Having graduated from a US university, instead of staying there, Son decided to return to Vietnam to start his own business, and then applied to Tsinghua University to improve his management skills.
Nguyen Anh Son (born in 1998) is a former student of the Russian language specialization at Nguyen Hue High School for the Gifted ( Hanoi ). During his high school years, Son had planned to study engineering in Russia, but realizing he was better suited to business, he changed his mind and decided to study in the United States instead.
Furthermore, this decision partly stems from family "tradition." Son's parents are both former students of Hanoi University of Technology. They both own their own construction company. It was his parents who became the "inspirers" that helped Son decide to pursue this path.
Son then chose to study Business Administration at Charleston University (USA). According to Son, his years of study there helped him build a solid foundation in management and administration. The Vietnamese man only took about three years to complete this course.
Mr. Son has been accepted into the Master of Business Administration program at Tsinghua University (China). (Photo: Provided by the interviewee)
After graduating, realizing there were "more and more opportunities in Vietnam than staying in the US to work," Son decided to return to his country and establish his own company specializing in the production and installation of aluminum profiles and roller doors. Starting a business in a field full of "sharks," Son considers himself lucky to have both his parents, experienced professionals, always ready to support and back him, even when he made mistakes.
"About 20-30% of my first customers were referred by their parents. It's very difficult to survive as a 'small fish' swimming alone," Sơn frankly admitted.
But instead of being dependent, during his more than four years as CEO, Son continuously explored new directions and expanded his customer base. Recognizing his shortcomings in managing and guiding the company's development, the 9X generation entrepreneur decided to pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program to fill in the knowledge gaps.
This time, Son hopes to study in China, and he considers Tsinghua University – a leading university in Asia – to be "the best choice."
The MBA program at Tsinghua University requires applicants to have a minimum of three years of experience, in addition to demonstrating exceptional qualities, future aspirations, and suitability for the program. The young man, born in 1998, had six months to prepare his application, including his GMAT test, essay, and letters of recommendation.
In his essay, Son wrote about his experiences running his own company at a very young age. He also highlighted the bilateral trade relations between Vietnam and China, and between Vietnam and the United States, and offered his assessment of the development of import-export and investment in Vietnam.
However, what made Son confident that he had done well was the interview round. The interview with leading professors from Tsinghua University and experts lasted only 10 minutes, but candidates had to answer dozens of questions.
“The questions were very intense, both to verify authenticity and to challenge the candidate's ability to handle pressure, such as information about the company like revenue, implementation costs, number of employees, management methods, future direction... If I didn't actually do the work and didn't have a firm grasp of the data, the professors could easily assess the authenticity of my application,” Sơn said.
Son is the first Vietnamese student to enroll in the global MBA program at Tsinghua University. (Photo: Provided by the interviewee)
Having gone through the recruitment process for the past four years, Son also understood the purpose of interviews. Therefore, the 9X generation entrepreneur answered every question honestly, from why he withdrew from the company's advisory board and promoted a trusted manager to CEO within two years of his MBA studies, to how his parents supported him during the early stages of his startup.
Thanks to this, Son was accepted into the MBA program with a 50% tuition scholarship. He also became the first Vietnamese student to study the global MBA program at Tsinghua University.
To date, Son has spent four months studying here. He describes this period as "very valuable but also extremely challenging."
“My classmates are all entrepreneurs or managers at leading global corporations. Tsinghua University also gave me the opportunity to connect with investors from major Chinese companies and many famous CEOs in Asia and around the world,” Sơn said.
In addition to his current company, Son has opened another company specializing in import and export consulting for Vietnamese and Chinese businesses. The young Vietnamese entrepreneur aims to develop solutions to optimize supply chains, making it easier for Vietnamese businesses to access international markets.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/chang-trai-lam-giam-doc-o-tuoi-22-gianh-hoc-bong-thac-si-dai-hoc-thanh-hoa-ar919887.html
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