red and I even cried in front of people. Now that I’m a grown up, I want to become more confident, make friends and talk with them like other people do after one-month internship here in Vietnam.

It was extremely helpful to have ABROADER when I arrived to Vietnam. I didn’t have to worry about how to get from the airport to the house or how to get a local sim card. Also ABROADER staff (Tung and Ngan) were periodically checking on me to make sure everything was ok. Mo and Claire were kind enough to arrange a city tour when I visited Saigon. However, the most important thing was that ABROADER Vietnam introduced me to Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation.

There were definitely times during my internship that the cultural difference between Vietnam and Japan made my internship here challenging. However, I was able to be in a team of amazing people and I learnt to accept the difference of opinions within my team and be patient to avoid any conflict. For me, being in a harmonious team motivated me to be positive, work harder and be a more productive person in general.

ABROADER helped me come to Vietnam, they found an internship for me, found work so I can learn about agriculture, organized my arrival, accommodation, first days guidance, sight-seeing, excursions, gave recommendations how to live and react in certain situations, gave me lessons about their language, welcomed me as I never could imagine and more. Simply said, their service was excellent. Like others have said, after coming to Vietnam they were available all the time and offered help with anything. Right now I can’t imagine how I could manage this alone. I was so amazed how fast they did things at ABROADER and how organized they were. I must confess at first I didn’t expect this. I have experience with similar organizations in Europe and I must write how great ABROADER was compared to them. But, this is not everything. After I came to Hanoi I also heard about this organization’s background. For them it is not just about making money. Because many students from Vietnam can’t afford traveling to other countries, ABROADER actually helps them learn about other cultures and languages. They directly cooperate with students. So, with coming here I didn’t just help myself, I also helped others to gain more knowledge. And getting a local buddy is also an excellent idea. You can never learn so much about the foreign country if you travel as a tourist. You have to become part of it, then you can learn about the real culture. Your local buddy helps you do this and in the end you might even find a new friend, like I did. I made many new good friends. In general, you might think that internship with ABROADER will bring you more knowledge and experience in your profession. It will, because they really search for the best possible internship position. But you can’t imagine how much other experience you also gain just by crossing the street or ordering food, being independent here. And be part of them. I won’t be writing how beautiful this country is, how friendly people are and how good the food is, you will just have to come here and find out by yourself. :) Thank you ABROADER!

For starters, having gone into this with the full expectation of entering a foreign country for the sole purpose of working, I am thoroughly surprised by the amount of affection and care given through each and every step in more aspects than just work. When people hear the term agency they expect a common, lackadaisical, professional agency that only assists you for queries and links you to your job, but otherwise expresses a rather hands-off approach when it comes to the external factors, such as the things to do on your free time or the places to visit, etc. Maybe I am alone in this thought but through my 5 months internship, ABROADER has given me the opposite of my expectations during the process. Anything wrong with the experience and they're there, anytime you have inquiries they're right at your doorstep, anytime you need a recommendation for a place to cut your hair you got it. They've given me more care, more concern and more assistance in this trip than I can ever ask for, and also an opportunity, not just in a work aspect but in other ways like the opportunity to make friends, an opportunity to explore Vietnam not for what it seems but for what it is, together. Sure, while it is like this it is still a professional establishment, but, what makes them unique and above the rest is that they remember to also keep it personal. It's been a privilege to experience Vietnam with ABROADER and I extend my gratitude. I think the only advice I can give to people coming on this trip is to have an open-mind and to enjoy the process because time passes way too fast if you don't take the time to enjoy the moment.

In general, I am satisfied with the Internship Service provided by ABROADER before I came to Vietnam. My host family placement exceeded my expectations. My host mother and father were all very friendly and helpful; they really made me feel at home. My local buddy Linh, even though she lived 2 hours away, she still made efforts in taking me on day-trips that catered to my interest in Vietnamese Cuisine. I contacted ABROADER for the Culinary Internship in Vietnam on my own and and given the amount of money and time I will be investing, it was extremely important for me to feel that I can trust ABROADER Vietnam. My host for the internship was Ngon Villa Restaurant. The host company staffs were very friendly and welcoming, one chef at the restaurant was in charge of my internship. However, due to perhaps unforeseeable needs in the company, my supervisor was not able to spend more than a day with me. ABROADER Vietnam found an excellent opportunity for internship in Vietnam for me; however, the host company was not able to fully deliver the experience I was looking for.

I had a great experience interning in Vietnam, I made new friends, experienced new things and learned a lot through the program. ABROADER's staff were really helpful and friendly, making me and the other interns here get used to life in Vietnam. Being an engineering student, I was placed in an engineering company. There, I learned a lot about working life and knowledge that would help me in my future. I also got to experience Vietnam's culture, their way of life and explored the country. Overall, I had a good time over the 5 months I was in Vietnam, experiences good or bad, will likely stick with me for the rest of my life.