I look after our client accounts at Digisize, so I am usually the one explaining how this works once a company is seriously thinking about it. The same questions come up every time: how we find the person, how we know they are good, who employs them, and what happens if it goes wrong. Here is how I answer them.
01You ask for one person. You get one person.
When you send us a role, we send back one name. Not five, not a shortlist. One person we have already screened, matched to what the role actually has to own.
How we get to that name
- We start with what the role has to own. A half-hour call is usually enough. We talk about the work and what clock you are on, and I write it up as a one-page brief so we agree on it.
- We match from people we have already checked. Everyone we consider was interviewed and screened before your brief arrived, so our time goes on fit, not on paperwork.
- You get one name, with our reasons. We tell you why this person fits your brief. You do not have to interview your way through a list.
- You meet them and decide. Nothing is signed until you are happy. If it is a no, we go again.
Why I will not send you a shortlist
A shortlist means we have not done the work.
Five resumes become five interviews, and the judgment you came to us for lands back on your desk. That is the part we are supposed to take off your hands.
So we make the call before you see anyone. If we cannot stand behind one person for the role, we keep looking until we can.
And if the first person is not right?
You meet them before anything is signed, and you can say no. We simply come back with another named specialist. If a placement does not work out after it has started, we replace the specialist. That is one of our standard terms, not a favor you have to ask for.
02Everyone we send has already been checked
Nobody applies to join our network. There is no application form and no database to sign up to. Our talent team runs detailed searches, goes after the best people it can find, and admits the ones who pass.
That matters more than it sounds. Because everyone in the network is there because we went looking for them, the screening is already finished by the time your brief arrives. Nothing waits on it.
What "vetted" actually means here
Every talent business says vetted, and almost none can tell you what it covers. Often it means someone read a resume and formed an impression. For us it is four checks, and I can show you the evidence for each one.
- We interview every person
Technical depth, delivery history and real seniority, established in a conversation rather than read off a document. The interview is in English, so nobody is taking a resume line on trust.
- Background screening
Identity, employment history and education verified through HireRight. Independent of us, documented, and the kind of evidence a security team can accept without our word for it.
- Credentials checked at source
Certifications verified rather than believed. If we cannot verify one, it does not appear on the profile you see.
- We look at the work
Where applicable, we review public repositories, technical output and other evidence of delivered work, so the judgment rests on what someone has built rather than what they have claimed.
- Interviewed, in English
- Screened through HireRight
- Credentials verified at source
- Delivered work reviewed
The question worth asking any talent supplier is simple: which of these four do you do, and can you show me the evidence.
- Found and approached by our talent team
- Interviewed in English
- Background screened through HireRight
- Credentials verified at source
- Delivered work reviewed where it applies
- The match: one named specialist for what your role has to own
03They work for you. We employ them.
This is the part people most often want me to explain twice, so I will be direct. The specialist works inside your team, in your tools, under your direction. We employ them, and we carry employment, payroll and compliance for as long as the placement runs. Nothing about the employment transfers to you.
- Employment and payroll
- Compliance, for as long as the placement runs
- Screening, finished before your brief arrives
- Replacement if a placement does not work out
- A renewal reminder 30 to 40 days before the PO ends
- Direction of the work
- Day-to-day management, in your tools and routines
- The decision at interview
- The choice to extend or off-board
The five stages, from brief to renewal
We use the same five stage names in every document we send you, so you always know where things stand.
- 01Define
A half-hour call to work out what the role has to own and what clock you are on. We write that up as a one-page brief.
- 02Match
One named specialist from the network, not a shortlist. The start date comes later, once your own contracting and onboarding are done.
- 03Interview
You meet the person and make your own decision. Nothing is signed until you are happy. If it is a no, we go again.
- 04Embed
Contract and PO signed, then the specialist is onboarded into your tools, stand-up and delivery cadence. Your own contracting, security review and onboarding set the start date.
- 05Operate
Weekly timesheets and monthly delivery reviews. We flag renewal 30 to 40 days before the PO ends, so you can extend or off-board with continuity notes.
One person, a whole team, or someone to lead it
Most clients start with one person, but it does not have to stay that way. However you engage us, the specialist is our employee and works under your direction.
- One specialist
- One senior person for one gap in your team, working in your tools and your routines.
- A cross-functional team
- Several specialists placed together when a project needs more than one discipline.
- Senior technical leadership
- A lead who sets direction for a program and works alongside your own managers.
Why we call it a secondment
In an outsourced project, the vendor takes the work away and decides how it gets done. In a secondment, the person joins your team and you decide. The employment simply sits with us.
- Direction
- The specialist works under your direction, on your priorities, in your tools.
- Risk
- We carry employment, payroll, compliance and continuity.
- Billing
- Monthly for as long as the placement runs. No permanent placement fee and no long-term commitment before the work is proven.
- Scale
- Up or down as the program changes, without renegotiating each time.
- Shape
- Individual specialists, complete cross-functional teams, or senior technical leadership.
