Student Stories

“If you believe that change is possible, you will reach your full potential.” – Thai Le

Briefly share with us your current career portfolio as a Senior Industrial Transaction Consultant at a commercial real estate services company.

As an industrial consultant, I’m responsible for guiding international investors or manufacturers through their market entry process into Vietnam from pre-entry assessment to corporate structuring, and ongoing support in setting up a factory, warehouse, and build asset portfolio in Vietnam for clients.

What are the challenges that you face in your career and how do you overcome them?

By the end of 2016, I had worked on a Facebook project as a Marketing Consultant and handled corporate accounts for the Vietnam market. During the working process with clients, I realised that Vietnam has many opportunities for growth, especially in the Real Estate sector.

After two months of research, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and return to Vietnam to join the Industrial Real Estate sector. It was the biggest challenge in my career because it seemed that suddenly a high-tech person moved into a complete opposite sector, which is industrial and slow-moving. Someone who worked at a financial hub in Singapore has now moved to a rural area in Vietnam, 50km away from the city for work. With my decision, I have met many objections from my family, as they thought that I’m throwing away my career. Above that, I had ZERO knowledge and experience about Industrial Real Estate.

I took a pay cut (70% lesser than my previous job), started from entry-level and spent plenty of hours in the industrial park and construction area to learn about manufacturing and the production line. I met a hundred of investors to try to understand the reason why they chose Vietnam to set up their factory. All the hard work has paid off when I received an offer letter from Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL), which is an American commercial real estate services company. The company also provides investment management services worldwide, including services to institutional and retail investors to high-net-worth individuals. It is the second-largest company of its kind in the world and one of the fortune 500 companies.

You have previously worked in Singapore and now in Vietnam, what do you think are the main differences in working culture? What advice would you give to students who would like to work in Vietnam?

To me, there is not much difference in working between Singapore and Vietnam. I can share that Vietnam is famous for our disciplined population, hard work and fast learning. In terms of business relationships, it takes time to develop because Vietnamese people want to know foreign partners before starting a business. We are very optimistic, so you will feel a positive energy when you work with us.

For students who want to work in Vietnam, I recommend being humble and willing to learn.

What do you consider to be your biggest achievement?

By advising a number of businesses to invest and build factories in Vietnam, this has helped to create thousands of jobs for the locals, which makes me feel very happy. I think this is my biggest achievement by contributing to the community.

What was your most memorable time at PSB Academy as an active student leader and what are the greatest take-aways for you through coordinating major student activities?

During my time, there were 12 members in Student Council to lead student activities at PSB Academy. We were young, wide-eyed and hungry for success, so we decided to scale up the student events. For the first time ever, we hosted a lot of events outside of campus such as PSB Academy Got Talent and Mess Up party. The journey was wonderful as we received enthusiastic support from fellow students.

That period taught me to be a responsible person, to take care of others, and become a leader to guide my team through difficult times.

In what ways have pursuing education at PSB Academy added value to your career and your personal development?

PSB Academy is not just a knowledge hub for student to learn, it is also a place to train and sharpen our soft skills. All the lessons are very practical and related to the world economy and corporate life out there.

Any quote that you live by or a quote that you would like to share with our current students?

We live in a fast-changing world, and the global economy is undergoing more profound changes. To me, changing a decision is never easy, but if you believe that change is possible, you will reach your full potential.