Choosing the right Embedded Recruitment partner (known in the industry as RPO) can either accelerate your growth or cost you months of time and budget. We have seen both outcomes, more than once.
When you are evaluating a new tech RPO provider, these are the five questions worth asking, and the answers worth listening for.
1. Can you share success stories with companies like ours?
Most RPO providers will sound credible on paper. But tech hiring is not a single category. What works for a corporate IT department may fail for a fast-growing product company. You need a partner with a track record in contexts similar to yours: your scale, your hiring goals, your growth phase, and your tech stack.
At Damia, we have supported some of the most demanding product-driven companies operating in Portugal, from VC-backed scaleups to international tech hubs building local teams. We have consistently helped them reduce time-to-hire, improve candidate quality, increase offer-acceptance rates, and scale sustainably. Several of those relationships are public: companies like OLX Group, Wellhub, 7.1 Tech Hub, and Bounce have endorsed the impact Damia has had on their hiring.
What to listen for: specific examples, not generalities. If a provider cannot name companies, outcomes, or metrics, that tells you something.
2. What happens if you do not deliver?
This question is rarely asked, and understandably so. You have chosen a credible partner and you are looking forward to a steady pipeline of quality candidates. But the reality does not always match the pitch. What often happens is that the client carries all the risk while the provider is protected by contract clauses that penalise early termination.
Damia works with clear SLAs that protect the client. If expected results are not met, you can walk away. No penalties, no fine print. Accountability and transparency from a partner that is confident enough in its delivery to put that in writing.
What to listen for: willingness to define measurable targets and to share the risk. If the contract only protects the provider, the incentives are misaligned.
3. Who will be working on our roles, and how are they managed?
Too many RPO models rely on assigning a single recruiter with limited experience and minimal oversight. That can work for straightforward hiring at modest volume, but it is not enough for complex tech recruitment over any sustained period. Some of our clients had to learn that lesson with another provider before they came to Damia.
We do not believe in standalone resources doing the job alone. Even when you need just one Damia recruiter, you get a full service behind them:
- Deep experience in the tech market
- Current market knowledge and up-to-date trend insight
- Structured reporting and regular alignment
- Real-time visibility through Damia’s Recruitment Cockpit dashboard
- A partner mentality, not a vendor relationship
- Consistent focus on candidate experience, which protects your employer brand
- A dedicated Project Manager who guarantees accountability and stakeholder management throughout
What to listen for: transparency about team structure, seniority, and oversight. If you are getting one junior recruiter with no project management layer, you are getting an extra pair of hands, not a strategic service.
4. How well do you know the local tech market?
Every provider will tell you how many years of experience their recruiters have. That is fine, but in tech, it is not enough. What matters is whether the provider understands the shifting landscape of local salary trends, candidate expectations, and role positioning. The experience of one or two individual recruiters does not give you the market intelligence needed to consistently match strong candidates with the right opportunities at scale.
Damia has been mapping the Portuguese tech hiring landscape for over seven years. We produce the country’s most established Tech Salary Benchmark (published annually as the HTTP report), which is used as a strategic tool to position roles competitively and attract the right talent. The right offer is not always the highest salary, it is the offer that is calibrated to what the market actually looks like right now.
Too many hiring decisions in this market are still driven by guesswork. There is no reason for that when real data exists.
What to listen for: whether the provider brings proprietary data and market intelligence, or whether they are relying on the same public sources you already have access to.
5. Can you adapt to how we work, or do we have to adapt to you?
Most providers will promise flexibility. In practice, that often means lending you an extra pair of hands: you shape the process, they execute the tasks, and beyond time saved, there is limited added value.
When you are scaling a tech team, you need integration, not just execution. A rigid process creates friction. Too much freedom without guidance creates inconsistency.
Damia’s Embedded Recruitment model means a complete integration with your team. We work inside your tools, your culture, and your roadmap. We align with your vision and evolve alongside your goals. You are not borrowing a recruiter from us. We take the time to understand your company from the inside, and shape every day to deliver results.
Some of our proudest outcomes are watching clients become recognised as leading tech employers in Portugal, often within a year of working closely together.
What to listen for: whether the provider talks about embedding into your environment or about you adapting to their workflow. The direction of that adaptation tells you who the service is actually designed to serve.
Before you sign your next RPO partnership, make sure your partner can answer these five questions with confidence and specifics. If you want to hear how Damia would answer them for your team, let’s talk.
For more on how Damia’s Embedded Recruitment model evolved from traditional RPO, read our full breakdown.
