Note: As a member of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, I was featured on its Facebook Fanpage as below. The original story can be found here.
Vu Lan Huong, 30, Vietnam
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
Communications Associate, World Bank in Vietnam
Vu Lan Huong is well on her way to her goal of becoming “a leading communicator for development.” She feels privileged to be working for the World Bank, where she is “giving a voice to the voiceless” and raising awareness about issues like transport, energy and education. She hopes to “pass on my passion to and share my experience with younger colleagues so that we can build joint efforts to address development challenges.”
Huong credits her education with preparing her to succeed. Getting involved in projects in and out of the classroom helped the YSEALI grantee improve such soft skills as teamwork, leadership and problem solving. But most importantly, she says, “I learned to self-learn. … The fact that I am able to learn new things really helps me to think out of the box and resolve unexpected issues.”
Huong’s tips for success:
- Attend conferences and informal gatherings — even join Facebook groups — wherever and whenever you can to hook up with professionals in your field. You will learn a lot from them, and job opportunities will come.
- Build your “online CV.” Many employers Google your name, visit your Facebook page or glance at your Twitter handle. Things that you share and people whom you follow/”friend” can build up your online CV. But remember to behave professionally, because you never know who is following you.
- Know the trends. You should know what’s hot in the market in order to bring the most innovative and trendy solutions to the company that you would like to work for.
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