This paper examines the extent to which recruitment ties affect individual wage outcomes in small and medium scale manufacturing firms. Based on a unique matched employer–employee dataset from Vietnam the authors find that there is a significant positive wage premium associated with obtaining a job through an informal contact, when controlling for standard determinants of wage compensation. Moreover, they show that the mechanism through which informal contacts affect wages depends on the type of recruitment tie used. The findings are robust across location, firm size categories, and different worker types.