In early March, Kien Nguyen – a young Vietnamese creative living and working in the US – suddenly became viral on LinkedIn and other social media platforms because of his creative response to a job rejection. Having a chat with Kien about the whole story before and after this event, I couldn’t help admiring his positive attitude and constant effort to prove his talent in such a competitive market. 

Kien’s journey to the advertising world started in 2020 as an intern at TBWA\Group Vietnam. Following advice from his Creative Director, he aimed at different creative agencies worldwide to learn and grow more in the industry. However, things didn’t end up nicely when his “dream agency” showed up just because of the tricky legal process he had to go through to prove his right to work in the US as an international student. 

He recalled: “I have tried my best to make a portfolio that fits the agency style. Last year, I even created a proactive idea to get their Creative Directors to notice. It worked and I got to talk to them in a kind of a first-round interview to get there. They really liked my idea, but because they had already figured out their summer intern roster, we just kept in touch. I contacted them again on Christmas and talked to an interview board at that time, including their HR manager. And everyone said they loved me and my teammate. Unfortunately, regarding the legal process, I heard bad news from the HR Manager. After discussing it with the Head of Talent, she called me and said the company had to turn me down as they couldn’t support me in getting a working visa.”

Despite knowing that many international students struggle with landing a job because of visa issues, Kien still felt a bit shocked. It took him a while to deal with this last-minute rejection. And what he did later on was turn this experience into something more positive and beneficial to his career. 

“I tried not to get bumped down because the recruitment season has just started, which means I still have plenty of time to adjust my application plan and other things,” Kien continued. “Another motivation that keeps me moving forward is that creatives like us always find different ways to deal with problems. Last year, I made a passion project called ‘Lunar Deckwarming – Xa Nhà Xông Deck’ on Google Slides with my friend to celebrate the Tet holiday more culturally and interactively from afar. So, this time, I decided to do something out of this unexpected situation as well.”

Kien’s C-VISA was inspired by his mentor Thành Ngô’s Passumé (Passport + Resumé). With the addition of his past experiences and awards showcased as “visa stamps”, he believed this was an effective way to redirect recruitment’s attention from his visa status to his work and talent. Regarding the creative process and how his work went viral, Kien found them funny and surprising at the same:

“It took me and my friend two days to create the C-VISA. When finished, I wrote a nice caption to share this new work on LinkedIn and scheduled a post at 9 a.m. the next morning. But because I was staying up late that night, the next morning when I woke up, it was already 10:30 a.m. and my post had already got 240 likes (more engagements than all the posts that I’ve been publishing thus far). And many were from the people that I really respected in the industry, so I really felt like I was daydreaming. And I still feel like living in that dream right now. After a week, the post has got about 93,000 impressions and 1,600 reactions already. I’m so happy to see how people could relate to my story.”

The chat between Kien and I went on with more and more positive energy. There’s no doubt that he is a talented individual, but it is his sense of humour and his humbleness that impressed me the most. He used to admire his high school senior friends, then felt kind of disappointed when many Vietnamese talents struggled with making their marks abroad. To change that reality, he has always wanted to make projects that inspire other Viet-abroaders to stand out. He also gave other Vietnamese creatives credit for their inspiring works from which he could learn and improve himself, then explained why people could resonate with his C-VISA: 

“We are in the middle of a recession, especially in the US. If you opened LinkedIn, the everyday posts would be about waves of laying off in many companies. It is tough. People know it, and I think they are kind of depressed. That’s why I’m convinced that they need some light or some hope to keep moving forward. I received people’s texts saying that my story empowered them. And for me, that’s the best thing ever! I appreciate this opportunity which allowed me to make an impact on other people.”

For most people, getting rejected is painful. But for Kien, it’s the nature of his job. And working in advertising requires one to get used to rejection.

“Your ideas will be rejected many times before they appear on the deck that you’re going to present to your clients,” he confirmed. “You will always kill your own ideas, then your Creative Director will do his cut. Then your clients will reject 90% of them as well. So only 10% of your work will make it to production, which can also be rejected by the Director.” However, his stubbornness doesn’t usually let him down easily. Having been doing the job for long enough, he has learned to not get too attached with his own ideas and developed a “shipping mindset” to come up with an idea, make and publish/ ship it, then move onto the next one.

Commenting on the tendency for global talents to compare themselves with local talents and imagine competing with local ones, Kien showed his empathy for their situations and also thought it’s sensible for recruiters to prioritise native candidates:

“For sure natives have more advantages than us because they understand the culture and the market. So, the challenge is: Can you prove that you are worth it? What do you have to offer, so employers would value you enough to sponsor you? In my case, my confidence grew from my outsider perspective as an international creative in the US and my past experiences of creating commercial works for brands like Biti’s in Vietnam, which many graduates from college/ portfolio schools here wouldn’t have experienced. With the mission of self-exporting myself to the US and trying to learn the best advertising practices in the most competitive market with the most talented people here before coming back to elevate advertising in Vietnam, I am fully aware that I would have to go against all of the advertising ‘beasts’ here and take on multiple other challenges to keep going. That’s the name of the game. That’s the only way.”

Believing that “every culture or region will have its own time to shine,” Kien also expressed hope for Asians to find their voices in advertising.

“In many agencies in the US, the Chief Creative Directors are Latino Americans,” he said. “And I think now is the rise of Asians. In Music, we have K-Pop. In Chess, the current world champion, Ding Liren, is Chinese. In Movies, we will have to mention ‘Parasite’ (2019) and ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ (2023). In Advertising, I have been following the footsteps of my mentors and many other excellent Vietnamese individuals as they have been shining in their own way. All these things inspire me and encourage me to work harder. ”

I couldn’t agree with him more on how looking up to successful examples would instil everyone with a sense of motivation. There’s no point clinging to self-doubt or any negative comments that drag you down. You can always surround yourself with people who went through the same battles you’re going through to keep faith in yourself and keep holding on. “You’re not alone,” Kien emphasised. “And with a strong purpose, you can move forward and do the next things.”

Nearly two months after the interview, Kien proudly announced that he would start working as an intern at GUT – an independent ad agency for brave clients and bold brands in Miami, US in this summer. I’m happy for him and looking forward to chatting with him more about upcoming projects.

Follow Kien Nguyen here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kienklaynguyen/