How to recruit technical talent in challenging times: Aubay Portugal’s strategy

Recruiting technical profiles today requires more than just identifying skills on a CV. It involves managing a range of variables that directly impact the success of the recruitment process:

1. Speed: A candidate’s decision can be made in less than 48 hours.
2. Technical Fit: The rapid evolution of technologies demands highly specialized professionals.
3. Cultural Alignment: Values and work style directly impact retention.
4. Diversity: Essential for innovation and team balance.
5. Retention: Increasingly challenging in a globalized market.

The true challenge isn't just “finding the best,” but building a recruitment system that operates with quality, predictability, and resilience.

At Aubay Portugal, our database is our greatest competitive advantage. It’s more than just a list of names; it’s a living ecosystem that reflects years of investment and intelligence. Through this database, we can scale quickly while ensuring quality in our hires.

Key Indicators (2024):

• 4,910 active technical profiles
• 7,345 interviews conducted
• 8,155 profile updates
• 11% of our database comes from LinkedIn

With candidates from over 40 different nationalities, our database reflects the global reach of our recruitment strategy. Additionally, we perform quarterly check-ins with candidates to confirm their ongoing interest, in compliance with GDPR regulations.

Presenting a candidate in 48 hours is an achievable goal, but true agility lies in ensuring this is done with quality, context, and without compromising technical fit.

How do we achieve this?

• Our process is digital, but with consistent human contact.
• The CRM is central and automates interactions, records signals of interest, and alerts us to the best time to reach out.

Real Example: For the Beyond Gravity project, we built a team of over 100 technical professionals in record time, with the entire process being digital and remote. The use of tools like Monday.com allowed us to consolidate data in real-time, ensuring an agile and effective response.

Automating processes doesn’t just mean speeding things up—it means making better decisions. By leveraging historical data and candidate behavior, we can:

1. Avoid repeated contacts with unavailable profiles.
2. Predict interest spikes in specific technologies.
3. Anticipate candidate availability based on previous project timelines.
4. Suggest profile adjustments for clients based on real market feedback.

This approach results in less wasted time and a more efficient recruitment experience.

Client trust is built through transparency. At Aubay, we follow a simple principle: always tell the truth, even when it’s not what the client expects to hear. This is reflected in:

1. Real data on the market and competition for specific profiles.
2. Acknowledging challenges and proposing concrete solutions.
3. Managing expectations from the outset.

By implementing this strategy, we ensure faster processes and more reliable relationships with our clients.

The technical interview is a delicate moment—it can be an opportunity or a barrier, depending on how it’s conducted.

To make it effective, we follow three essential principles:

1. Candidate preparation: Provide clear information about the interviewer and what will be evaluated.
2. Pre-validation of skills: Where possible, we validate technical skills before the interview.
3. Involvement of internal tech leads to ensure the candidate has the necessary skills.

This approach reduces the time to hire and significantly increases the success rate of the process.

Talent retention is critical to ensuring the stability and continuity of our clients’ projects. At Aubay, we take a preventive approach, focusing on motivation and growth for our professionals:

1. Facilitating transitions between projects to avoid demotivation.
2. Dedicated technical support to anticipate risks and ensure satisfaction.
3. Trust-based environment to encourage retention.

Our retention practices include structured career plans, continuous training, and regular feedback, creating a positive work environment for all.

A successful technical recruitment process is built not just with technology, but with smart processes and consistent human relationships. Aubay’s experience shows that it’s possible to recruit with scale, speed, and quality, without losing sight of the person behind each application.

In a market full of challenges, companies that combine transparency, automation, and strategic vision will be the ones that can build lasting relationships with talent and clients.