Expert blog

Tech hiring without fluff
or templates

Practical posts from 8 years of running senior+ recruitment.
Anastasia Vasiliadi writes about what she sees every day.

The One.Pro
Launching The One.Pro: why strong candidates don't bloom in every team
An R&D project on candidate-team compatibility. We map team environment, candidate behaviour, predict the fit before hire — not after.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · May 2026 · 9 min
The One at the Priborium forum in Akademgorodok
Events
The One at the Priborium forum in Akademgorodok
Field report from a Russian instrumentation conference. What Siberian engineering teams want, why local IT hiring works differently from Moscow.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · May 2026 · 5 min
What a month of an open IT vacancy actually costs
Hiring economics
What a month of an open IT vacancy actually costs
Most companies count the recruiter time and the agency fee. They miss 60% of the real cost — team productivity, delayed releases, opportunity cost.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · May 2026 · 8 min
How to pick a recruitment agency without buying junk CVs
Agencies
How to pick a recruitment agency without buying junk CVs
Three types of agency contracts. Which one you actually buy when you sign with the average vendor. Ten questions to ask before paying anyone.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · May 2026 · 8 min
AI in resumes: how ChatGPT made the fake-candidate market 5× bigger
AI in resumes
AI in resumes: how ChatGPT made the fake-candidate market 5× bigger
Polished bullets, fabricated experience, custom-tailored answers to common interview questions. What to change in technical interviews to filter signal from polish.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · May 2026 · 8 min
How a CTO should be involved in hiring without becoming the bottleneck
CTO in hiring
How a CTO should be involved in hiring without becoming the bottleneck
Four typical CTO failure modes. Five touchpoints that move the needle. The protocol we use with 50-300 person teams.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · May 2026 · 8 min
Offer rejected: where companies lose strong candidates in the final 48 hours
Offer
Offer rejected: where companies lose strong candidates in the final 48 hours
Four recurring failure points in the final stretch. Why the offer letter is the last thing — and the smallest thing — that matters.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · May 2026 · 8 min
If you're still a junior: an actual job-finding playbook
Career
If you're still a junior: an actual job-finding playbook
What the Russian-speaking IT market really wants from a junior. How to get into agency talent pools. What to do while you wait.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · May 2026 · 8 min
How to hire a strong developer when you're not Yandex or Tinkoff
Strategy
How to hire a strong developer when you're not Yandex or Tinkoff
Mid-sized companies can't compete on salary alone. Five levers that consistently move strong candidates toward smaller, less famous employers.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Mar 2026 · 7 min
What Russian-speaking developers actually want in 2026
Candidates
What Russian-speaking developers actually want in 2026
Salary is not the top factor anymore. Five things that decide a 'yes' for senior+ candidates, based on 200+ candidate conversations this year.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Feb 2026 · 8 min
What one hired developer actually costs. You probably haven't counted
Analytics
What one hired developer actually costs. You probably haven't counted
Direct costs: recruiter time, advertising, agency fee. Hidden costs: team productivity drag, delayed releases, manager attention. The hidden side often dominates.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Jan 2026 · 7 min
Where strong developers actually live online
Sourcing
Where strong developers actually live online
Why job boards stopped working for senior+ roles. The map of communities, donor companies and direct outreach channels we use every week.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Dec 2025 · 8 min
Why they leave in the first year. And how to fix it
Retention
Why they leave in the first year. And how to fix it
First-year voluntary attrition is a hiring problem disguised as an onboarding problem. The patterns we see across 50-300 person teams.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Nov 2025 · 9 min
You think — your finalist is already signing somewhere else
Evaluation
You think — your finalist is already signing somewhere else
Most lost finalists are lost in the silence between the final interview and the offer. Why two weeks of internal deliberation usually means losing the candidate.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Oct 2025 · 8 min
The IT bubble popped — and we still can't find people. Anatomy of the talent shortage in Russia
IT market
The IT bubble popped — and we still can't find people. Anatomy of the talent shortage in Russia
Headlines say 'tech bubble burst, AI replaces engineers'. The reality on the ground is the opposite. Why senior+ engineers are scarcer than ever.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Sep 2025 · 6 min
Astrologers in HR and IQ tests: how your filtering funnels scare strong candidates away
Evaluation methods
Astrologers in HR and IQ tests: how your filtering funnels scare strong candidates away
MBTI, Big Five, IQ scores in tech interviews. What they actually measure (hint: not what you think). What replaces them.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Aug 2025 · 6 min
Cargo-cult algorithms: why most companies should not run a Google interview
Evaluation methods
Cargo-cult algorithms: why most companies should not run a Google interview
Reverse a linked list, BFS the graph, DP on arrays. Why this style of interviewing predicts almost nothing about real engineering performance — and what to do instead.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Jul 2025 · 7 min
Hired and crying: why your best engineers quietly burn out
Retention
Hired and crying: why your best engineers quietly burn out
Six months to find them, above-market comp, full benefits — and they leave at month eight to nothing. Three structural causes behind quiet senior burnout, and what to fix.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Jun 2025 · 7 min
The era of the classic developer is ending. Who you actually need to hire in 2026
Hiring strategy
The era of the classic developer is ending. Who you actually need to hire in 2026
Basic code is now written by AI. The market no longer needs 'coders' — it needs Product Engineers. What that mindset shift means for hiring.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · May 2025 · 5 min
The experience-faking surge: how ATS broke entry-level hiring
Junior hiring
The experience-faking surge: how ATS broke entry-level hiring
The market is flooded with candidates who drew themselves 2-3 years of fake experience. ATS rewards the polished lie and rejects honest juniors with real projects. The mechanics — and the fix.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Apr 2025 · 6 min
CASEROLE SPEC
Case
“CUDA required”: how one word in a job spec kept a role open for months
“We need a developer with CUDA. Non-negotiable.” The role sat open for months — until we found the search was chasing a keyword, not the actual task.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Nov 2025 · 6 min
CASECOMPENSATION
Case
How to rework a strong specialist’s compensation — without losing them
The project stabilised, and the client needed to rework the terms of a specialist hired in a hurry. How to run that conversation without losing the person.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Dec 2025 · 6 min
CASEOFFER STAGE
Case
A candidate asks for more at the offer stage: pull the offer or negotiate?
At the final stage a candidate asked for more, and the company weighed pulling the offer. Why that is an expensive move — and what we proposed instead.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Oct 2025 · 5 min
CASEPROBATION
Case
Doubts during probation: decide on facts, not feelings
Near the end of probation the client doubted a developer’s autonomy. How we moved the question from feelings to facts.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Jan 2026 · 5 min
CASEJUNIOR SCREEN
Case
How to assess a junior fairly when any test can be passed with AI
Hiring a junior analyst and assessing skills honestly when any test can be boosted with AI. How to build a screen you can trust.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Feb 2026 · 6 min
CASEASSESSMENT
Case
Transparent technical assessment: making hiring decisions reproducible
The client needed an assessment they could repeat and explain — not a “harder task”. How a transparent, reproducible check works.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Mar 2026 · 5 min
CASEONE CLEAR LINE
Case
One clear line at the offer stage: what a wavering position really costs
At the offer stage the client’s position kept wavering. The candidate was left hanging, the reputation at risk. How we held one clear line.
Anastasia Vasiliadi · Apr 2026 · 5 min

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