🧠 Welcome Back
Last issue, we asked our community of 40,000+ Vietnamese remote professionals a simple question:
“What’s the one thing you wish employers understood before hiring Vietnamese talent?”
The responses came in fast—and they were more candid than expected.
Before we get into them, a quick note on compensation.
Because one of the clearest patterns wasn’t:
👉 “Pay us more”
It was:
👉 “Understand what fair actually looks like here.”
We’ll break that down in the Hiring Problem section.
Let’s get into it.
💬 The Talent Pulse
What the community actually said
We heard from hundreds of members. Here are the patterns that stood out (lightly edited for clarity).
1. On being underestimated
“Employers assume that because my salary expectation is lower than a Western candidate, my skills are also lower. They’re not. My cost of living is different. That’s the only difference.”
“I have a master’s degree, seven years of experience, and I still get asked to do unpaid test tasks that take 8–10 hours. I’ve stopped applying to companies that do this.”
This came up more than almost anything else.
Strong Vietnamese candidates—the ones you actually want—have options.
They’re watching how your hiring process treats them as a signal of how the job will treat them.
2. On communication style
“I am not quiet because I don’t have opinions. I am quiet because I was taught that speaking confidently in a group is rude if I haven’t been invited.”
“Please don’t interpret silence as agreement. Ask me directly. I will always tell you the truth if you ask.”
This is one of the most practical insights in this issue.
If your team runs on “speak up if you disagree”, you may need to adjust… especially early on.
3. On what makes a great employer
“The best manager I ever had checked in on me as a person, not just a task list. One message a week changed everything.”
“I want to grow. I don’t just want a job. If you invest in my learning, I will stay for years.”
“Consistency. I want to know what is expected of me—and for those expectations to stay stable.”
The pattern is clear:
👉 Not perks
👉 Not hype
Respect. Clarity. Growth.
Companies that deliver those three things have almost no retention problems with Vietnamese talent.
⚠️ The Hiring Problem
This week: Compensation mistakes that cost you your best candidates
Let’s talk about the number most employers get wrong: salary.
The instinct is often:
👉 Anchor low → negotiate up
With Vietnamese candidates, this backfires.
Not because they negotiate hard—but because of what low offers signal.
What’s actually happening
Serious candidates already benchmark the market:
Glassdoor
LinkedIn salary data
Telegram communities
Peer conversations
So when your offer comes in 30–40% below market, it doesn’t feel like a starting point.
It feels like:
You don’t understand the market
Or you don’t respect it
Neither is a good first impression.
Vietnamese professional communities are tight.
Word travels.
👉 A bad offer to one strong candidate
👉 Quietly closes the door with many more
📊 What fair compensation looks like right now
Remote, full-time roles (Vietnam-based talent):
Operations / EA (2–4 yrs): $800–$1,500/month
Digital Marketing Manager (3–6 yrs): $1,200–$2,500/month
Software Developer (3–5 yrs): $1,500–$3,000/month
Project / Product Manager (4–7 yrs): $1,500–$2,800/month
Content Writer / SEO (2–4 yrs): $700–$1,400/month
These are for:
👉 Strong English
👉 Prior remote/international experience
Structure matters as much as salary
One consistent insight from the community:
👉 The shape of compensation matters
A small learning budget:
→ Often more meaningful than a slightly higher base
A simple competitive package
Base salary at/above market
5–10% performance bonus
$300–$500/year learning budget
Equipment allowance (if needed)
You don’t need all four.
But companies that offer them:
👉 Have near-zero retention problems
👤 Talent Profile of the Week
Profile #002 (We keep these anonymous)
Role: Operations Manager / Executive Assistant
Experience: 5 years (incl. 2 years supporting UK founder remotely)
Strengths: Notion, Asana, ClickUp, vendor coordination, ops systems
English: Strong (ran weekly leadership syncs independently)
Looking for: Full-time remote (US/UK timezone overlap preferred)
Availability: Immediate
👉 Interested? Just reply to this email.
🛠️ Tool of the Week
How to set the right salary without guessing
A simple 4-step approach:
1. Benchmark
Use ranges above + remote job boards
2. Adjust for experience
+10–15% per year of relevant international experience
3. Add structure
Lower base? Offset with learning budget + 6-month review
4. Say the number first
Include salary in your job description
👉 Strong candidates won’t apply if compensation is unclear
📣 Ask the Community
This week’s question (going out to 40,000+ professionals):
“What made you leave a remote job—and what would have made you stay?”
We’ll share the best answers in Issue #3.
👉 Have a question you want us to ask?
Just reply to this email (we read everything!).
— Talk to you soon! Alex
VietAssist — Building the AI-augmented remote workforce of tomorrow
