Introduction
At the beginning of 2025, Poland’s IT job market is slowly recovering after a period of slowdown. As recently as 2024, uncertainty still dominated — mass layoffs, frozen budgets, and lengthy recruitment processes meant that recruiters went quiet and companies held back on hiring. Today, recruitment is returning, although employers are making decisions more cautiously. Data from Q1 2025 show a 21% year-over-year increase in new recruitment processes, yet the number of actual hires rose by only 8%, suggesting that companies are screening candidates more carefully. From a job seeker’s perspective, this means more open opportunities but also greater challenges — multi-stage selection processes, the growing role of AI tools, and increasingly high requirements for many roles. Below, step by step, we describe the typical course of an IT recruitment process in Poland in 2025, covering its most common stages, market realities, and the candidate experience.
Initial CV Screening – ATS and the First Filter
The first obstacle for any candidate is getting through the initial CV screening. Most medium and large companies now use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that automatically collect and filter applications. ATS tools scan CVs for keywords and criteria from the job description, quickly identifying the best-matched candidates. This saves recruiters from manually sifting through hundreds of applications — and there are usually a lot. According to analyses, in 2024, a single IT job posting attracted on average 52–57 applications, compared to around 26 just a few years ago. For popular roles, the number can be even higher — recruiters sometimes need to review dozens or even hundreds of CVs for one position. It’s no wonder that without automation, poorly matched applications are rejected almost instantly.
For candidates, this means their documents must be carefully crafted: a CV should be readable by an ATS (simple format, relevant keywords) while highlighting concrete achievements. Already at this stage, many applications are filtered based on technologies and experience — if the offer requires, for instance, knowledge of a specific programming language or tool, the absence of these keywords can lead to automatic rejection. In 2025, companies increasingly expect proof of concrete skills directly in the CV (e.g., a link to a GitHub portfolio or cloud certifications). Candidates must therefore tailor their CVs precisely to each offer in order to pass the first filter of the electronic recruiter.
Asynchronous Video Interviews Assessed by AI
More and more companies now introduce a stage that feels new to many candidates — the asynchronous video interview. Here, the candidate receives a set of questions (for example, about motivation or past experience) and records their answers via webcam, often without any live recruiter present. The recording is later analyzed by AI algorithms or reviewed by recruiters at a convenient time. The technology can even automatically assess body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice — advanced systems can estimate confidence levels or stress resistance based on gestures and micro-expressions. It may sound futuristic, but such solutions are already being implemented. For instance, Unilever was among the pioneers, having automated the early stages of recruitment (including video analysis) long before a candidate met a human interviewer.
How do candidates feel about this? Opinions are mixed. On the one hand, an asynchronous interview offers flexibility — you can record answers anytime without scheduling a call. On the other hand, the lack of interaction can be uncomfortable: speaking to a camera without feedback is stressful, and the idea that AI is evaluating one’s performance raises concerns about objectivity and fairness. While global surveys show that most candidates are open to AI assistance in job seeking, they prefer a human to make the final judgment. 24% of respondents express complete distrust toward AI-based selection, fearing that algorithms may miss important nonverbal cues (like body language) or overlook unconventional achievements. In Poland, this stage is still gaining ground, but criticism is already emerging — candidates worry about the process becoming dehumanized and describe such interviews as a kind of “extended lie detector.” Despite controversy, it’s clear that AI’s role in recruitment will continue to grow, and candidates will increasingly encounter video questions and automated pre-selection in the early stages.
Technical Tests: Online, Pair Programming, and Take-Home Tasks
Another standard stage in IT recruitment is technical testing, which can take several forms. Many employers use automated online tests — the candidate receives a link to a platform (such as Codility, HackerRank, or TestDome) and completes timed programming tasks. These tests assess coding ability, algorithmic thinking, and sometimes theoretical knowledge. The platforms automatically verify solutions and compare candidates’ results, ensuring objectivity. For candidates, this typically means one or two hours of intense coding. In 2025, such tests are becoming increasingly sophisticated — in addition to standard algorithmic problems, they may include technology-specific quizzes, code debugging simulations, or database query design tasks.
Another approach is pair programming, in which the candidate codes together with a company engineer over a video call while sharing their screen. This allows assessment not only of the end result but also of the candidate’s thinking process, communication, and response to feedback. It can be stressful (someone is literally watching you work), but it more closely resembles real teamwork. Some companies also opt for take-home assignments — giving candidates a few days to solve a practical problem, such as building a small application or completing a technical case study. This format lets candidates showcase their best skills in a more relaxed setting, though it can be time-consuming (sometimes requiring over a dozen hours of work).
