Frequently asked questions

Technical vetting is a structured assessment of real-world capability for engineers and architects. We evaluate architecture thinking, debugging method, system design trade-offs, code quality instincts, AI fluency, and collaboration patterns - the skills that predict on-the-job performance. It takes 60-90 minutes and is conducted live by a principal-level technologist.

It starts with a 30-minute strategy call where we align on your technical requirements, team context, architecture, and role profile. Great vetting starts with the right brief, not just the job description. We then schedule a live 60-90 minute technical interview with a principal-level technologist. Within 24 hours, you receive a structured scorecard with a hire/no-hire recommendation, risk flags, growth areas, and strengths.

Our principal-level interviewers assess across the full modern stack and architectural capabilities, dependent on your specific requirements: cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure), backend systems (Java, Go, Python, Node.js, .NET), frontend frameworks (React, Angular, Vue), data engineering (Spark, Kafka, Airflow), AI/ML (PyTorch, TensorFlow, MLOps), DevOps/SRE (Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD), and enterprise architecture patterns. We match each assessment to your tech stack, role requirements, and context.

For standalone vetting engagements, interviews are scheduled within 48 hours and scorecards are delivered within 24 hours of the interview. For Vettara Performance Search, the first shortlist of 3-5 vetted candidates is typically delivered in 14 business days, with an average time-to-offer of about 30 days.

Every scorecard includes a structured evaluation across architecture thinking, code quality, system design, debugging methodology, AI fluency, and collaboration patterns; a clear hire/no-hire recommendation; specific risk flags; growth areas; strengths; and a summary narrative from the principal-level interviewer. Vettara Performance Search candidates also include a senior-hiring-manager style behavioral report covering motivation, culture fit, compensation expectations, and soft-skill alignment.

Vettara Vetting is offered at a launch rate of USD 300 per candidate report. Vettara Performance Search is a 20% success fee calculated on first-year base salary, billed after the candidate passes the 3-month probation period rather than on start date. If a role requires unusual urgency, niche security clearance, or unusually broad panel design, we state any adjustment upfront before work begins.

Vettara serves clients across North America and EMEA, and assesses candidates globally. Our distributed network of principal technologists means interviews can be scheduled within 48 hours regardless of the candidate's location.

For Vettara Performance Search, we do not consider a placement successful until the candidate passes probation, so the full success fee is billed after 3 months. For standalone vetting, the guarantee is clarity: a structured scorecard, risk flags, and a principal-level hire/no-hire recommendation. We are paid for objective validation, not for forcing a hire.

Platforms like HackerRank, Codility, and similar tools test algorithmic puzzle-solving ability, not real-world engineering performance. Senior candidates frequently drop out of these processes. Vettara uses a live conversation with a principal-level technologist to evaluate architecture thinking, production debugging, design trade-offs, AI usage, and collaboration.

That is the point, and it is why Vetting exists as a standalone service. A no-hire recommendation can save you from an expensive mis-hire. Our incentive is accurate technical validation, not placement volume. We do not benefit from pushing you toward Search or consulting. If none of your candidates pass, we explain what the signal suggests about sourcing, requirements, compensation, or calibration.

Vetting is ideal when you already have candidates and need a principal-level technical assessment. Performance Search is for when you do not have the pipeline at all, or when your internal sourcing is not reaching the caliber of engineers you need. With Vettara Performance Search, we source, vet, and shortlist candidates end-to-end. Every finalist comes with both our technical vetting report and a senior-hiring-manager style behavioral report based on your soft-skill requirements. If you have strong sourcing but weak assessment, use Vetting. If you need the full pipeline built, Search is the faster path.

Talent marketplaces can be useful when you want to rent engineering capacity through a platform. Vettara is different: we validate candidates for your own pipeline so you can make a direct hire, avoid ongoing platform markup, avoid conversion lock-in, and keep the capability inside your team. If you need a contractor tomorrow, a marketplace may fit. If you need to know whether a candidate should join your engineering organization permanently, Vettara is built for that decision.

Your most senior engineers, Staff and Principal level, are spending 30-40% of their time screening candidates instead of shipping code. Each interview can cost $500-$1,200 in lost engineering productivity, creates context-switching overhead, and burns out the people you can least afford to lose. Vettara eliminates this entirely. Our principal-level interviewers conduct the deep-dives so your Staff Engineers stay focused on architecture, mentoring, and delivery - the work they were hired to perform.

A hiring manager spends 3-5 hours per candidate across interviews, debriefs, and coordination. For 15 candidates, that is up to 75 hours before a single offer is made. Vettara compresses this with vetted shortlists, scorecards within 24 hours, and hiring managers interviewing pre-qualified finalists instead of maybes.