Executive Search & Headhunter FAQ

Talent Hunts Indonesia is a leading Executive Search Firm, Headhunter, and Recruitment Agency in Indonesia, helping local and multinational companies identify, attract, and hire exceptional talent. We specialize in Executive Search, Executive Recruitment, Leadership Hiring, Talent Acquisition, and Employer of Record (EoR) solutions tailored to each client's unique business objectives.

With years of recruitment experience and deep industry expertise, we have successfully partnered with organizations across Indonesia to recruit senior executives, directors, C-level leaders, and specialized professionals who drive long-term business success.

Talent Hunts Indonesia provides comprehensive recruitment and workforce solutions, including:

• Executive Search – Confidential recruitment for senior executives, directors, vice presidents, and C-level leaders.
• Volume Recruitment – Efficient hiring solutions for organizations recruiting multiple employees at scale.
• Permanent & Staffing Recruitment – Recruitment of professional, technical, and operational talent across all organizational levels.
• Payroll & Employer of Record (EoR) – Employment outsourcing, payroll administration, HR compliance, and workforce management for local and international companies expanding into Indonesia.

Our Executive Search consultants and recruiters support organizations across a broad range of industries, including:

• Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
• Retail
• Property & Construction
• Automotive
• Oil & Gas (Upstream & Downstream)
• Financial Services & Banking
• Mining & Natural Resources
• Information Technology (IT)
• Internet of Things (IoT)
• Manufacturing
• Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
• Logistics & Supply Chain
• Telecommunications
• Professional Services

Whether you require executive recruitment, specialist hiring, or large-scale recruitment projects, our consultants understand the unique talent challenges within each industry.

We combine experienced Executive Search consultants with advanced recruitment technology to significantly reduce hiring time.

Our consultants typically present an initial shortlist of qualified candidates within 3–5 working days, depending on the complexity and seniority of the position.

By acting as an extension of your Human Resources team, we streamline every stage of the recruitment process—from candidate sourcing and executive search to interviews, assessments, and offer management—allowing your organization to hire faster without compromising candidate quality.

Talent Hunts Indonesia operates on a contingency-based recruitment model, meaning you pay no recruitment fees until we successfully place a candidate within your organization.

Our standard Executive Search fee is 20% of the candidate's annual gross compensation, and every successful placement is supported by a three-month replacement guarantee, providing additional confidence and peace of mind throughout the recruitment process.

Getting started is simple.

You can contact our Executive Search consultants by calling +62 21 5020 8136 or submitting an enquiry through our Contact Us page.

Our team will discuss your recruitment requirements, understand your hiring objectives, recommend the most suitable recruitment solution, and begin identifying the best talent for your organization as quickly as possible.

Executive search is a specialised form of recruitment for senior and critical roles, such as directors, general managers and C-level executives. Rather than advertising and screening applicants, an executive search consultant:

• Defines the role with you: business context, success profile and must-have experience.
• Maps the market to identify the people doing similar jobs well, mostly in other companies.
• Approaches them discreetly and builds their interest.
• Assesses capability, motivation and cultural fit in depth.
• Presents a shortlist and supports you through interviews, offer, resignation and onboarding.

It takes more effort than standard recruitment, but it reaches candidates who would never answer a job advert. See how we run each stage on Our Methodology.

Passive candidates are people who are not actively looking for a new job, often the strongest performers in their field. Recruiters reach them by:

• Market mapping: listing the companies and teams where suitable people work, and who holds which role.
• Networks and referrals: asking trusted contacts who they rate in the field.
• Talent databases built up over years of previous searches.
• Professional platforms such as LinkedIn, industry groups and events.
• A personal, discreet approach: a short, relevant message or call that explains why the opportunity could suit them, without pressure.

The key is relevance and trust. Candidates respond when the role is a genuine step forward and the recruiter understands their career.

Yes. Because we are speaking to candidates in the market every day, we can give you a realistic view of what people in a given role, industry and location are earning and expecting, including:

• Typical base salary ranges for the level of experience you need.
• Common allowances, bonuses and benefits in your industry.
• The increase candidates usually expect to move from their current job.
• How your offer compares with competitors hiring for similar talent.

Setting the right package before the search starts saves time and avoids losing your preferred candidate at the offer stage. Tell us about the role and we will share our view.

Yes. We regularly recruit for international companies entering Indonesia. Finding the candidate and employing them are two separate steps:

• Recruitment: we find, assess and shortlist candidates in Indonesia as we would for any client, and help you agree the offer.
• Employment: without a local entity, the new hire can be employed through our Employer of Record (EoR) service, so Talent Hunts Indonesia is the legal employer and handles the contract, payroll, tax and BPJS while you manage their work.

