[Not] Finding a Job in Da Nang

I continue to add to the second most depressing spreadsheet I’ve ever created. It’s called “VietnamJobResearch.xlsx” and I’m on row 131.

As promised in a previous blog post, it’s time for me to write about my job search experience here in Da Nang. The following highlight reel consists of some jobs to which I’ve formally applied and have been documented in my Excel file. Others were more informal, passing my name along and the like, and haven’t been documented until now. This list is not exhaustive and merely represents oddity or what I hope is entertainment value.

• Shortly after arriving, the CEO of the local hospitality school kindly met with me and gave me contact information for GMs at 11 different local resorts. I emailed all of them and heard back from five. I met with one in late August, who was excited about my experience and potential to help with the rebranding of a new set of hotels. Despite several meetings, including a tour of the facility, the project has stalled and I still haven’t heard back on next steps. Apparently, according to my friends, this is just the way things are in Vietnam. On the bright side, I got a free meal and some drinks out of it. The GM is a really nice guy. (Note: I’ve found that most marketing positions at resorts here are filled by Vietnamese nationals—it’s often the first line in the job posting’s qualifications list. I’ve been told that, mostly, this means the hiring company does not want to pay a Western wage to fill the role.)
  
• According to the local beer company contacts I’ve been able to find, all beer marketing in Vietnam is done in Ho Chi Minh City. Admittedly, I haven’t pursued this one with too much gusto. I’m not sure any other beer marketing would live up to the job I quit in order to come here.
  
• After foolishly taking stock in a glib article about how to make money while traveling, I spent a couple of hours creating an istockphoto profile and submitting photos for purchase. I may have a decent eye, but my camera is, and has always been, my iPhone. I check my account every once in a while, with an embarrassing tinge of hope that is soon replaced by self-deprecating laughter when I see the $0 balance.
  
• Not long after I arrived, a Vietnamese tea company posted on the Danang Hoi An Expats Facebook page looking for a blogger. A couple of my friends were nice enough to point it out to me, so I applied. When the Russian owner in Nha Trang saw my beverage industry experience, he asked if I would like to do some marketing for them, but to really focus on helping them break into the U.S. market by working with distributors and retailers. His English wasn’t very good, and our Skype connection sucked, but I could tell he was excited—because he said it, not because he spoke with emotion. He’s Russian. Anyway, I located their teas at a tourist gift shop and was shocked at how expensive they were, even by Western standards. I sent him a long follow up email with a list of questions and some parameters. He responded with an equally long email that addressed neither the questions nor the parameters and implied that he wanted me to work for commission only. My stomach was warning me against this one, and my head was asking “How will I know how much profit they’re making from 500 km away? What would keep them honest with the commission payments?” Vague stories of other expats being screwed over in business prospects rang in my ears. I told him I needed to have some sort of base pay, and suggested some alternatives. I never heard from him again.
  
• I’ve been halfway through completing freelance writing applications to realize that they pay in the ballpark of $4 for 1000 words. This is not an exaggeration. One application I submitted wanted writers to work for free—and I have four times the number of Facebook friends as they had fans on their page. I’m not bragging. The point is, that’s not writing for exposure, that’s wasting time, and I told them so in a snarky email. I couldn’t help myself.
  
• I’ve applied for 25 jobs with titles like “online editor” or “B2B proofreader (offsite)” or “email copywriter”, many for agencies that aren’t even named in the job posting. A solid handful of these applications were submitted during a particularly desperate two-day period.
  
• I’ve created profiles for two separate “marketplaces” that allow you to pick up work when it becomes available. When I sign into one, there’s nothing there at all, not even the test that I was supposed to take before being able to pick up assignments. And, despite some frustrated googling, I can’t remember the name of the other, and I forgot to put it on my spreadsheet.
  
• Helping a friend of a friend with marketing efforts for local golf courses. However this friend might have been confusing two different courses, and his friend might not need the help after all. No harm, no foul.
  
• A retail shop in Hoi An was looking for a Western manager three days a week. I met with the owner and visited the shop with a friend. Unfortunately, Hoi An is quite the commute, they haven’t had new clothing designs in months, and I’m not interested in retail experience. I would be able to meet lots of people from all over the world, but sitting in that shop all day had a depressing air to it. One friend said that, when she was approached to work for them, they offered her $5 an hour. She told me to accept it with the mindset that it was temporary. I decided to take my chances and leave that one be.
  
• Helping a local international school with their website and social media content. They hired an unpaid intern.
  

Some of these things may pull through yet, you never know. And I have so many people here looking out for me, it’s amazing, and I couldn’t be more grateful. But, still, it’s quite the list, eh?

So far, here’s what I’ve been paid to do since arriving in Vietnam:

• Presenting the first round of a marketing audit to an arts collective, with the potential for two more rounds of presentations
  
• Writing, digital marketing work, and social media consulting for my mom’s company, Artemis Strategy Group (some of which I’ve been doing in my free time for more than 3 years now)
  
• Writing a few property descriptions and some ad copy for Phil’s sister, Amy’s, real estate agency
  
• And writing my first-ever paid piece of editorial for Incomes Abroad, with more published pieces to come—hopefully, as the pay comes when the pieces run
  

I’ve been here for four months, and this doesn’t feel like near enough.

However, I’ve started this blog, have submitted some poetry and personal essays to literary journals (because why not?), am more than 30 pages into a screenplay (that may never turn into anything other than a file on my computer), and have read 9 full books, two halves (one that will become a whole, one that won’t) and a dozen or more short stories. I’ve spent many a morning in a cafe and afternoon on the beach (including a cool-off swim today because I was sweaty from sunbathing on November-freaking-19th, my fellow Michiganders!). I can’t speak as much Vietnamese as I’d like, and I’m still shaky on a motorbike, but there’s time.

Today, before my swim, over a lunch of $1.25 spring rolls, I met a small-in-stature, long-haired, quiet-talking Brit-turned-Kiwi who’s on his fourth trip driving up and down Vietnam on a motorbike. He told me this is his favorite place in the country.

I haven’t found a full-time job, it’s true. But, on the good days, I’m able to see that all of this, the whole damn thing, is worth so much more than a paycheck. Help remind me when I forget, OK?