How to hire developers in Poland: our proven find & vet process

Poland has over 650,000 IT specialists, 500,000+ developers, and 60,000 tech companies, making it the key technology hub of Central and Eastern Europe.

But this market has its own rules.

A 68% year-on-year surge in vacancies has pushed the number of open tech positions beyond 100,000, creating fierce competition for talent where classical recruitment methods can fail.

Since 2016, we’ve been refining an approach that aligns with these rules and helps companies successfully hire and retain engineers in Poland. We skip what doesn’t work and double down on the channels that consistently deliver results:

• Partnerships with local tech communities
• Email campaigns
• Employer brand efforts
• Referral programs
• TechSpot events that we organize

For you, this means:

• Speed – your first pre-vetted candidates are shortlisted and presented within 72 hours
• Quality –  you interview only reliable, technically-validated engineers (91.2% probation success rate vs. 77-80% in the industry)
• Reduced load – we manage the entire recruitment lifecycle and free your core team
• Employer branding – we build your company brand within Poland’s tech community 

Now, let’s break down how we actually do it.
‍

[fs-toc-h2] How we find talent

[fs-toc-omit]How we find people for your dedicated team in Poland

When a startup needs to build an R&D team, the process doesn’t drag on. As soon as we get your request, we start sourcing right away — and on average, you’ll see the first candidates within 72 hours.
‍

Multi-channel sourcing

To stand out among the flood of offers, we take a multidimensional approach to recruitment:

• Internal database
  ‍
  60,000+ developers we've built relationships with over the years. These aren't random CVs from job boards but people we've personally met and screened, plus those who attended our tech events and subscribed to company news.

• Referrals
  ‍
  3-15% of our hires come through our active referral program, which underscores the trust and positive image we've built within the tech community.
• TechSpot events
  ‍
  We gather 200+ engineers at each event: architects, DevOps, backend/frontend, platform engineers, and many more. We also invite speakers from companies like Red Hat, Google Cloud, Amazon, Wise, Intel, and Fibery, which helps us strengthen our ties with the best in the industry and give us direct access to some of the strongest candidates on the market.
• Local tech communities
  ‍
  We’ve found and partnered with dozens of Polish tech communities – from small 100-person chats to big 20,000-member groups.

• Email campaigns
  
  We reach candidates through two channels: Lever newsletter to our 60K+ database and monthly newsletter to 6,000+ subscribers from our tech events — with 60–78% open rate.
• Employer brand efforts
  
  We actively support our customers' employer brand visibility in the Polish market and run PR campaigns to get them featured in local tech media. You can check examples of such works here and here.‍

Candidate screening and evaluation process

We filter candidates through multiple stages so you only interview the most qualified, pre-vetted candidates. Here’s how it works:

• Initial screening
  ‍
  Our recruiters verify experience, check English proficiency and soft skills. We also record a short interview clip so you can see the candidate.
• Technical pre-screening (as agreed)
  ‍
  For more complex roles, or if you want an extra layer of validation, our senior engineers or CTO can conduct deep technical evaluations. This is especially useful if you don't have the capacity or technical expertise to properly evaluate candidates.
  
• Customer interview
  ‍
  When a candidate fits your role, we send them to you for assessment. You can customize this process and introduce additional interview rounds, or skip steps to fit your timeline. The final decision is entirely yours.
  ‍

[fs-toc-h2]Case study: hired Senior Data Analyst in 10 days

[fs-toc-omit]Case study: how we hired a Senior Data Analyst in 10 days

A stealth-mode startup was building a dedicated R&D team from the ground up. They needed a skilled Senior Data Analyst with 4+ years of experience to join their core team. 

Knowing that a single approach wouldn't be enough, we launched a full-spectrum recruiting campaign:

• Cold outreach on LinkedIn → 111 candidates
• Search and further partnerships with local tech communities → 22,000+ professionals reach
• Recruiters and colleagues posts on LinkedIn → 4,400+ members reach
• Referral program → 1 application

Here’s how the funnel looked:
‍

‍

What roles can we fill?

We hire for both dev and non-dev roles across all seniority levels, from junior to director level, in the following domains:

• Engineering & Development
• Design & UX
• Product & Data
• QA & AQA
• Sales & Marketing
• Technical Leadership & Management

Just have a look at some of the hard-to-fill roles we’ve successfully onboarded:
‍

• Security Researchers
• eBPF Specialists
• Linux & Kernel Engineers
• GRC Experts
• Game Engine Developers
  ‍

Individual hires or full organic teams

We offer flexible engagement models to match your needs. Whether you need to recruit a single specialist or build an entire organic team from scratch, we have the expertise to deliver both.

For example, we’ve successfully built and scaled engineering teams for:

• Orca Security (55+ engineers)
• Unity (30+ roles filled)
• Cycode (20+ team members)‍

Make your first hire with On The Spot

If you want to recruit tech talent or build an R&D team in Poland, we offer two clear ways to help:

• Tech recruitment 
• Offshore R&D center

We’ve spent years learning how the local market works and are happy to support your hiring goals. Reach out to us for more details.