What is IT headhunting and how does it differ from your other hiring services?
Headhunting is a direct, targeted approach to candidates who are currently employed, ending in a permanent employment relationship between the candidate and you. It differs from our employer of record service, where you have no local entity and a third party employs the person on your behalf, and from build operate transfer, where the objective is an entire team and operating capability rather than an individual. It also differs from our dedicated development team service, where the engineers remain AgileTech employees working on your backlog.
What kinds of roles is headhunting appropriate for?
It is worth the cost for senior engineers, specialists in scarce stacks, engineering leadership, and any search that must stay confidential. For volume hiring of mid-level developers a conventional recruitment process is usually more efficient, and we will tell you when that is the case rather than sell you a search you do not need.
How long does a headhunting search take?
The search itself depends on how narrow the pool is, and the total time to a start date is then extended by the notice period, which for permanent roles in Vietnam commonly runs 30 to 45 days. We do not publish an average, because the range across roles is wide enough that a single figure would mislead. At briefing we will give you a realistic range for your specific role.
Do you guarantee placements?
Guarantee terms, including the period and whether the remedy is a replacement search or a refund, are agreed in the engagement contract before the search begins. We set them out in writing for each engagement rather than stating a general policy here.
How do you assess candidates technically?
Engineers who work in the relevant stack conduct the evaluation, focusing on how a candidate reasons through a problem in your domain rather than on recall. You receive the reasoning behind each assessment, including the concerns, so you can calibrate our standard against your own.
What if we already have a legal entity question or no entity at all in Vietnam?
Headhunting assumes you can legally employ the person. If you have no entity in Vietnam and are not ready to create one, our employer of record and payroll service is the appropriate route: we find the person the same way, but the employment relationship sits with the employing entity while they work for you day to day.
Can you run a search confidentially?
Yes. Under a confidential search your name is withheld until the point in the conversation you choose, and candidates learn only what is necessary at each stage. This is common when replacing someone still in post or hiring ahead of an unannounced market entry.
What happens if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
Counteroffers are common in a competitive market. We establish a candidate's real motivation during evaluation, because someone whose primary driver is compensation is more likely to accept one, and we raise that risk with you before an offer is made rather than after it is declined.
Which technology roles do you cover?
Frontend, backend, and full-stack developers, mobile developers, QA engineers, DevOps and cloud engineers, data and AI engineers, designers, business analysts, and engineering leadership. Where a role falls outside our own technical experience we will say so rather than take the brief and screen it badly.
How do we get started?
Share the role, the team, and the constraints around it. We will calibrate the brief against the Vietnamese market and tell you what is realistic, including where we think the requirement or budget needs adjusting, before any search begins and at no charge.
