Degree, Experience or Skills? What Vietnam Employers Actually Look For When Hiring

If you're early in your career, or considering a career pivot, it's a reasonable question: does your degree still matter as much as it used to, or should you be spending your time building demonstrable skills instead? Reeracoen's 2026 employer research gives a more precise answer than the usual social-media version of this debate — and it isn't as simple as "degrees don't matter anymore."

What employers actually said, in order

In Reeracoen's Employer Hiring Study 2026, a survey of 51 employers across Vietnam conducted in March, employers were asked to name the most important factors when selecting a candidate. The results, in order:

1. Relevant hands-on experience — 82%
2. Long-term commitment and retention potential — 71%
3. Salary alignment with company budget — 61%
4. Cultural fit with management style — 49%
5. English proficiency — 39%
6. Technical certifications — 22%
7. Leadership potential — 18%

The detail worth sitting with is what isn't on that list as a named, ranked factor: a general academic degree or qualification. That doesn't mean employers ignore degrees entirely — a relevant qualification is often a baseline expectation for certain roles, particularly technical or regulated fields — but it does mean that, when employers were asked to name what actually decides between candidates, hands-on experience and demonstrated commitment ranked far above credentials.

What this does — and doesn't — mean

Among the 51 employers surveyed, hands-on experience and long-term commitment were weighted more heavily than credentials when employers described their candidate-selection priorities. For candidates, that makes demonstrable capability and a clear reason for wanting the role especially important alongside relevant qualifications.

In practice, experience does not have to mean years in the workforce. Recruiters typically look for evidence of what a candidate has actually done — a project delivered, a problem solved or a measurable outcome — rather than a list of responsibilities copied from a job description. A recent graduate with a well-documented internship project, personal portfolio or evidence of initiative can therefore strengthen a profile even without years of formal employment.

Reading the rest of the list

The other factors on the list are worth understanding on their own terms, because each points to something specific candidates can act on.

Long-term commitment (71%) reflects a labour market where employers have been burned by high turnover and are actively screening for candidates likely to stay. This is one of the more coachable factors on the list — being able to clearly explain why a role fits your medium-term direction, rather than treating it as a stopgap, genuinely changes how you come across.

Salary alignment (61%) is a reminder that even strong candidates can be screened out if expectations and budget are too far apart from the outset — worth clarifying early rather than late in a process.

Cultural fit (49%) and English proficiency (39%) point to soft and language skills mattering meaningfully, even in roles where they aren't the headline requirement.

Technical certifications (22%) and leadership potential (18%) rank lower, but they can still strengthen a profile. In Reeracoen's recruitment experience, certifications can be useful differentiators when candidates are otherwise closely matched on experience and commitment.

What this means if you're deciding how to spend your time

A few practical takeaways follow directly from where employers place their emphasis:

Build a portfolio of outcomes, not just a list of responsibilities. If your CV currently reads like a job description ("responsible for X, managed Y"), rework it to lead with what you actually achieved and how it was measured.

Prepare a genuine answer for "why this role, and why now." Given how heavily commitment factors into hiring decisions, having a clear, honest explanation of how a role fits your direction is worth as much preparation as your technical answers.

Don't assume every preferred credential automatically rules you out. If a qualification is preferred rather than legally or explicitly required, hands-on evidence of the underlying capability can still carry real weight. Where a credential is mandatory for the profession or explicitly required for the role, candidates should of course meet that requirement.

Treat English and workplace soft skills as ongoing investments, not one-time boxes to tick. Both rank meaningfully in what employers weigh, even outside language-specific or client-facing roles.

Use certifications to sharpen an already-strong profile, not to substitute for experience. Based on Reeracoen's recruitment experience rather than a specific survey measure, they tend to work best as a tiebreaker between similarly experienced candidates rather than as a way to compensate for a thin track record.

How this might play out differently by career stage

The Employer Hiring Study surveyed employers on their overall priorities and didn't break results out by the candidate's career stage, so what follows is Reeracoen's practical recruitment guidance rather than a separate finding from the data above — offered because it's a natural follow-on question, not because the survey measured it directly.

In our recruiters' experience, for someone just starting out, "hands-on experience" doesn't have to mean paid employment — a capstone project, a well-run student organisation initiative, or a freelance assignment can all serve as evidence, provided the outcome is described specifically rather than just the activity. For mid-career professionals, we typically see more emphasis placed on commitment and cultural fit in practice, since an employer evaluating someone with an established track record is often more focused on whether they'll stay and integrate well than on whether they can technically do the job. For senior candidates, leadership potential and salary alignment tend to carry more weight in the final decision in our experience, even though both ranked lower in the overall survey results.

The strongest way to present yourself also changes with career stage. A fresh graduate may rely more heavily on projects and internships, while an experienced professional should also be ready to demonstrate commitment, fit and the outcomes achieved over a longer track record.

The honest bottom line

Degrees, skills and experience aren't in competition with each other in the way online debates sometimes frame it. What Vietnam employers describe wanting, based on this research, is evidence that you can actually do the job and are likely to stick with it — and a degree, where relevant, remains one input into that picture rather than the deciding factor on its own. The candidates who do best tend to be the ones who can show, concretely, what they've done — regardless of what's printed on their diploma.

FAQ

Do Vietnamese employers still care about university degrees?

Yes, for many roles. Where a qualification is legally or professionally mandatory, it remains a requirement regardless of experience. Where it is a preferred rather than mandatory qualification, Reeracoen's 2026 employer research shows hands-on experience and long-term commitment rank well above credentials when employers describe what actually decides between candidates.

Has Vietnam officially shifted to skills-based hiring?

Reeracoen's Employer Hiring Study 2026 does not measure a national policy shift. It shows that among the 51 employers surveyed, hands-on experience and long-term commitment ranked above technical certifications in candidate-selection priorities.

What matters more: technical certifications or hands-on experience?

Hands-on experience (82%) ranks far above technical certifications (22%) in what employers say matters most. Certifications appear to function more as a differentiator between similarly experienced candidates than as a primary decision factor.

How can a recent graduate show "hands-on experience" without years of work history?

A well-documented internship project, personal portfolio, freelance work, or evidence of a problem solved and measured can credibly demonstrate hands-on capability, even without extensive formal employment.

 

Related Articles

• Fresh Graduate in Vietnam 2026: How to Turn Your Degree Into a First Job Offer Before Year-End
• Continuous Learning in Vietnam: How Upskilling Improves Employability in 2026
• AI Skills Are the New Premium in Vietnam: Are You Actually Qualified for the Roles Paying 30% More?

About the Author

Valerie Ong

Regional Head of Marketing, Reeracoen Group

Valerie leads content and market insights for Reeracoen across Asia. She works closely with Reeracoen's specialist recruitment consultants to translate hiring data, salary benchmarks and labour market trends into practical guidance for Vietnam's employers and professionals. Her work draws on Reeracoen's proprietary hiring, employer and worker research, alongside recruitment-market insights from Reeracoen's specialist consultants.

Language note: This article is published in English. Reeracoen Vietnam also publishes selected content in Vietnamese and Japanese for our local professional community.

References

• Vietnam Worker Sentiment Study 2026. Reeracoen Vietnam Co., Ltd. n=254 workers, 1H 2026. Published July 2026.

 

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