AusCham connects Australian alumni and employers

The inaugural events series, which were organised simultaneously in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang and Nha Trang, were attended by 250 fresh university graduates, together with seasoned alumni and employers looking for employees with Australian qualifications.

According to AusCham, the Welcome Back events have successfully served as a forum to bring together AusCham, recent and senior Australian alumni, members, sponsors, the Australian government, Australian universities and many others.

Phil Johns, executive director of AusCham, was upbeat about the results of this year’s events, telling the VIR, “One alumni from Hue, who attended the event in Danang, has commenced discussions with AusCham about how we might be able to work together to build a similar business presence in Hue for Australian alumni and Australian business interests.”

This year’s attending Australian employers hailed from a wide variety of industries, including accounting (CPA Australia), banking (ANZ), retail (Alchemy), education (IDP, RMIT University) and real estate (Savills) among others.

“The Welcome Back events are a great opportunity for employers to connect with returning Vietnamese graduates from Australia, who will contribute to the development of Vietnam,” said Huynh Ngoc Thien, southern Vietnam regional manager of CPA Australia.

Will Chau, a senior alumnus from Australia and business development executive at Strategic Compliance, praised the Welcome Back events, “I believe these events will help returning graduates adjust faster to the Vietnamese working environment, avoid reverse culture shock and develop key contacts to start their future career.”

When asked by the VIR about future plans for the events, Phil Johns said AusCham would continue to host more business-related activities for the alumni during the course of this year.

“These activities will enable us to build stronger relationships with more new graduates and senior alumni. This will be the building blocks for next year’s Welcome Back events, which are expected to be on a grander scale in terms of number of alumni, employers and tangible outcomes,” he said.

More than 25,000 Vietnamese are enrolled in courses around Australia, making the country the top destination for Vietnamese students studying abroad.