About anhreview

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Who am I, really?

People keep saying it is better to write your professional bio in the third person, and I keep doubting it. So, here’s my first-person bio.

I started writing when I was 3 months old.

My writing journey officially began when I turned 18, as my review of my all time fav book was selected for an anthology. That’s how I found myself working as the youngest book reviewer at a local publisher.

If you know me in real life, you know I’m a certified nerd. As if working part-time (and unpaid!) at the publisher wasn’t enough, I signed up for a student club called Young Economic Scientist (YES). The name says it all—the nerdiest club you could find at my university.

But, what’s wrong with being a nerd?

The newspapers were written in Vietnamese—my mother tongue. We crunched all the latest business insights we could find in leading magazines like The WSJ, The New York Times, and Harvard Business Review. Then, we picked the most relevant news for three categories of the newspaper: Business, Finance, and Tech. We assigned members to cover categories according to their interests and majors.

(Have I ever introduced my university to you yet? In case I didn’t, it’s all about business. The school is infamous for its nerdy curricula.)

We aimed to deliver the information in the simplest way to read and wrapping up each piece with some reflection and debates regarding what we were taught versus what we’d seen in real life. The idea was to help our schoolmates see what we’d learned in action and practice critical thinking skills.

I spent my first three precious years with them. When I finished my third year, I was promoted to write full-time for the publisher AND got paid as an intern. The opportunity sounded really cool, and I wanted to read books for free anyway, so I decided to step out from the club and dedicated my time half-day to school and the other half to my very first employer.

Think Like a Freak. Purple Cow. Thinking, Fast and Slow.

I got to read them all before they were available in stores in my country.

I was entrusted to write reviews of some of these books. I even made my dream turn into reality by authoring a mini-book—an addition to the book The Sketchnote Handbook by Mike Rohde.

My time there was so much fun. And for some time I did think of staying there until they fire me?!.

But as surprising as life is, the publisher didn’t have any plans to scale their editorial team for the business category. They were investing in comics—the picture that I didn’t find myself in. So, I decided to end my chapter there on a high note, after finishing promoting another book by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner—Freakonomics. (Another I’d-kill-to-read book!)

Do you believe in magic?

I think I do. Because if it weren’t for it, I wouldn’t have imagined I would be entrusted to become the Content Lead at an emerging Tech startup after 14 months of joining them. That’s also where I gained first-hand experience in picking software for my team, hiring, and managing remote members.

Today, I continue my journey as an HR Tech Editor at Select Software Reviews, where I write about all the good, the bad, and the ugly of HR software, interview industry leaders, and roll out a new exciting newsletter edition every week.

Why did I start anhreview.com?

I actually ran a blog when I was in my first year. The 18-year-old me even dreamed of publishing her own book one day and having her own blog. Sounds reasonably unrealistic, doesn’t it? So, unsurprisingly, I made it—I just showed it off to you briefly earlier.

My blog was always (and still is) a free ticket for me to share my work with the world. I still remember vividly I had rewarded myself with a three-course meal at a fancy restaurant for getting ten organic subscribers.

If you’re one of these ten and still manage to be here somehow, thank you for being kind and smart enough to find clever things in my dummy random posts 🙂, and for finding me.

I wish I had read the book Never Eat Alone before I went to that restaurant, then, I should have at least sent you a creepy yet genuine email to invite you to eat out with me.

Anyway, even when I got out of college and started to work (a 9-9 job, as there ain’t no 9-5 job for a fresher, mark my words), I kept writing almost every single day.

Now, after having been in the labor force for ~5 years, I’ve saved some money and finally got my own site with a paid domain and paid hosting stuff.

I built the site myself (I can hear you awe, keep goin’), and the idea of making it big, like really making a profit from it, never crossed my mind. I was just too attached to writing. So, I just thought of it as a special present for my 26th birthday, a treat, an awesome treat.

But now as I look at my baby—the site. I feel like I need to make it big. But the big here doesn’t mean big money, it means big thanks.

The site is a blessing to my soul, where I could share my heart out and wander in my thoughts. And I want like-minded people, even just a small number, will have a good time as they read my content.

Perhaps I just don’t want to lose my pride. I’ve got help from my family, friends, and uncounted strangers. Sometimes I wonder what’s going on? Am I rewarded for being a saintess in my previous life or something?

Perhaps I just am positive with the virus. You know, the virus kind people carry and spread them out uncontrollably every time they lend a hand to someone.

Either way, I started the website, trying to better it now, and have no plan to give up on it.

What can you expect to see at anhreview.com?

One. My cold-blood reviews. Since I’m known for being a charmingly blunt writer, get yourself ready to be spoiled on all the ins and outs of all the software I review. Don’t blame me if you find they are brutally honest ’cause I did warn you.

Two. My tech blog. I share all the HR tech news I read and found cool + my takes.

Three. An HR dictionary. My home to all HR terms and phrases I’ve picked up! It’s here for both future me and fellow HR enthusiasts like you to drop by whenever needed.

Four. My book recommendations. I’m not a bookworm. I usually read a few books and keep reading them again and again. It’s fun to learn something new each time.

Everything would’ve been settled if my friends didn’t come in. My circle is tiny, but hell, they are all addicted to books.

Couldn’t recall since when did I become the one they turn to to share their thoughts on how terri-fic/bal a book is. But I do remember I got myself too comfy with that, and ended up passively reading new books without reading them (does it even make sense?).

Unsurprisingly, my curiosity gets the best out of me and makes me use up my spare time to find out what da hell those books are about.

So, yeah. I was just trying to say that’s how I met new books. And I want to store all the books I’ve met with here.

Five-nally, a cozy corner for my journal. It may take a while for the ‘me’ in this life to go to every single place on this Earth and meet every one of you in person. But by sharing my memories here, I’m hopeful some magic will help me make you smile (or angry – I can’t guarantee since it depends on specific topics). 

Where could you find me?

Here and my LinkedIn. Feel like we could be good friends? Send me a message and I’d be happy to write back.

And since you’re here for me until this end, I guess I’ll see you around?