Navigos Group General Director, Jonah Levey and his employee at the office.

New York executive, Jonah Levey, 28, came to Vietnam in 2001 seeking a new career.

One day, Jonah decided to give up a good job in the US to start a new career in Vietnam. “The September 11 disaster forced me to think a lot. I wanted to begin on a new track,” he said.

Price list offered: US$1/day

Seeing Vietnam as a potential market with cheap labour and special policies for recruiting talent, Jonah, an expert in human resources decided to try his luck here.

He began with a market survey, meeting colleagues to seek information about foreign-invested companies in Vietnam, and also learnt about Vietnamese economic policies. After this, he launched Vietnam’s first job website, Vietnamworks.com, with the participation of web experts, who designed websites for Coca-Cola and Colgate-Palmolive.

Initially, the site was not well-received because the service was still strange to most companies in Vietnam. Compared to advertising fees worth thousands of US dollars, with a daily fee of US$1, VietnamWorks.com struggled to survive; however by patiently persuading clients and building a contingent of experts on market, salary, finance, work mechanism and labour requirements, Vietnamworks.com has gradually become known to both jobseekers and employers.

At first, the salary and bonus for VietnamWorks.com staff was paid in cash and shares, with a par value of US$2.

According to staff member, Kevin To, an overseas Vietnamese graduate of Singapore’s Nanyang University, sometimes the company had only four employees.

“However, looking at our growing team, with members of different nationalities, we regained our belief and continued our job,” he said. “Income is important to keep staff. Passion is not enough, so our young ‘captain’ always showed us the value of the job that we were doing”, To said.

When Vietnamese combine with American skills

Currently, the company has 51 employees, many of them earning bachelor or post-graduate degrees abroad, and Jonah trains his staff in professional skills and negotiation methods. Employees also teach each other through their own experience in seeking and recruiting high-grade personnel.

“Luckily I’ve met, recruited, and given consulting services on human resources to many famous companies in the US. Our employees include strategic planners for Kimberly – Clark and Microsoft, who gave me the concept that investing in human resources never incurs losses,” Jonah said.

He admitted that in the first two years, he sometimes wanted to close the company. “One afternoon, under great pressure, I summoned a meeting of the directorate to announce my decision to drop out. But the enthusiasm of my staff helped me to stand although our financial sources were nearly exhausted”.

The young staff at Vietnamworks.com are mostly Vietnamese or overseas Vietnamese blood, who along with Jonah strive to hold on to their home market.

After three years of operation, the value of Vietnamworks.com shares has exceeded US$100/share, with around 2,000 corporate clients. Over 300,000 jobseekers have registered to use the website and Jonah Levey is still the captain.

(Source: Tuoi Tre)