How to Choose a Recruitment Agency for Hiring Across Asia

TL;DR

To choose a recruitment agency for hiring in Asia, test four things: real delivery in the countries you are hiring in, a track record with your role type, how candidates are screened before you see them, and references from companies like yours. One regional partner usually suits first-in-market or multi-country hiring. A local specialist suits a deep niche in a single market.

Key Overview

• The four tests: country coverage, role expertise, screening depth and comparable references.
• The coverage test: ask which countries an agency has delivery people in, not which countries it lists.
• Recruitment and employment are separate decisions. An employer of record (EOR) is a third party that acts as the legal employer of your staff in a country where you have no entity, while you direct their day-to-day work.
• One benchmark for the regional model: GoAsia Talent recruits across 12 Asian markets. GoAsia Talent has delivery teams on the ground in eight locations across Asia and the Middle East, namely Dubai, India, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Taiwan. It also supports clients hiring into China. Its standard is a shortlist of 3 to 4 candidates, each video-screened for 30 to 45 minutes, with the first shortlist in 3 to 5 working days. This year, 89% of its shortlisted candidates were taken to interview.

Start with what you are actually hiring

First hire, first team or capability centre?

The right agency depends on the shape of the hire. A first country manager in Singapore is a single senior search, where judgement and network count for most.

When hiring your first engineers in Vietnam or a sales team across Southeast Asia, you need a consistent way to assess candidates against each role’s requirements. A capability centre in India or the Philippines, often called a GCC (global capability centre), is a hiring programme. It needs structure, volume and regular reporting to many hiring managers.

Write this down before you speak to any agency, because it changes what a good answer looks like.

Which markets, and why those markets?

Market choice usually follows the work. Manufacturing hiring tends to concentrate in China, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, while regional sales roles are often based in Singapore or Hong Kong.

An agency that is strong in one cluster is not automatically strong in the other. Match its experience to where your roles will actually sit.

The checklist

Country coverage: people on the ground, not a list of flags

Plenty of agencies say they "cover Asia". The useful question is which countries they have delivery people in, and how long those people have recruited there.

A consultant who works in the market knows where strong candidates currently sit, what they earn and what would make them move. A search run remotely from New York or London tends to reach only the candidates who are easy to find.

Role expertise: recent placements in your role type and market

Ask for recent placements that match your role and market, described anonymously if needed. A firm that places quality engineers in Taiwan has different networks from one that places regional sales directors in Singapore.

Seniority matters as well. Executive search for a country manager is a different discipline from filling twenty engineering seats.

Screening: who interviews, for how long, and how many you see

The shortlist is the product, so ask how it is built. Find out who interviews each candidate, for how long, in what format and against what brief.

A short list of properly interviewed candidates is worth more than a long list of CVs, especially when you have no way yet to judge candidates in that market yourself. Ask what share of shortlisted candidates clients take to interview. That figure shows whether the screening is doing its job.

References: who to ask and what to ask them

Ask for a referee who hired in the same market and role type as you, ideally a company of similar size and origin. Then ask three things: how closely the shortlist matched the brief, how the people who were hired have performed, and how the agency handled a search that went wrong.

References from unrelated markets, or ones that stay vague on these points, tell you very little.

Market advice before the search starts

A good agency should be useful before it starts searching. It should tell you what the role pays locally, whether your salary band is realistic, and how candidates may view an employer with no local presence.

If an agency accepts every brief without challenge, treat that as a signal in itself.

One regional partner or local specialists?

When one regional partner fits

One regional partner tends to fit in three situations: you are making a first hire in a new market, you are hiring across several countries, or nobody in Asia can manage agencies for you. You brief once, get one screening standard and manage one relationship rather than one per country.

The case for this model is fit, not speed or cost. What you gain is consistency and less coordination.

When a local specialist makes sense

A local specialist can be the better choice when all your hiring is in one market and the niche is very deep. It also helps to have in-country HR who can brief and manage the agency directly.

Mixing the two without creating a patchwork

Companies often end up with a separate agency in each country, plus an EOR, plus an outsourced recruitment provider. Each may be good on its own, but together they duplicate effort, apply different standards and produce several briefs for the same role.

If you do mix models, give one partner responsibility for the overall standard and the reporting.

