How We Source Engineers
Most staffing firms describe their vetting as “rigorous” and leave it there. That tells you nothing, so here is the actual process, including the part most vendors don’t mention.
We Source Two Ways, and We Tell You Which
Directly employed engineers. People on our own payroll, whom we’ve worked with across multiple engagements and know well.
Partner-sourced engineers. A vetted network of partner firms and independent contractors across India, giving us reach into specialisms we don’t carry in-house.
Almost every staffing company does both. Fewer will tell you which one a given candidate came from. We will, unprompted, at the shortlist stage — because it affects your contractual position on IP assignment and data protection, and you should know before you interview rather than after you sign. The same IP assignment and confidentiality terms apply either way; the chain of agreements behind them is just longer for a partner-sourced placement.
The Process
1. Discovery call — 30 minutes. We establish the stack, the seniority actually needed, who the engineer reports to, and how your team works. That last pair matters more than the first: the most common cause of a failed placement is a role nobody had capacity to direct, and it’s cheaper to find that out now.
2. Brief written back to you. Before we search, you get the requirement in writing as we understood it. Corrections here cost nothing; corrections after a shortlist cost a week.
3. Sourcing and screening. Candidates are screened against the written brief. Technical assessment appropriate to the role, plus a working-English and communication evaluation — the second is where most offshore engagements actually fail, and we weight it accordingly.
4. Shortlist in 72 hours. Typically two to four candidates, each with a note on where they came from, what they’re strong at, and what they’re not. Specialist roles occasionally take a few days longer, and we’ll say so rather than pad the list to hit the deadline.
5. You interview. Directly, as you would any hire. We don’t sit in unless you want us to.
6. Onboarding. IP assignment and NDA signed before repository access. The engineer joins your Slack, your standups, your sprint board.
What We Screen For
- Demonstrated work in the actual stack, not adjacent familiarity claimed on a CV
- Communication in working English, assessed in conversation rather than from a certificate
- Timezone overlap that matches what you need, confirmed with the engineer rather than assumed
- Single-client commitment — engineers placed full-time are not simultaneously billing another client. This is a common failure mode in the market and one we check explicitly
- Reference from prior engagement work where available
What We Don’t Do
We don’t send CVs we haven’t screened. Volume shortlists are a way of transferring the vetting cost to you.
We don’t bench-swap. The engineer you interview is the engineer you get. If that person becomes unavailable, we tell you and re-source rather than substituting quietly — this is the single most damaging practice in offshore staffing and the reason a lot of buyers arrive sceptical.
We don’t oversell seniority. A strong mid-level engineer described accurately is worth more to you than a mid-level engineer labelled senior, and the second one gets found out in week three anyway.
If We Get It Wrong
Screening isn’t perfect, and any vendor claiming otherwise is selling. When a placement doesn’t work, our 30-day replacement guarantee puts the cost of fixing it on us rather than you.
Rates by region and seniority are on the pricing page.