Vietnamese voice over is not a new career in Vietnam, but not too many people are working on the field. Having a charismatic voice, young people in Vietnam can choose to work part-time as a Vietnamese voice talent who read the commercial voice over.
Read more:
- Vietnamese voice over market – Lack of well-trained voice actors
- Vietnamese voice over – good pay yet shortage of human resources
Vietnamese voice over career – USD 700 per month
“Welcome to the supermarket, we are having a promotion …”, Quach Thu Ha (26 years old, an employee working at a sound company in Hanoi) raises her voice loudly to record on the phone.
That is the familiar part-time job of Ha in the last 5 years.
She accepts contracts for all types of Vietnamese voice over, from reading IVR, an advertisement for a milk product or an anouncement at the hospital, school. These records then will be played on the radio the bus or shopping center …
“If my partner has high-standard requirements, I can record in the studio, in other cases, I can use my home studio to record immediately, then use the DAW to edit the sound and send it to my partners. Then all I have to do is to receive money. If you can only record, you will be charged differently. And if you can edit the audio and reduce noise, you will be charged higher,” Quach Thu Ha said.
This is just a part-time job of Ha, people who hire Ha will pay her an according to the duration and the content of the audio. Usually, Ha earns 200,000 – 600,000 VND for a 10 – 15 minute reading Vietnamese voice over.
“Because the content has been pre-prepared and I have become familiar with the work, it only takes 30-45 minutes to record and complete a product, partners rarely request to redo,” Ha said. Also, the advantage of this job is time, Ha can work outside office hours, in the evening, in Tet holidays, but the money earned is not less. “On average, I earn 200-300 USD each month just from reading this Vietnamese voice over,” Ha said.
Nguyen Trong Khuong, 27, living in Hanoi, has also been working as a Vietnamese voice talent for 7 years to earn more money. He said that he could earn up to USD 700 a month just from reading ads.
“I read advertisements for real estate, restaurants, food, and resorts … everything that people hear every day on the radio, or online fan page. I have just finished reading and processing audio for a real estate of a corporation in Hanoi in just 30 minutes and I was paid USD 250, “Khuong shared.
Khuong graduated from Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and now is working as a Vietnamese freelance voice talent. He said reading advertising was not a bad job. This job is attracting young Vietnamese people, because of the initiative in time. People can work at home, which is fast, easy to do, and easy to make money. Currently, the need for Vietnamese voice talent has been increasing, due to the development of online sales channels as well as the number of people listening to the radio in cars. To better invest in his work, Khuong spent nearly USD 1000, building a home studio to produce higher quality products.
“This job is profitable yet seasonal, there are times like year-end eve and holidays when advertising needs of supermarkets and shopping centers… increased, therefore we also have more jobs. We also get reading contracts through trust, referrals, and third parties as well. Therefore, everyone is trying their best so that they can be introduced to good partners with high remuneration,” Khuong shared.
The necessary qualities for a Vietnamese voice talent
Tran Thi Thu Huong, 29 years old, living in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, mainly working as an editor in for a magazine but also working as a Vietnamese voice talent. The income from this Vietnamese voice over job is not less than USD 250 every month.
“If you pick up the phone and call an airline’s operator, hear the hostess say welcome to the brand, maybe you are listening to my voice. Those are for the operator, reading business greetings, which are the easiest forms to read in advertisements. Also, I often read promotions that you can hear when going to the supermarket. I also read the ad for cough or stomach medicine on the radio,” Huong said.
According to Huong, this job can be described as attractive to many active young Vietnamese people, but it requires speaking skills, hard work, and creativity. Not everyone who has a good voice used to worked as a radio editor, or has narrated movies can read ads and get investors’ money. Huong used to varied from the children’s voice to the voice of a student, then the voice of an old woman over 50 years old to perform perfectly as an ad reader.