Nguyen Viet Hoang, just several months earlier, was working as a motorbike taxi driver, shipper (deliveryman), and part-time restaurant worker.

After more than a year of studying English, Hoang passed the exam to become a ground attendant at Noi Bai International Airport in December 2024.

Born in 2001, after finishing high school in Thai Binh, Hoang enlisted and was admitted to the police ceremonial unit. Alongside regular training typical of conscripts, Hoang was trained for high-level ceremonies.

After nearly two and a half years of service, Hoang left the agency without a clear career direction.

While looking for a job, he found that a restaurant in Hanoi was seeking workers. On the first days after taking the job, he worked as a security guard in charge of arranging cars and motorbikes. After a few days, noticing his agility and decent look, the restaurant owner assigned him to work as a waiter.

In his free time, when other workers were surfing on the internet, Hoang spent time to watch cashiers working. Seeing Hoang eager to learn, a cashier taught him the ropes.

Some months later, Hoang became a cashier. With a keen attitude and willingness to learn, he took on multiple roles, including kitchen assistant, eventually earning trust as an assistant to the restaurant manager.

Though the job provided stable income with free meals and accommodation, Hoang wanted a job with better job promotion opportunities.

One day, he read an ad about the recruitment of flight and ground attendants. The employer did not set requirements on the education level, and just required English skills and voice quality.

"In terms of appearance, I was confident because the ceremonial unit's requirements were even stricter. But I lacked English skills and my communication skills weren't good," Hoang recalled.

He vowed to improve himself. He used all of his money to register for English courses while continuing part-time restaurant work to fund his study.

"At high school, my English was zero. During my army days, I had some opportunity to learn, but it wasn't enough for the attendant tests," he explained.

From then on, Hoang threw himself into learning. Initially, it was very challenging, with new rules to learn.

In his class, many other learners pursued the same goal of sitting the exams to become ground attendants. 

"Those who were better than me passed the exam and left the class. Meanwhile, those who were worse than me felt discouraged and left. Finally, there was only me in the class,” he recalled.

“Persisting daily, Hoang worked with the mindset that patience wins. "My English teacher knew my goal and was very supportive and encouraging," he said

Six months later, Hoang took the TOEIC exam but scored below expectations. Disheartened, he did not give up, continuing to study hard.

Two or three months later, he took the exam once again and saw his achievements improve significantly, enough for him to apply for the ground attendant job.

On exam day, seeing his co-applicants, Hoang felt overwhelmed. His English scores were average by comparison.

"They spoke English fluently and were confident in communication. I could not understand the interviewers speaking in English, and could only stand there with a smile," he recounted.

Hoang failed in his first attempt. But Hoang didn't relinquish his dream. He continued practicing English with his teacher, honing interpersonal skills, and learning more about the aviation industry.

At that time, Hoang was still working part-time at a restaurant. He also worked as a motorbike taxi driver and shipper. He could earn VND1 million a day at times, a high income level. But he remained steadfast with his goal of becoming an aviation worker.

He succeeded at the second attempt. He went to his second exam with a relaxed and confident mindset, not because he was certain of passing but because he haf accepted that he could face another failure, with "nothing to lose". This confidence and calmness helped him succeed through the rounds of the exam and secure his selection.

The email informing him about his success came when Hoang was busy serving customers at the restaurant. "When I finally opened the email after work, I was incredibly surprised to find I had passed," he recalled.

Nguyen Thao