Hiring is currently a red-hot subject in almost any industry, but even more so in the IT sector, where there never seems to be enough talent. Finnish tech companies are therefore looking beyond the country borders to find a sufficient number of specialists.
That’s where Wefind IT comes into play with its hiring solutions geared towards attracting technical talent in the Eastern European region, especially Russia. We interviewed Mikhail Kotsik, Technical Director, and Ainura Kiviniemi, Head of Sales & Marketing, to find out how they can help with building remote product teams or relocating talent to Finland.
Interview
🔵 The shortage of talent has paved the way for many freelance, remote, relocation or nearshoring service providers. How does Wefind IT fit into this picture? What services do you offer?
Ainura: In short, Wefind IT offers comprehensive HR & recruitment services for Finnish companies looking for IT talent. We feel that we are an exact solution to the ongoing hiring problems in the IT industry, especially when a company is open to working with English-speaking remote engineering teams.
Our motto is “We bring international IT talents to you!” and that is precisely what we do. We have built a talent pool across Eastern Europe, working in software development, cloud consulting, and data engineering. Our services include hiring these specialists for part-time and full-time positions, subcontracting project work, IT consulting and direct recruitment.
🔵 From which countries does Wefind IT search for talent?
Mikhail: We have recruiting partners in Russia, which is a breeding ground for top professionals, but we do not necessarily limit ourselves geographically.
🔵 Do you focus more on providing talent for temporary (project-based) or permanent positions? How about relocating talent?
Ainura: We always tailor the recruitment solutions to the client’s needs as hiring challenges are never alike. Our focus is on providing full-time specialists for remote/project-based positions, but this might not always be the best fit. For example, to boost internal communication, some employers only hire talent that can participate in team meetings in person. As a full-service recruitment provider, we can help clients in those situations as well.
A significant factor is what candidates we manage to attract for a given position and whether they prefer to work remotely or can, in fact, travel or relocate to Finland. To summarize – both options are possible. We serve the client based on their needs and candidates we can find on the market.
🔵 How long does it usually take from contacting Wefind IT to finding suitable candidates?
Ainura: On average, the search for talent takes about 2-3 weeks, but the record time for finding a suitable candidate is only a couple of days. The timeline mostly depends on the required seniority – highly qualified specialists are more likely to need headhunting as they usually don’t look for new opportunities themselves.
When looking for a specialist, we utilize our significant proprietary talent database, consisting of experts we have already worked with before. Additionally, we publish the vacancy on the leading job boards in the region & on social media, with our in-house HR manager helping to sort the candidates.
🔵 Mikhail, let’s talk a bit about your talent pool’s technical qualifications. Does Wefind IT cover all the prevalent modern technologies? What are the most requested skills from your clients?
Mikhail: I think it’s important to distinguish between the most popular and most requested technologies. Modern technologies are not always among the most requested from clients.
Usually, the best developers spend a lot of time pursuing excellence in modern technologies. They also invest a lot of time to keep their knowledge up to date. So it is usually much easier to find a developer proficient in a fancy modern technology than an expert in a legacy enterprise solution.
In most cases, we successfully find the requested developer. But it’s important to keep in mind that some skills are more popular than others between talents. The most popular technologies at this moment probably don’t come as a surprise: Java, PHP, GoLang, React, ReactNative, VueJS, and AWS.
🔵 How do you screen talent’s technical skills beforehand? For example, do you have technical assignments?
Mikhail: We always follow the clients’ standards for technical assignments, as the developers become part of their team. So we cover all assignments and interview rounds the client requires to make sure the candidate is indeed a good fit for a position.
However, I want to stress that ideally, the hiring process shouldn’t take too long in the current market conditions because developers sometimes get 3-5 offers at once. The faster employers have an advantage.
🔵 What have been the most complex projects that Wefind IT has carried out?
Mikhail: I believe that with a correct process, everything is possible. So far, the most complex project has been creating a team from scratch for a huge banking project at the intersection of cryptocurrencies and the modern banking system.
🔵 What recruitment trends currently have the biggest impact on your operations?
Mikhail: The coronavirus and continuously growing need for IT specialists forces companies to rethink their work arrangements. They have to adapt to remote work, which certainly is a positive trend from our point of view. Also, the Finnish educational system clearly doesn’t satisfy the market demand for technical talent, and it’s unclear when the situation will improve.
Ainura: When talking to the clients, it sometimes feels like all senior IT talents are already working for the biggest IT companies in Finland and enjoying comforting salaries with great company benefits. As a smaller tech company, it might be difficult to compete in that environment. However, smaller players still need the same level of professionalism to develop their products or lead their tech department. This is where we can help by pitching the employer to our senior specialists.
🔵 Based on your experience, is it challenging for employers to start working with international talent? For example, companies might have to deal with translating all the documentation into English.
Mikhail: Seriously, the only problem is time zones. 😉 I think keeping technical documentation and comments in English is a widely adopted best practice by now. It is mauvais ton to have comments in the local language. Of course, it goes both ways, so we have also implemented a professional-level English test in our recruitment process to verify talents’ abilities.
🔵 If everything sounds good so far, where can you learn more about Wefind IT and how to get started?
Ainura: The easiest way to learn more about our services is to look at our website. Additionally, you can send us an inquiry via email or LinkedIn.
Starting the process is easy and risk-free. Initially, we map the hiring requirements with the client. After we have completed the talent search, we present the client a multitude of options. We use a success fee pricing model for worry-free hiring – this means the process is entirely free of charge until the client finds and hires a suitable candidate.
