The short answer
You hire a senior engineer in a niche stack by going straight to the community rather than advertising. On a recent Elixir search that meant thirteen relevant engineers submitted from day one, eleven first stage interviews, seven finalists and two accepted offers in three weeks. The network does the work an advert cannot.
Hiring hard to find engineers has a reputation for being slow and painful, and in a niche stack it often is. The talent pool is small, the best people are already employed, and a job advert tends to bring you either silence or a stack of CVs that miss the mark. It does not have to work that way. A recent search reminded me that with the right approach, even a scarce skill set can be hired quickly and well.
A Founder I have worked with for years came to me with a clear brief. His business is growing fast, and he needed two more Elixir Engineers to keep pace. Elixir is exactly the kind of stack that makes people wince. You could advertise and wait, but you would be waiting a long time, sifting applications from engineers who have never written a line of it. What followed is a useful example of what a focused search can do instead.
Why Do Niche Stacks Need a Different Approach?
The instinct with any open role is to write a spec, post it, and see who applies. For common stacks that can work. For a niche one, it rarely does. You end up waiting weeks and sifting a pile of applications from engineers who have never touched the language. The people who are actually good at Elixir are a small, deep community, which is why hiring Elixir developers works differently from hiring in a mainstream stack. Most are employed, most are reasonably content, and they are spread across Europe rather than clustered in one city. They are not refreshing job boards.
So the first decision on this search was not to rely on an advert at all. It was to go straight to the people, through a network built over years of working in this space. That single choice is usually the difference between a search that stalls and one that moves.
Why Is the Network the Shortcut?
The reason the search moved quickly is simple. On day one I was already in conversation with the right engineers, rather than starting from zero and hoping the right person happened to see a post.
That network reached across Europe, from Spain and Poland to Latvia, Portugal and further afield. Thirteen Elixir Engineers were submitted, all of them a real fit rather than a hopeful guess. It is far easier to run a fast, high quality process when the shortlist is strong from the start.
How Do You Stop a Fast Process From Slipping?
Speed only helps if the experience is a good one for everyone involved. Throughout the search I kept both the client and the candidates updated by phone and email, so nobody was left wondering where they stood. Eleven engineers went to first stage interviews, seven reached the final stage, and the momentum held even through a week when the technical interviewers were on holiday.
That communication matters as much as the sourcing. A strong candidate will stay engaged through a busy process if they know what is happening and when. A client will make confident decisions when they can see the whole field clearly. Two offers went out, and both were accepted. Start to finish, three weeks.
What Happens When the Shortlist Is Strong?
The hardest part of the whole search was choosing. Seven excellent engineers reached the final stage and only two seats were available. That is a good problem to have, and it says a lot about the quality of the field.
It also means something useful for other teams. Several exceptional Europe based Elixir Engineers went the full distance on this search and were a near miss only on numbers, not on ability. They are the kind of senior people most teams spend months trying to find, and they are ready to move now.
How Fast Can a Niche Stack Hire Actually Be?
Hiring in a scarce stack does not have to be slow. Go to the right network first, keep the process clear and well communicated, and a strong field will follow. The result is faster hires, better decisions, and a client who can get back to building. Other searches are written up in the case studies.
Questions this search answers
How long should it take to hire in a niche stack?
Faster than most people expect. On the Elixir search described here it was three weeks start to finish: thirteen engineers submitted, eleven first stage interviews, seven finalists and two accepted offers. The length comes from how the search is run, not from the size of the talent pool.
Should I advertise a role in a niche stack?
Rarely. For a common stack an advert can work. For a niche one you tend to wait weeks and then sift applications from engineers who have never touched the language. The people who are genuinely good at it are employed, reasonably content and not refreshing job boards.
Where are niche stack engineers actually located?
Spread out rather than clustered. The Elixir search here reached engineers across Europe, from Spain and Poland to Latvia and Portugal. Treating the search as national rather than European is one of the quickest ways to make a scarce skill look scarcer than it is.
How do you keep candidates engaged through a fast process?
By telling them where they stand. On that search both the client and the candidates were updated by phone and email throughout, and the momentum held even through a week when the technical interviewers were on holiday. A strong candidate will wait if they know what is happening and when.
What happens to the strong candidates who miss out?
On that search seven engineers reached the final stage for two seats, so five were a near miss on numbers rather than ability. They are usually the kind of senior people other teams spend months looking for, which is why it is worth asking who else reached the final stage.
If you are hiring in Elixir or another stack where the right people are hard to find, or you would like to see profiles of the engineers who are available now, that is exactly the conversation I enjoy having.
Arjun Gillard
Founder, AG Talent
agtalent.co.uk