This lets you hire your first people in Indonesia with one partner, and transfer them to your own company once it is set up.

Yes. Hard-to-fill roles are a large part of our work: niche technical skills, senior leaders, roles in remote locations, or positions that have stayed open for months. Our approach is to:

• Revisit the brief with you to separate must-haves from nice-to-haves, and check that the salary and location are realistic.
• Search beyond job boards, approaching passive candidates directly, including in adjacent industries or in Indonesians working abroad.
• Assess candidates thoroughly so the shortlist is small and relevant.
• Keep the process moving quickly, because strong candidates have other options.

We typically present an initial shortlist within 3–5 working days, depending on the role. See our recruitment services.

Yes. Offer management is one of the most important stages of a search, and we stay involved until the candidate has accepted, resigned and started. We:

• Clarify the candidate’s expectations and motivations early, so there are no surprises at the offer stage.
• Advise you on a package that is competitive and fair.
• Present the offer and handle questions and counterpoints on both sides.
• Prepare the candidate for counteroffers from their current employer.
• Support them through resignation and their notice period until they join.

Because we act as a neutral go-between, both sides can speak openly, which makes it easier to reach an agreement that lasts.

A headhunter is a recruitment specialist who finds and approaches candidates for a specific role on behalf of an employer. Instead of waiting for people to apply to a job advert, a headhunter researches the market, identifies the people already doing similar work well, and contacts them directly, often while they are happily employed and not looking for a new job.

Headhunters are mostly used for senior, specialist or confidential roles, where the best candidates are rarely on job boards. Their work usually covers market mapping, approaching candidates, screening and assessment, presenting a shortlist, coordinating interviews and helping both sides reach an offer.

At Talent Hunts Indonesia, our consultants work this way for executive search and recruitment across Indonesia.

A headhunter is worth considering when your usual hiring channels are unlikely to reach the right person, or when a bad hire would be expensive. Typical situations include:

• Senior and leadership roles, such as Country Manager, Director or C-level positions.
• Scarce skills, where only a small number of qualified people exist in Indonesia.
• Confidential searches, for example replacing someone who has not left yet or building a new business line.
• Urgent roles that have stayed open for months despite job adverts.
• Market entry, when a foreign company is hiring its first people in Indonesia and does not yet know the local talent market.

For high-volume or junior roles, job adverts and your own HR team are often enough.

Before you engage an executive headhunter, these questions help you judge whether they are the right partner:

• Have you recently filled similar roles, in our industry or at this level, in Indonesia?
• How will you find candidates: your network and research, or job boards?
• How do you assess candidates beyond the CV (competencies, motivation, cultural fit, references)?
• How long until we see a first shortlist, and how many candidates will it include?
• What is your fee, when is it paid, and is it retained or contingency-based?
• What guarantee do you give if the hire leaves early?
• How do you keep the search confidential?
• Will you approach our current employees or clients? (A good headhunter will not.)
• Who will actually run the search, and how often will we receive updates?

You can see how we answer most of these on our Our Methodology page.

It can help, but it works differently from what many job seekers expect. Headhunters are hired and paid by employers to fill specific roles, so they look for candidates who match a brief. They do not search for a job on your behalf.

The best way to work with headhunters is to make yourself easy to find and remember:

• Keep your LinkedIn profile and CV up to date, with clear results rather than duties.
• Send your CV to agencies that specialise in your industry or level, so you are considered for future roles.
• Apply to open roles that genuinely match your experience.
• Reply to approaches politely, even when the timing is wrong.

A genuine headhunter never charges candidates a fee. If anyone asks you to pay to be placed, read our Recruitment Fraud Alert.

They solve different problems.

• A headhunter finds a person for you to hire. The candidate becomes your employee, on your contract and payroll. You pay a one-off fee when the hire is made.
• Outsourcing (alih daya) means another company supplies workers or a whole function and employs them itself. The workers stay on the outsourcing company’s contract, and you pay a recurring service fee for as long as the arrangement runs.

Use a headhunter when you want to build your own team, especially for senior or strategic roles. Outsourcing suits supporting functions or project-based work that you prefer not to employ directly.

A third option sits in between: an Employer of Record (EoR). You choose and manage the employee, while the EoR is the legal employer and handles contracts, payroll and compliance.

Most headhunters in Indonesia charge a percentage of the hired candidate’s first-year annual gross salary, commonly somewhere between 15% and 30%, depending on the seniority of the role, how difficult the search is and the fee model.

