I have always had an urge to not just travel, but live overseas; a feeling I’m sure the majority of people have had before me. Although I have this urge, there is a lot of uncertainty involved with a move like that. One of the biggest concerns is work and career building. This raises the question, what would you do if you were offered a job in a place you never considered before?
For this assignment I thought it would be fun to imagine a part of the world that isn’t easy, English isn’t the primary language, culture is completely different, and I know nobody there. Vietnam came to mind right away. All I know is that it’s beautiful and that people there are very kind, but when it comes to work, incredibly strict bosses. I can speak to this directly from my experience working as a chef at an authentic Vietnamese restaurant in Oregon. Strict is how it came off, but as I did more research into Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, I learned why that was.
See, Vietnam is very different than the US when it comes to hierarchy. They rank much higher on power distance. Authority is respected and it’s not culturally acceptable to question your bosses the way it is here. I have always been someone that likes to push back against authority and norms so this move would definitely be an adjustment. What would work for me is the fact that they score low on masculinity, meaning their culture places more of an emphasis on relationships, quality of life, and family rather than working long hours for personal success. Not that I’m not driven, or they aren’t either, but their priorities allow them to separate family and work in a healthy way. They also score high on long-term orientation while the US tends to focus on short-term thinking and immediate results. This is something I haven’t always been a fan of in the US, so I would be excited to live somewhere where sustained benefit is valued.
Overall, I think I’d take the job if I was offered to work in Vietnam. As Anthony Bourdain once said, “If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food is a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.” I love this quote and in all honesty, he’s the reason that I have lived in three cities in the past three years, it’s been a blast.
Sources:
Bourdain, Anthony. “Brooklyn.” Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, season 8, episode 14, Zero Point Zero Production, 6 Nov. 2012.
Hofstede, Geert, et al. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill Professional, 2010.