From the candidate’s perspective, technical tests are often the most demanding part of the process. They require preparation — brushing up on algorithms, practicing problem-solving under time pressure, and familiarizing oneself with the test platforms (e.g., Codility’s interface). Candidates also need to manage their time and energy, especially when participating in several processes simultaneously and facing multiple coding tests in a short period. This can be frustrating — particularly when tasks are overly complex or unrelated to the actual job. Nevertheless, in 2025, companies rarely skip this step. In practice, the technical test has become a near-universal standard, even for mid-level roles, and refusing to take part usually means elimination.
**Interviews with Recruiters, Managers, and Technical Teams
After successfully passing the technical stage, candidates move on to interviews — often across several rounds. This stage tends to be the most time-consuming and nerve-racking, stretching over weeks. A typical process in Poland in 2025 includes two to four interviews, though candidates generally prefer no more than two. In reality, however, there are often more steps, especially in large companies or for strategic positions.
Usually, the first conversation is a recruiter screening — a short chat (often by phone or video) with an HR recruiter to confirm the basics: motivation, salary expectations, availability, English level, and overall fit. If successful, the next meetings are typically with the hiring manager or technical lead. Here, candidates can expect detailed questions about technologies mentioned in their CVs and past projects. They may be asked to describe their most interesting project, biggest success, or failure — all to assess mindset and learning. For senior roles (e.g., Senior Developer, Tech Lead), system design interviews are common, where candidates are asked to design a system architecture. This stage tests deep understanding of software design principles.
Many companies also hold team interviews with future colleagues — sometimes as a panel. The goal is to assess both technical skills (team members may ask work-related technical questions) and cultural fit — how the person communicates, collaborates, and aligns with company values. Occasionally, these technical interviews are spread out over separate meetings with different engineers. In other cases, everything happens in a single day — similar to U.S.-style day-long interviews. Candidates applying to global tech corporations describe scenarios involving five or six back-to-back interviews in one day, covering coding, system design, project discussions, and even lunch with the team. Such marathons require a full-day commitment and can be exhausting. Fortunately, in Poland, interviews are more often spaced out (e.g., one per week), though this makes the entire process longer.
The multi-stage nature of recruitment has become a pain point. Candidates complain that processes drag on too long, with repetitive questions across interviews. Studies show that over 85% of IT professionals in Poland prefer a maximum of two stages. Some companies are responding by simplifying — introducing fast tracks that merge several evaluations into one. For instance, the “tech speed-dating” model combines a single extended task with a quick decision afterward, shortening time-to-offer. Despite these initiatives, many candidates still have to be patient, going through rounds with HR, the manager, the director, and the team before reaching the final decision.
Assessment Centers and Case Studies – Testing Competence in Practice
In some recruitment processes, especially for managerial, analytical, or graduate program positions, one of the final stages is an Assessment Center (AC) or a case study presentation. Assessment Centers are comprehensive evaluation sessions where several (or sometimes individual) candidates perform a series of work-related simulation tasks. These may include group workshops, business scenarios, presentations, logic exercises, or role-plays. Candidates are observed by assessors (recruiters and managers) who evaluate soft skills such as teamwork, communication, stress management, and leadership potential. In IT, ACs are less common than in finance or consulting, but large tech firms recruiting many juniors at once occasionally use them. For candidates, this is a significant challenge — they must actively demonstrate their strengths across multiple exercises, often lasting from morning till afternoon.
Another advanced assessment form is the case study — a problem-solving task that the candidate must present and discuss with a panel. In IT, this may involve a system architecture presentation, a business case analysis related to software implementation, or solving a technical issue based on provided data. This stage evaluates practical knowledge, analytical thinking, and communication skills — the candidate must not only propose a solution but also justify it convincingly and “sell” their idea to the listeners. Case studies are most common in consulting, pre-sales (e.g., architect, consultant), or managerial IT roles, where presentation and business reasoning are crucial.
From the applicant’s standpoint, the Assessment Center or case study is the final exam, often decisive for the outcome. It requires solid preparation — practicing possible tasks, recalling key projects, data, and achievements to reference. Many candidates say ACs are stressful but valuable experiences: regardless of the result, they offer insight into one’s strengths and weaknesses and, ideally, detailed feedback. Unfortunately, in Poland, feedback practices are inconsistent — which leads us to the next pressing issue...
Lack of Feedback – the Candidate’s Nightmare
Few things frustrate candidates as much as silence after an interview. Sadly, the lack of feedback or heavily delayed responses remain widespread in Poland. Even though feedback (positive or negative) is vital for job seekers, many employers still fail to provide it. According to No Fluff Jobs research, as many as 73% of Poles believe companies should be required to inform applicants about recruitment results. The reality, however, is quite different — only 3.9% of candidates report always receiving feedback after an interview. For most, it happens rarely or never. Beginners fare the worst — nearly 43% of juniors almost never receive any response about their applications.
