Sitting at home, you can still work in an international environment

Le Na's achievement is being able to balance work and family life - Photo: TL

Experience the many plus points

- First of all, thank you Le Na for taking the time to answer this interview. Can you briefly introduce yourself?

- Hello Quang Tri Newspaper readers! My name is Le Na, born in 1991, working for a multinational financial and monetary company, headquartered in Europe. With this job, I have the opportunity to work remotely. I am in charge of the customer service position, working basically 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

- As shared, you are currently working for a foreign company with a completely remote working format. What made you choose this new form of working?

- From London, I returned to Vietnam in April 2021, right during the COVID-19 outbreak. At that time, the phrase "work from home" became quite popular with everyone because of the regulations to avoid gatherings and limit contact to prevent the spread of the disease. Right from the time I was in the UK, I proactively looked for a job to work from home. When I returned to Vietnam, at the quarantine area in the army, I started working with a 4G network connected from my phone. I have been working remotely since then.

At that time, the reason I chose this form of work was simply that I wanted to have flexible time to take care of my children but still have a stable income. However, after 4 years of working with this form of work and having worked for 2 companies, I realized that it has many benefits. Therefore, I still want to stick with it for a long time.

- Compared to other forms of work, what advantages and disadvantages do you encounter when working completely remotely?

- First of all, this form gives me flexibility in terms of time. According to the company's regulations, everyone will start working at 9 o'clock. Therefore, I sit at my desk and log into the system at 9 o'clock, then start a hard day. After work, I spend all my time with my family and children. At first, because I was not used to it, during working hours, I had to concentrate very much to achieve the set progress. However, now that I am used to it and know how to organize things better, during working hours, I can take advantage of taking care of household chores and taking care of my children. This means a lot to a mother of 3 children like me.

With our current job, our salary and bonus are relatively good compared to the average income in Vietnam. Although we are a foreign company, our holiday and Tet holiday regime is still the same as domestic regulations.

If you want to sign up to work on holidays, you will get 3 times your salary. To help us complete our tasks well, the company has supported each employee with a new Macbook Pro, along with 30 million VND to invest in a working corner. The company also encourages everyone to exercise by helping to pay for the cost of going to the gym.

Every month, the company also allocates a budget for colleagues to meet each other directly or indirectly. In addition, on the occasion of weddings and childbirth, the company will give big bonuses to employees to congratulate. It must also be said that, thanks to working from home, I save quite a lot of small expenses such as: gasoline, clothes, shoes, makeup... I also avoid dust, rain, traffic jams... That is probably a valuable plus for us women.

But this form of work is not entirely convenient. One of the difficulties is sitting a lot and working with a computer screen continuously. Therefore, I often stand up, walk around, and do chores around the house to overcome this. With the money the company provided, I also bought a good ergonomic chair to sit and work most comfortably. Another difficulty is that I rarely have contact and interact with colleagues. We mainly meet each other through video calls.

- From past experiences, what do you think is the most meaningful thing about your current working style for you?

- In the 4 years of working completely remotely, for 2 and a half years, my husband went to school far away and only came home to visit for a few days every now and then. I still worked effectively, had a stable income, and took care of my eldest daughter, while also carrying 2 children in my womb. Beyond all the achievements at work, my greatest achievement when working completely remotely is having enough time to be a good wife and mother.

Prepare your luggage before the opportunity comes.

- In reality, not everyone is qualified to be offered the opportunity to work completely remotely by a foreign employer. So, how do you convince and get the acceptance of a foreign company?

- Previously, in 2015, after preparing to graduate with a master's degree from the University of Queensland, ranked in the top 6 in Australia and top 40 in the world (according to QS World University Rankings 2025), I had the opportunity to work part-time for a Brazilian study abroad company. This job gave me the first idea of ​​working completely remotely and earning remittances. Thanks to it, I was able to maintain a basic standard of living and had time to invest in a non-profit organization for young people in Quang Tri. Later, because I spent nearly 2 months at sea participating in a Japanese Government program, without Internet or phone signal, I was forced to stop this job. However, this is a small plus point in my CV (Curriculum Vitae - understood as resume).

After the above job, I became a civil servant in a government agency in Quang Tri. Some time later, my husband and I moved to London and worked for a famous obstetrics clinic in the UK. Here, I was able to consult, support customers and improve my language skills, especially medical terminology.

When I returned to Vietnam, I joined a Malaysian company with the same remote working model. Here, I maintained the same job but in a completely new field, which is retail fashion. Therefore, when I came to my current job, perhaps the employer saw that I had experience working in many different environments, had moved around a lot, but had good adaptability as well as a clear future orientation... so they chose me.

Looking back at my journey, I feel very lucky to have many good relationships, which helped me have more opportunities to find the right job. And, to do that, in the past, when I was still in school, I was very active in participating in school activities, proactively improving myself and making my CV look good. Therefore, when the opportunity came, I was ready to seize it.

- On the other hand, what have you prepared to best meet the job requirements?

- There are three things that I have prepared. The first is foreign language, which is indispensable when working in a multinational company. The second is an empty mind. I temporarily forget my previous experiences to open my heart, be passionate about learning and integrate into the job as quickly as possible. The third is a generous spirit. I proactively look for work, rarely say “no” and always think 2 to 3 steps before proposing something.

- Some people say that the reason people choose to work remotely is because they are afraid of changing their place of residence and stable life. What do you think about this?

- This form of work allows me to move anywhere, as long as I have a computer connected to the internet, I can work. My Vietnamese colleagues live in a different city every once in a while to experience. As for foreign colleagues, as far as I know, there are those from Russia, Morocco, Western Europe, South America... who choose to experience Southeast Asia - where the cost of living is cheap and the pace of life is fun. Some of them work and travel at the same time. That partly shows that my colleagues and I are not the type of people who are afraid of change.

- From your personal story, can you share your experience of working remotely effectively?

- To answer this question, I can summarize it in two words: "Take advantage of it". Take advantage of learning, take advantage of time and take advantage of work. I often take advantage of the time when my children are playing or sleeping to work at full capacity, the remaining time I work and take advantage of doing chores around the house, sometimes cleaning, sometimes preparing meals, sometimes expressing milk and holding my children... At first, when I'm not used to the work, it will definitely be a bit difficult, but once I get into the groove, it will be better. Therefore, I always tell myself to try my best every day. Tomorrow will be better!

- Thank you Le Na! I wish you happiness and success on the path you have chosen!

Tay Long (performed)

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/ngoi-o-nha-ban-van-co-the-lam-viec-trong-moi-truong-quoc-te-193831.htm