A turning point thanks to the spirit of self-study 

After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Japanese Foreign Trade Economics from the Foreign Trade University, Ms. Hai Minh worked as a translator for a Japanese manufacturing company based in Vietnam. With her superior capabilities and solid Japanese language skills, in 2013, Ms. Minh was sent by her company to work onsite in Japan. Not long after, an opportunity in the IT industry arose, leading her to shift her career to work for a renowned IT company, followed by a Canadian company specializing in SAP. The job of providing enterprise management solutions in the software industry requires knowledge of management, finance, production, and information technology. The vast body of knowledge in this field meant that Ms. Minh always had to stay updated.

Although she came from an economics background, Ms. Minh found it advantageous to pursue this career because she had developed the ability to self-learn and enhance her skills. "Before that, I had no experience or training in SAP. As someone who knew nothing, I would pore over the available documents and teach myself. I'm also quite curious, so I took the initiative to explore materials from other projects, talk to the dev friends to see how they write code, converse with clients to understand their requirements, and propose solutions to them. In the company, besides SAP, there are satellite systems around, and I would learn what they do and how they write. It's precisely because of this that I not only understand the technical business but also have the most comprehensive view of the systems in the company."

After nearly six months of work, Hai Minh received The Best Employee of NTQ Japan 2023.

From a novice, Ms. Minh gradually proved her ability to become an SAP Consultant and even took on the PM role in some projects. After six years with her previous company, working in a multicultural environment, Ms. Hai Minh shared that the company helped her develop and learn much about products and infrastructure, but she felt she wasn't adding much value. "In the company, my colleagues came from all over the world, everyone was very friendly and cheerful, but I was the only Vietnamese, so sometimes I felt a lack of connection to my roots. Perhaps that's why I felt I wasn't contributing much value." Then, while deciding to change her environment, Ms. Minh happened to learn about NTQ Japan.

From no expectations to...

Sharing her impressions of NTQ Japan, Ms. Hai Minh admits that initially, she didn't expect much, but after learning more about NTQ Japan, she was surprised, impressed, and more attracted. "Before that, I participated in the music show 'Dài mãi cho mai sau' by singer Khanh Ly, organized in Tokyo with NTQ Japan as the sponsor. Even though I didn't know about NTQ then, I had a good impression because a company was willing to invest in bringing meaningful chapters and spiritual values to the Vietnamese in Japan."

The second impression was when she first visited the NTQ office. From her research, NTQ Japan was a newly established company, so she didn't expect a new company to have such a large and luxurious headquarters right in the center of Tokyo. Moreover, when visiting NTQ, meeting and chatting with Mr. Dung, Mr. Nam, and Ms. Giang, everyone was very cheerful and youthful. She felt very familiar and decided to join NTQ right away."

After joining NTQ Japan in September 2023, just a month later, Ms. Hai Minh was assigned to lead a quite hot project about ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). "At first, when I joined the project, I was a bit worried about whether I had the capability to lead everyone. Moreover, ERP was a technology area I hadn't worked in before, and many of my team members had never been exposed to it. Fortunately, everyone was very united, eager to learn, and supportive of each other," Ms. Hai Minh confided.

Hai Minh and her puppy in NTQ Japan's YEP 2023 ceremony

The project started with five members and gradually grew to twenty. Ms. Hai Minh proactively divided the project team into five smaller teams to empower the leaders, regularly organized training sessions to improve professional skills, and those who were strong supported the weaker ones. Thanks to this, the team experienced exceptional growth and stable development. The members matured a lot in knowledge, technique, and even their ability to use Japanese; they were highly rated by clients and called the "dream team."

Ms. Hai Minh's management philosophy is "people-centered," always creating opportunities for all members to develop. According to Ms. Minh, going to work should be effective, but not at the expense of everyone feeling tired and stressed. "I want everyone to work with dedication, feeling comfortable developing."

Finding a place to contribute

"I don't think I have anything worth mentioning about myself, my contributions compared to other members are still very small." That was the gentle refusal we received from the editorial board when we asked Ms. Hai Minh, "What about yourself makes you proud during your time at NTQ?" Then she replied " The thing I'm proudest of is my project team. Everyone is very united, supportive, caring, and sharing with each other, not only in work but also in daily life. All 20 people go to lunch together every day, laughing. Everyone has a spirit of learning and sharing knowledge with each other. There are members who have only joined for a short time but have made significant progress." Hearing her passionately talk about the team, we somewhat understand why she could build and develop a "dream team" just a few months after taking on the role at NTQ.

In Ms. Minh's eyes, NTQ is a place "where everyone is close and considers each other family members. When working, everyone is very serious and focused, but always cheerful, with a comfortable atmosphere, something I've never seen in other companies." Here, she and her colleagues are always challenged with new roles and tasks. That's how she and other NTQ-ers step out of their comfort zones and improve every day.

Ms. Hai Minh and her co-worker at NTQ Japan

After some time working, Ms. Minh was trusted to take on the additional position of DM (Delivery Manager), responsible for exploring and developing cooperation opportunities of NTQ with clients. She recounted once participating in a bid for an SAP project for the company, she and her team put a lot of heart and hope into winning the project but were unsuccessful. "At that time, everyone worked very hard and had high expectations, so when the bid failed, I was very stressed and disappointed in myself, not knowing what to do next. After that, Ms. Giang, my boss, talked and encouraged me, pointing out what needed to be improved, so I also learned lessons to do better in future projects." This is also the spirit of "companionship" of NTQ people, always sharing, supporting, and living wholeheartedly for each other.

Ms. Hai Minh shared proudly: "At NTQ, everyone is very close, and the team spirit is very high. Even if there are failures or mistakes, everyone points out the wrongs, and what needs to be improved, and provides solutions. So no matter how difficult it is, I always feel like I have teammates behind me. Honestly, I've never thought about the word 'contribute’ before, but since joining NTQ, I feel motivated to try harder and want to contribute more."

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*This article is part of the series: "NTQ Rubik - series about NTQ people across the globe." 

As a Global IT Service Provider, NTQ Solution aims to create a working environment that brings together diverse technological talents with a shared passion, ambition, and unity to innovate and propagate numerous values. At NTQ Solution, we empower our employees to "shine" by providing a diverse, free, and flexible space to hone their skills and conquer the global market.