How it compares
Honestly, the choice is rarely between us and another talent business. It is between four ways of getting the work done, and each one has a real strength. Permanent hiring gives you full control at full cost. Contractors are fast and flexible, but the compliance exposure is yours and there is no continuity. Outsourcing takes cost and control away together.
| Compared on | Digisize secondment | Permanent hire | Contractor or freelancer | Outsourced project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | A third to a half of local cost | Highest, and fixed | Variable, often low | Low, bundled into a fee |
| Speed to start | Weeks, from a network already interviewed | Two to six months | Days | Weeks, after scoping |
| Who directs the work | You, in your tools and on your priorities | You | You, loosely | The vendor |
| Commitment | Monthly, for as long as the placement runs | Permanent from day one | None either way | Fixed to the statement of work |
| Compliance and employment risk | Ours | Yours | Yours, and often misjudged | The vendor's |
| Continuity if someone leaves | We replace from the same network | Rehire from scratch | None | The vendor's choice, not yours |
Replacement, renewal and off-boarding
- Replacement
- If it is a no at interview, we go again. If a placement does not work out after it starts, we replace the specialist.
- Renewal
- We flag renewal 30 to 40 days before the PO ends, so there is time to decide.
- Off-boarding
- If you do not extend, the specialist hands over with continuity notes, so the work stays with your team.
04The network behind every match
We hold a network this size for one reason: so that when you describe a role, we can send you one name. Everything in this section is our own data, measured in August 2026, and I have stated the basis of every figure.
Where our people are
441 of our professionals are based in Europe, and that concentration is deliberate. Most clients draw on South Eastern and Central Europe. Western Europe covers roles that have to be onshore, and the regions beyond Europe extend the working day when a program runs around the clock.
Every discipline a program needs
A program rarely needs one skill. It needs engineers, someone to test what they build, someone to run the plan, and someone who can sit with the business and work out what it actually wants. All of it comes from one network.
How senior they are
What separates a network from a list of available people is whether the people on it can own a workstream. 258 of the 568 in our network are at senior and leadership level, and the other 310 are established mid-level practitioners. Those two figures add up to the whole network, so the proportion is exact.
That weighting is on purpose. We admit consultants who have led, not just people who happen to be available, because when a client asks for help with a program they usually need someone who can take a piece of it away entirely.
| Role family | Professionals | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| Software engineering | 106 | 44% |
| Technology consulting | 82 | 52% |
| Project and delivery | 58 | 43% |
| QA and test engineering | 54 | 46% |
| Cybersecurity | 53 | 49% |
| Business analysis | 48 | 42% |
Certifications we have checked ourselves
A certificate is no substitute for delivery experience, but it can be verified independently, and in regulated environments you often have to evidence it. These are absolute numbers of certified professionals, not percentages, because we verified every one at source.
| Certification | Verified professionals |
|---|---|
| Technology and infrastructure | |
| Red Hat OpenShift | 24 |
| AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner | 13 |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect | 11 |
| IBM certificationsA family of vendor credentials, not one qualification. | 76 |
| Project management and agile | |
| PRINCE2 | 25 |
| PMP | 18 |
| ITIL 4 Foundation | 18 |
| Hold PMP or PRINCE2 or bothThe combined figure, not an additional credential. | 39 |
| Cybersecurity | |
| CISSP | 17 |
| CompTIA Security+ | 17 |
| Standards and governance | |
| ISO standards certificationsA family across ISO standards, not one qualification. | 69 |
Sixteen markets, four continents
Our network spans 56 countries. These sixteen are the markets we actively source and place from today, and we keep them concentrated on purpose.
- Europe
- Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Ireland, United Kingdom
- Americas
- Brazil, Cuba, Canada
- Africa and Asia
- South Africa, Armenia
05Built for regulated work
A lot of our clients work in regulated industries, so they need to see more than a promise. We hold two independent certifications, we screen everyone through HireRight, and we carry employment, payroll and compliance ourselves.
ISO 9001:2015Quality management. Valid to March 2029.
ISO 27001:2022Information security management. Valid to March 2029.Digisize Ireland Limited is registered in Ireland, company number 797374, at Arclabs Research & Innovation Centre, Carriganore, Waterford.
How the work stays secure
- Certified management
- ISO 27001:2022 is the international standard for managing information security, and TÜV Rheinland certifies us against it.
- Your systems, your rules
- Specialists work inside your tools and systems, under your direction and your policies.
- Screened people
- Everyone we place was background screened through HireRight before a role existed.
Four countries, one team
We run our own operation in Kosovo alongside the Irish business. So the South Eastern European concentration in our network is a base we operate in, not a market we buy from, and the people are colleagues under our own management, not someone else's staff resold. Meet the team and see our offices.
06Questions I get asked a lot
01Can people apply to join the network?
No. There is no application form. We find people and approach them ourselves.
02Who runs the background checks?
HireRight, covering identity, employment history and education.
03What happens to a credential you cannot verify?
It never reaches you. We verify credentials at source, and anything we cannot verify stays out of what we send.
04When does screening happen?
Before a role exists. People are found, interviewed and admitted to the network ahead of any brief, so none of it waits on yours.
05Do you take over the project?
No. The specialist works inside your team, in your tools and under your direction, while we carry the employment and you keep the work.
06Who employs the specialist?
We do. Payroll, compliance and continuity sit with us for as long as the placement runs.
07What if the first person is not right?
You meet them and decide, and nothing is signed until you are happy. If it is a no, we go again.
If your question is not here, ask me. A short conversation is usually enough to know whether this model fits what you need.
Project and Account Director at Digisize. She looks after our client accounts.
