JT1 - IT Recruitment Agency

Introduce your business and what you do there.

2359 Media is a software solutions company headquartered in Singapore, with offices in Vietnam and Indonesia. I’m a country manager in charge of our operations in Vietnam.

What challenge were you trying to address with JT1 - IT Recruitment Agency?

As an outsourcing company, we constantly need more talent. Even though we’re well-known in the industry, the quality of CVs we receive wasn’t always optimal. Before their technical interviews, we send online tests to candidates, and 85% of them fail. We hired JT1 to help us with our headhunting efforts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

JT1 conducts recruitment for our mid-level and senior developers, while we take care of junior positions. We’re using them for both internal recruitment and for resources that we send out to clients.

One of our services is staffing resources — we hire people and send them to work at a client’s office. We’ve tried this model with JT1, and we’ve successfully deployed a lot of personnel. Finding development talent in Singapore is difficult because it’s a small country. Vietnam is a preferred location for sourcing developers since it’s close geographically and culturally, and English proficiency here is quite good.  

JT1 has an internal database, and they’re also in touch with the development community. They interview developers at their office before sending their CVs to us. Candidates need to achieve a 75% score on our online test before qualifying for technical interviews at our company. JT1 offers us two-week aftersales support after we make the hire.

For candidates that will be assigned in Singapore, JT1 will give them an introduction to ensure that they understand the culture and what they’ll be doing there.

What is the team composition?

I’m working with an account manager and a resourcing manager from JT1. They gather requirements from the candidates, and they take care of the paperwork and administrative tasks.

How did you come to work with JT1 - IT Recruitment Agency?

I knew a lot of headhunting companies, but I hadn’t used them because I was confident in the database I had. However, I occasionally needed to use a recruiter due to urgent client requirements. I tried out five companies, and out of those, I stuck with JT1. The other companies had problems in terms of the number of CVs they provide.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent a total of $50,000 with JT1. In 2020, we spent around $20,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around October 2018, and it’s ongoing.

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

JT1’s speed for finding CVs is quite good. I’m very particular about the attitude and self-learning capabilities of the candidates, which are qualities that not many headhunters can provide well. Self-learning and English proficiency are skills that I can’t train myself, so they’re the two most important criteria for me. Vietnam has a lot of good developers, but we usually encounter problems in those areas. The candidates coming from JT1 have excellent attitudes, and their English proficiency is acceptable.

How did JT1 - IT Recruitment Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet 90% of our deadlines for finding candidates. We have a lot of stakeholders in Singapore that want to be involved in the recruitment process, especially the clients, and we’re using Trello to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

JT1 is involved in the IT community, and they take care of the developers. Unlike most headhunters in Vietnam, they don’t just collect requirements and source people. They build relationships with candidates, and they make an effort to understand their lives and expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should grow their recruitment reach. We have a modern tech stack, with Node.js, React.js, Flutter, and similar languages, so it’s easy for JT1 to recruit for us. However, we sometimes need developers skilled in traditional languages like Java and .NET. Talents proficient in those are rare in Ho Chi Minh City, but they’re available in Hanoi. JT1 needs to expand in other cities to fulfill those kinds of needs.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

With companies similar as ours — namely, foreign companies with open cultures — people are a focus, so we use headhunting services. If we don’t find good fits, we will have difficulties in retention. Resources will leave after a year, and we’ll have to do everything all over again. We need to consider the future value of the employee, not just their immediate contribution.