Waiting for a company’s reply can be the most frustrating part of job hunting. Sadly, only one in twenty-five candidates always receives feedback after an interview.
The lack of feedback leaves candidates in limbo — unsure whether they’re still being considered, what went wrong, or how to improve. Many share stories of sending follow-up emails and waiting weeks without a reply. Recruiters often cite workload — when a single role attracts hundreds of applications and a dozen reach the final stage, it’s hard to contact everyone individually. Some companies avoid giving detailed feedback due to fears of discrimination claims or simply lack clear procedures for closing communication loops. Nevertheless, complete silence is perceived very negatively — it damages the employer’s reputation and discourages reapplying. In extreme cases, candidates describe such treatment as “ghosting” by companies, undermining professional standards.
In 2024, the feedback problem became so visible that a petition was even submitted to the ministry to make post-recruitment feedback mandatory — though it was not enacted. Some job platforms and employers are taking steps — for example, No Fluff Jobs introduced application-status tracking and stage notifications. Still, until feedback culture becomes the norm, candidates must accept that after sending a CV or even after several interviews, radio silence may follow. A polite reminder email after the agreed decision date is good practice, but it doesn’t always yield results. The lack of feedback remains one of the biggest frustrations for IT job seekers in Poland, creating feelings of discouragement and a lack of respect for their time.
Market Expectations Toward Candidates – Technology and Beyond
Alongside the growing challenges of the recruitment process itself, candidates must also face rising employer expectations. The Polish IT market in 2025 appears paradoxical: on one hand, companies report strong demand for specialists; on the other, the entry bar has never been higher—especially for less experienced applicants.
After the slowdown of 2022–2023, many employers began focusing primarily on more experienced professionals. Market data shows that the share of job offers for juniors has dropped dramatically – on the popular portal justjoin.it, only 4.8% of postings in 2024 were targeted at juniors (compared to around 5.4% in 2023). Meanwhile, over half of all listings (51%) were aimed at senior-level candidates. This trend reflects both fiercer competition among beginners and ever-higher expectations even for entry-level positions. Young applicants often feel that much more is expected of them than just a few years ago – not only solid algorithmic foundations, but also familiarity with popular frameworks, databases, cloud platforms, and even practical commercial experience gained during internships. The phenomenon of requirement inflation has become common: junior job ads list ten different technologies, “nice-to-have” skills from unrelated fields, excellent English, and high-level soft skills.
At the mid and senior levels, expectations are rising as well. With a larger talent pool, companies pay close attention to both technical and business alignment. Increasingly, they are looking for multi-role professionals – for example, a DevOps Developer who understands both programming and infrastructure management; a Full-stack Developer fluent in both frontend and backend; or a Data Scientist who can code and also grasp business problems. Recruiters emphasize this trend – Polish software houses increasingly want experts who “can not only write code but also understand business goals and advise the client.” For candidates, this means that purely technical skills may no longer be enough – they need to demonstrate broader awareness, product-domain understanding, and client collaboration abilities.
Of course, specific technologies still matter. In 2025, profiles related to artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analysis, and cybersecurity are particularly in demand – with growing interest in AI/ML Engineers, Data Scientists, DevOps Engineers, and security specialists. Developers experienced in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and distributed architectures are also highly sought-after. In web development, popular frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue continue to dominate the frontend, while Java, Python, .NET, and Node.js lead the backend – job postings often specify the exact technology stack expected. Candidates must be ready to demonstrate practical knowledge of these tools – sometimes as early as the technical test stage – so declared skills should be backed by real experience.
Soft skills are equally important. Modern IT companies attach great importance to communication, teamwork, and adaptability. Reports show that traits such as empathy, communication, and collaboration are now as valued as technical skills. The prevalence of remote and hybrid work further increases the need for clear written and verbal communication within distributed teams. Candidates can therefore expect behavioral interview questions about team conflicts, handling criticism, organizing their work, or staying motivated during long projects. The ideal IT candidate in 2025 is thus a combination of a technical expert who learns quickly, collaborates effectively, and understands the broader business context of their work. Challenging? Definitely. Many professionals note that requirements are rising faster than salaries or the number of available job opportunities – but that’s a topic for another discussion.
Poland vs. Abroad – How Do We Compare to the US, Germany, and the UK?
It’s worth looking at how the recruitment process in Poland compares to practices in other markets. Overall, global IT recruitment trends are increasingly visible in Poland, though there are notable cultural and procedural differences.