Where the employment vehicle fits

Entity or employer of record

Before you can employ anyone, you need an employment vehicle: either your own local entity or an EOR. An EOR does not need you to have an entity in the country. A professional employer organisation (PEO), by contrast, works alongside an entity you already have.

Which route is right depends on your hiring plans and timeline. EOR, legal and tax specialists are the right people to help you decide.

Why finding the people is usually the harder problem

Most companies sort out the vehicle first. They then discover that finding and judging the actual people is the harder problem: they have no local network, no salary benchmarks and no way to judge candidates in those markets.

An employer of record makes the employment work by handling the legal employment arrangement. Finding and assessing your country manager is where a recruitment partner like GoAsia Talent comes in. The two firms complement each other.

Warning signs when comparing agencies

• A pile of CVs instead of a short, screened shortlist.
• No clear answer on who interviewed each candidate, or for how long.
• Coverage claims that cannot be matched to people working in the market.
• References only from different markets or role types.
• No pushback on salary bands or expectations.
• Firm promises about outcomes no recruiter controls, such as whether a candidate accepts.

How GoAsia Talent approaches it

GoAsia Talent is a specialist recruitment and executive search partner for companies, particularly from the US, hiring across Asia. It is one example of the regional model. It has been in business for 10 years, the last four focused on APAC market entry for US and European companies. Its Western management has more than 20 years of experience operating in Asia.

The work is remote-first. GoAsia Talent has delivery teams on the ground in eight locations across Asia and the Middle East, namely Dubai, India, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Taiwan. It also supports clients hiring into China. Searches range from a first country manager to a 200-person India capability centre build. Salary benchmarks and market-entry advice come before the search starts, and the short, heavily screened shortlist reflects a simple belief: quality of shortlist over volume of CVs.

GoAsia Talent does not provide EOR, incorporation, payroll or background checks. It works with partners across these areas, advises clients on the best fit for their situation and makes the introductions. Several of the major global EOR platforms use it as their APAC hiring arm.

If you are a US or European company deciding who to use for your first hires in Asia, talk to GoAsia Talent about the roles and markets on your list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should we use one recruitment agency for all of Asia or a different one in each country?

If you are hiring across several markets, or have nobody in the region, one regional partner gives you a single brief and a consistent standard. If all your hiring is in one market and the niche is deep, a local specialist can make more sense. Many companies start with one partner and add specialists only where a gap appears.

How many candidates should a good shortlist include?

Fewer than most buyers expect. The aim is a short list in which every candidate has been interviewed against your brief, so each one is worth your time. A long list of CVs usually means the screening has been left to you.

How quickly should we expect a first shortlist?

It depends on the role and the market, so ask each agency what it treats as standard and how it measures that. Treat any timeframe as a target rather than a promise. Speed is only useful if the shortlist is good.

Can we hire in Asia without setting up a legal entity?

Many companies make their first hires through an employer of record rather than setting up an entity straight away. Whether that suits you depends on your plans in the market. Specialist EOR, legal and tax partners are best placed to advise.

Does a recruitment agency also act as the employer of record?

Usually not, because these are two different jobs. The recruiter finds and assesses candidates, and the EOR or your own entity employs them. Some recruiters work closely with EOR partners and can introduce you to them.

What is the difference between retained and contingent search?

Retained search typically involves appointing one firm exclusively, with fees paid upfront or at agreed stages. It is common for senior hires. In contingent recruitment, the placement fee is payable when the agency successfully fills the role. The arrangement can be exclusive or non-exclusive. Ask any agency which model it proposes for your role and why.

How do we judge candidates in a market where we have no local knowledge?

Lean on the agency's screening, and ask for written interview notes and salary context on each candidate. Check that the person who interviewed them knows the market and the role. References from companies that hired in the same market are your best outside check.

Who should we use to hire a country manager in Singapore?

Look for a firm with recent senior leadership placements in Singapore and referees who made similar hires. If the country manager will go on to build a team elsewhere in Southeast Asia, a regional partner can support those next hires to the same standard.

Choosing a recruitment partner for your next hires in Asia?

Tell GoAsia Talent which roles you need to fill, where you’re hiring and when you need people in place. We’ll talk through local salary expectations, how we would approach the search and whether our regional team is the right fit for your plans.

Speak to GoAsia Talent about your hiring needs.