Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet cabin crew recruitment: the requirements, the training and why so many Vietnamese crew move to the Gulf and Asia
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#1 Ho Chi Minh City, applying to SIA and Cathay, and I did the Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet processes first, so here is the Vietnamese carrier picture for the Vietnamese applicants who read this forum in English and cannot find it.
Vietnam Airlines
The national carrier, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City bases, A321s for the region and A350s and 787s for the long haul (Europe, Australia, the US on the San Francisco route, Japan and Korea heavily). Recruits Vietnamese nationals in announced rounds. Requirements: 18 to around 28 for freshers, height 160 for women and 170 for men with a proportional build, a high school diploma with a degree preferred, English at a TOEIC level that is tested, a good complexion (the image element is real, in the Asian carrier way), no visible tattoos, and the medical. The assessment: document screening, an image and presentation round, an English interview, a group activity, and the swimming test. Training is around three months at the airline's centre.
Vietjet
The low cost carrier, fast growing, A320 family and now wide bodies, a network across Asia. Recruits in larger numbers with slightly lower height and education thresholds, a faster process, and a training bond. The pay is lower than Vietnam Airlines, the sector counts are higher, and the promotion is faster. Vietjet is the entry door for a lot of young crew.
The pay in dong
Both pay a livable Vietnamese salary with flying and layover allowances that matter on the long haul at Vietnam Airlines. In dollars it is small. That is the reason for the next section.
Why so many move
The Gulf carriers recruit in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. SIA and Cathay recruit Vietnamese for the Vietnam routes. The Gulf pays five to eight times the Vietnamese salary in hard currency with housing. Vietnamese crew with two years at the home carriers are strong candidates because the service training is good and the discipline is strict. The English is the barrier and the crew who fix it leave. Almost every Vietnam Airlines crew member I met in the process had a Gulf or SIA plan.
The English problem
Vietnamese school English is grammar and reading. The Gulf and SIA assessments are spoken. Six months of daily conversation with a tutor or a language exchange is the difference between a document rejection and a final interview. The Thai and Filipino threads say the same and it is true for us more than for them.
For Vietnamese applicants
Vietnam Airlines if you want the home carrier and the long haul to Europe. Vietjet if you want to fly now and build hours fast. The Gulf or SIA when the English is ready. All three are good; the order depends on your English today.
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#2 Thai at Qatar, and the Vietnamese crew in my batch had exactly this story: Vietnam Airlines two years, English fixed, Doha. The service training from the home carrier is respected. The English is the door.
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#3 Filipino, and Southeast Asian applicants all have the same shape: a home carrier that trains well and pays little, and a Gulf that pays well and needs the English. Linh has written the Vietnamese version. It is also the Filipino and Thai version.
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#4 SIA, and the Vietnamese crew we hire for the Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi routes are strong. The English interview is where the applicants fall and the ones who pass it are excellent. Six months of conversation, exactly.
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#5 @evelynsin that is the encouragement I needed a month before the walk in. Six months of conversation done. Now the room.