• Contingency: you pay only when a candidate is hired.
• Retained: part of the fee is paid up front and the rest at milestones, usually for very senior or confidential searches.

Check what the fee includes and whether there is a replacement guarantee if the new hire leaves early.

Talent Hunts Indonesia works on a contingency basis: our standard fee is 20% of the candidate’s annual gross compensation, payable only on a successful placement, with a three-month replacement guarantee. Contact us for a quote for your role.

Indonesian employees are usually paid monthly in Rupiah. Each month the employer:

1. Calculates gross pay: basic salary, fixed and variable allowances, overtime and any bonuses.
2. Deducts the employee’s share of BPJS Kesehatan (health) and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan (JHT and JP).
3. Withholds income tax (PPh 21). Since 2024, January to November use monthly effective rates (TER); December recalculates the full year with the progressive annual rates.
4. Pays net salaries and issues payslips.
5. Pays BPJS contributions (employee and employer shares) and the withheld tax to the authorities, and files the required reports.

Employers also need to plan for THR (religious holiday allowance), leave, and final pay when employment ends. Our EoR & Payroll Services page explains each part in more detail.

An Employer of Record becomes the legal employer of your staff in Indonesia, while your company directs their day-to-day work.

1. You choose the person and agree the role, salary and working arrangements.
2. The EoR employs them: it issues an Indonesian employment contract and registers them for BPJS and tax.
3. The EoR runs payroll every month: salary, PPh 21, BPJS, THR, payslips and reporting.
4. You manage the work: objectives, performance and daily tasks.
5. The EoR handles offboarding when employment ends, including final pay and documents.

You pay the EoR the employment costs plus a service fee. Many companies use an EoR to enter Indonesia quickly, then move employees to their own entity later. See our Employer of Record services.

An illustrative example for an office employee in Jakarta with a monthly salary of Rp10,000,000, single with no dependents (PTKP status TK/0), in a low-risk role:

Take-home pay: about Rp9,338,650. Employer’s monthly cost: about Rp11,024,000, plus THR (one month’s salary a year, roughly Rp833,000 a month to set aside).

For tax, the employer-paid BPJS Kesehatan, JKK and JKM count as income, so the TER rate is applied to Rp10,454,000. Rates and wage caps change, and the real figures depend on the employee’s status, allowances and risk class, so treat this as a guide only.

Payroll management covers everything needed to pay employees correctly and on time, and to meet the related obligations:

• Monthly salary calculation: basic pay, allowances, overtime, bonuses and deductions.
• Attendance, leave and overtime records that feed into pay.
• PPh 21 calculation, withholding, payment and reporting, including annual tax slips (bukti potong) for employees.
• BPJS Kesehatan and BPJS Ketenagakerjaan registration, contributions and member changes.
• THR calculation and payment before the religious holiday.
• Payslips and payroll reports for management and finance.
• Joiners, salary changes and leavers, including final pay.
• Keeping payroll data accurate and confidential.

Talent Hunts Indonesia offers this as payroll outsourcing for companies with an Indonesian entity, or as part of an EoR arrangement.

The main statutory benefits for employees in Indonesia are:

• BPJS Kesehatan: national health insurance (4% employer, 1% employee, up to a wage cap).
• BPJS Ketenagakerjaan: work accident (JKK), death (JKM), old-age savings (JHT), pension (JP) and job-loss (JKP) programmes.
• THR: a religious holiday allowance of one month’s wages for employees with 12 months’ service, pro-rated from one month’s service.
• At least the minimum wage (UMP or UMK) for the province or city.
• Paid leave: at least 12 working days of annual leave after 12 months, plus public holidays, sick leave, maternity leave and certain family-related leave.
• Overtime pay for work beyond normal working hours, where it applies.
• Termination entitlements (severance and related payments) when employment ends, depending on the reason and length of service.

Many employers add private health insurance, allowances and bonuses on top. Rules are updated from time to time, so check current regulations or ask our payroll team.

Yes, through an Employer of Record (EoR). Without a local legal entity, a foreign company cannot sign Indonesian employment contracts or run local payroll itself. An EoR solves this: it employs the staff under Indonesian law and handles contracts, payroll, PPh 21, BPJS and compliance, while the foreign company manages their work.

This is often used to:

• Hire a first country manager or sales team before opening an office.
• Test the Indonesian market before committing to a PT PMA (foreign-owned company).
• Employ remote Indonesian professionals for an overseas business.

Once your own entity is set up, employees can be transferred to it. Learn more about our Employer of Record services in Indonesia.