My family invested billions of dong (VND1 billion equals $38,000) in my education abroad. On graduation day, earning honors in the U.K., I believed my degree would give me a major advantage and open the door to attractive career opportunities back home.

Reality proved otherwise.

My first job in Vietnam paid only VND11 million a month, and it was far from the glamorous role I had imagined. The experience was a real shock, not only to me but also to my family and the people around us, who had expected much more after years of expensive overseas education.

I remember asking myself bitterly: "I spent so much money and so many years studying abroad, only to start like this?"

A large crowd gathers for a graduation ceremony at a university in England. Photo by Pexels/George Morina

Over time, however, I came to understand something important: the job market does not pay for how much you spent on your education or where you studied. It pays for the value you can create at that moment. And at that stage, despite my degree, I had almost no real working experience.

So I chose to be patient and accept the need for a starting point.

In those early days, I had to learn almost everything from scratch: how to work in a Vietnamese corporate environment, how to communicate with colleagues, and how to handle practical tasks that university had never taught me.

Gradually, I stopped focusing on the question: "How much salary do I deserve?" Instead, I focused on: "What can I do better than yesterday?"

With each new project and each job transition, my income improved steadily. It was not a rapid rise, but it was consistent.

Today, my monthly income has reached around VND100 million.

I realize that what helped me progress was not simply the overseas degree itself, but how I used it as a foundation to continue learning, adapting, and improving.

I still believe studying abroad has significant value. Many international students gain advantages in foreign languages, critical thinking, independence, and discipline thanks to exposure to advanced education systems.

But a foreign degree is only a starting point, not a guaranteed shortcut to a high salary or senior position.

Employers ultimately care less about where you studied than about what you can actually do, how you solve problems, and whether you fit the organization. Even graduates from top overseas universities still need time to prove themselves in the workplace.

The reality of returning home to a modest salary can be discouraging for many overseas graduates, as it once was for me. But in hindsight, I see it as a necessary adjustment. It forced me to manage my expectations, adapt to reality, and understand that careers are built gradually through experience and persistence, not through a single degree.

What matters most is not where you start, but how far you are willing to go afterward.