Nguyen Thi Van Anh

At 32, she manages 40 people at the Hanoi office of Navigos Group, a headhunting and online job search company in Hanoi, Vietnam. Anh worked for eight years for a state-owned brewery and at Ernst & Young's human resources branch in Vietnam before joining Navigos three years ago.

I was born just 11 days before the war stopped [on April 30, 1975] in a small town in Quang Ninh province in Northeast Vietnam. Like most other Vietnamese people, my parents worked in a state-owned enterprise—in their case, in the mining industry. I stayed there until I got a scholarship to university in Hanoi. Then I got married there. I have one daughter, 7 years old. Her name is Ha Vy. Ha is a river, Vy is small.

I studied Russian, but when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, I realized I could not work with Russian anymore, so I studied Chinese and English. After graduation I started with Ha Tay Brewery, the Tiger Beer [a Southeast Asian brand] and Heineken (HINKY) producer in North Vietnam. I worked very hard. I started at a very low level, then moved up to assistant in human resources. After almost eight years at the company I was promoted to HR manager. In the past, HR meant personnel administration—whatever the boss tells you to do, you do. Nowadays, especially after Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization [in January this year], people see the importance of people and see HR as a competitive advantage. So the HR manager's role is more important. I have been at [my current] job more than three years. Before, I was operational HR only, providing services within the company, and I didn't meet a lot of people. Now I do executive search and have a huge network of candidates and clients. I have an opportunity to learn about a lot of industries. My view has really broadened.

I have to balance my work life [with parenting]. I am still ambitious, but I like to take care of my child. I am not concerned about finance; I want just enough money for my daughter, when she reaches 18, to go for overseas education. I want to retire when I reach 50. Then I will play with my daughter's children. I hope I will have enough money to retire early and I can relax. Being a working mother is harder than being a working father. We have duties of both a wife and a mother. I am lucky that my husband is a sharing person.