Define the IT work before comparing providers
Give every provider the same brief. Name the service, system or recurring responsibility the person will own, the existing team and the manager who can evaluate their work. Put the required start date beside the business reason for it. A planned project kickoff and an uncovered production responsibility may need different responses while a search runs.
- For a software engineer, specify the product area, stack, code-review process and responsibility after release. Separate required experience from tools the person can learn with your team.
- For a DevOps or infrastructure engineer, describe the environment, deployment responsibilities, incident work and agreed on-call coverage. Name the person who can assess operational judgment.
- For a data engineer, identify the pipelines, data platform, reliability requirements and teams that depend on the outputs. Ask for evidence of ownership at a comparable level of responsibility.
- For a security role, define the systems and decisions in scope, required access and escalation responsibilities. Resolve any location or customer access restrictions before treating an international search as feasible.
These are suggested brief fields, not a statement that a candidate is currently available for each specialty. If you need a provider to manage delivery instead of a person your technical manager will direct, compare that engagement separately. The nearshore engineering provider guide covers named options and their published models.
Compare the same hiring milestone
Write down the event that starts the clock, the event that ends it and whether the provider means business or calendar days. Ask what happens to the estimate when the brief changes or an interview is postponed. Keep these milestones separate in the proposal:
| Milestone | What to record | What remains unresolved |
|---|---|---|
| Agreed brief | The version approved by the hiring manager, including must-haves, budget and interview process | Who the candidates will be and whether they can meet the required start |
| Qualified shortlist | The candidates presented and the evidence against the agreed criteria | Your evaluation, final selection, accepted terms and first working day |
| Accepted offer or agreed engagement | What was accepted, by whom and on which date; use the actual definition in the proposal | Any remaining contract, notice, equipment or access requirements |
| First working day | The date agreed with the selected person and the parties responsible for the engagement | Onboarding and readiness to own the work independently |
A provider may use "hired," "placed" or "onboarded" differently. Ask for its definition instead of relabeling every figure as time to start. Keep the candidate's proposed start date separate from the date your team expects them to complete a first assignment.
Published shortlist claims: Opus, Near and Howdy
These are limited examples of provider-published claims reviewed on September 23, 2026. They are not independently measured results or a ranking of the fastest firms. They do not establish availability for your role.
| Provider and source | Published shortlist claim | Clock and next question |
|---|---|---|
| Opus hiring process | Three vetted candidates in five days | The process page starts this at brief received. Confirm the agreed brief, day convention and interview plan. The separate company-reported average is about 14 days from brief received to hired, not first day worked. |
| Near FAQ | A pre-vetted shortlist within three to five days after kickoff | The FAQ identifies kickoff as the starting event. Confirm the day convention, criteria for the specific IT role and candidate start availability. |
| Howdy vetting process | A curated shortlist, usually within 48 hours | The cited passage does not specify the event that starts this clock. Ask for that definition, the role scope and the selected person's availability. |
Opus publishes the definitions and limits behind its service figures on how we measure hiring results. Use the same questions for other providers. A company-wide average cannot tell you when a particular engineer will accept an offer or finish a notice period.
Decide what qualifies a candidate for your shortlist
Agree the evidence your technical reviewer needs before asking a provider to move faster. For each must-have, record the candidate's relevant work, their actual responsibility and what remains to be assessed. A list of technologies on a resume is a starting point for that conversation.
For a software role, ask the candidate to explain a change they owned, the constraints they worked under and how they handled review feedback. For infrastructure work, use an incident or deployment scenario that lets the reviewer examine diagnosis, tradeoffs and escalation. Our senior engineering hiring playbook and DevOps incident exercise provide more detailed assessment directions.
Keep an exercise bounded and relevant to the opening. Use sanitized or fictional material and avoid asking a candidate to perform unpaid production work. Confirm communication needs through a job-related discussion, then confirm the actual working hours the role requires.
Availability needs its own evidence. Ask when the candidate confirmed interest, which terms remain open and what affects their earliest start. A database profile or a past placement is not confirmation that someone can join your team now.
Use one provider response record for the opening
Copy the record below into your own document and complete one version per provider. Keep the role brief and deadline fixed so you can compare the answers. Attach the written source for each material answer and distinguish a public claim from a proposal for your actual search.
Select the fields and copy them. Leave unanswered fields marked unknown; add the person responsible for resolving each one. This planning template collects no information on this page.
The cost field should describe the same scope for every proposal. Do not add a payroll or benefits charge twice if it is already included in the monthly rate. For a full quote comparison and employment-model questions, use staff augmentation versus direct placement. Keep this record focused on whether the proposed search can meet the opening's requirements.
A quick shortlist can still miss the required start
Consider a fictional company that needs an engineer's first working day to be October 19, 2026. Its brief is agreed on October 1. A provider sends a qualified shortlist on October 5, and the company's reviewers finish their evaluation on October 9. The preferred candidate confirms that October 26 is their earliest start.
The shortlist arrived quickly, but this candidate cannot provide the required coverage on October 19. The buyer can ask about another candidate or decide whether the business can move the start requirement. It should not record October 19 as covered because the shortlist arrived on October 5.
A second provider that has not confirmed candidate availability has an unanswered condition, even if its advertised shortlist is faster. Record the missing answer and its owner. These dates illustrate a decision; they are not an Opus placement, a market benchmark or a promised search timeline.
Make the next decision from the evidence
- Proceed to candidate evaluation when the proposed service fits the role and the known requirements. Keep later steps, such as start confirmation, visible until they are agreed.
- Request clarification when a material answer is missing: candidate availability, the technical evidence, the named employment arrangement or a cost your team must approve. Record who will answer and when.
- Rule out a proposal for this opening when a confirmed condition conflicts with a fixed requirement. Record the conflict so a lower price or faster headline does not hide it.
Your own team's capacity belongs in the plan. Reserve reviewer time, name the person who can approve the offer and identify who handles the contract, equipment and access. For several open roles, make a separate plan for each seat. A provider's published average does not establish that it can deliver a whole team on one date.
Where Opus fits
Opus fits an ongoing senior hire who joins your internal team under your technical management. We recruit and vet candidates and provide the employment support included in the placement. You make the final hiring decision, set priorities and review the person's work.
Bring the role brief, the work waiting for the hire, your reviewers' availability and the reason behind the requested start. Confirm the search plan and terms for that specific opening. Our step-by-step hiring process explains the sequence, and the first-assignment handoff template helps prepare the work once a start is agreed.