United States: In the US—especially at major tech companies in Silicon Valley—recruitment processes are notoriously elaborate. Candidates applying to giants like Google, Meta, or Microsoft often go through multiple selection stages: from initial phone screenings to several rounds of technical interviews, culminating in full-day onsite sessions (now often remote) with back-to-back interviews. Tough algorithmic questions, whiteboard interviews involving system design, and product-thinking challenges are standard. Candidates must demonstrate not only knowledge but also resilience under the pressure of an intense recruitment marathon. Interestingly, such five- or six-stage recruitment processes are no longer unique to the US – they’ve become a global standard for large firms, and many Polish companies now emulate them. Smaller American startups, however, often have faster, two- or three-step hiring processes – similar to those in Poland – since they may lack the resources for lengthy procedures, especially when competing for talent.
When it comes to feedback, practices vary. Top companies usually inform candidates of their results (even briefly), but ghosting still occurs, particularly at early stages or in smaller organizations. However, American candidates tend to be more accustomed to self-promotion, elevator pitches, and proactively asking for updates. As many Poles working in the US observe, American candidates are well-trained in presenting themselves and speaking about their achievements, which often gives them an advantage. Polish professionals applying abroad sometimes need to adjust to this more assertive style.
Western Europe (Germany, UK): European countries have their own distinct characteristics. In Germany, recruitment tends to be more formal and qualification-driven. Candidates are often expected to have a strong educational background backed by diplomas – traditional engineering degrees are still highly valued. The process may involve several interviews and tests, but German companies usually place great emphasis on verifying references, certificates, and even German language proficiency (especially in firms serving the local market). Candidates note that recruiters in Germany pay closer attention to details in CVs and cover letters than those in Poland or the US. Assessment Centers are relatively common in Germany for junior and managerial roles – candidates may encounter group exercises and case studies as part of the process. The good news is that German workplace culture values respect, so feedback after interviews is somewhat more common (though not guaranteed).
In the United Kingdom, IT recruitment processes resemble those in the US for international corporations (with multiple interview stages and panel interviews), but many positions are filled through recruitment agencies, which often streamline early-stage screening. The UK also has a tradition of “graduate schemes” in large tech and finance companies – structured programs for early-career professionals. These may include online aptitude tests, Assessment Centers with group tasks, and several interview rounds. Candidates must demonstrate not only technical knowledge but also leadership potential and presentation skills. Importantly, in the UK and Ireland, there has long been a focus on candidate experience – companies try to ensure a positive recruitment journey by responding quickly or providing constructive feedback, aware that negative impressions can harm their employer brand.
Overall, Polish IT recruitment processes are becoming increasingly aligned with Western standards. Candidates in Poland now face similar challenges to their peers in Berlin or London: multi-stage interviews, online tests, English-language communication, and culture fit questions. What still distinguishes the Polish market is slightly lower formalization – for instance, cover letters or written references are still rarely required at early stages, unlike in Germany. However, the pace of change is fast, and these differences are likely to fade as recruitment globalizes (with many processes now fully remote and candidates applying across borders).
Candidate Fatigue and Requirement Inflation – The Price of a Long Process
For IT candidates in 2025, the overall recruitment experience can be overwhelming. Recruitment fatigue has become a real phenomenon: the number of stages, tasks, interviews, and the waiting time for feedback can discourage even the most persistent professionals. Many specialists admit that when taking part in several processes at once, they feel like they have a “second full-time job” – spending evenings solving technical tests, preparing case study presentations, replying to recruiters’ emails, and blocking time for yet another interview. When such a marathon lasts for months, candidate burnout becomes a real risk. It is not uncommon for excellent candidates to withdraw mid-process because they have already received an offer from another company that moved faster. Statistics show that overly long processes significantly increase the dropout rate – the more stages and the longer the timeline, the higher the chance that the candidate will withdraw or lose motivation. Aware of this, some companies are now deliberately shortening their recruitment cycles, knowing that the competition for top talent is fierce and that the best candidates won’t wait indefinitely.
The other side of the coin is the inflation of requirements, already mentioned earlier. Candidates increasingly feel that to meet all the expectations listed in job ads, they must continuously upskill and expand their competencies. When the market was strongly candidate-driven (employers competing for every specialist), requirements tended to be lower – companies were more willing to hire a promising person and train them internally. Now, in a more competitive climate, employers often look for the “perfect candidate”: someone with mastery of ten technologies, relevant industry experience, familiarity with multiple methodologies, fluent English, and flawless soft skills. Such a candidate rarely exists – and if they do, they usually have several offers to choose from. As a result, many recruitment processes end in mismatched expectations: companies keep rejecting applicants who don’t fit the inflated template, while candidates feel inadequate or frustrated by unrealistic criteria. For instance, junior developers are sometimes expected to know frameworks that have only just gained popularity, or to have open-source experience; system administrators are asked to hold certifications in every major cloud platform. These ever-expanding requirements, combined with long and complex processes, create an environment of high pressure and fatigue among applicants.
In the IT community, there are now growing concerns about this issue. Candidates share anecdotes about job ads demanding “3 years of experience for a junior” or “10 technologies for a senior”; about interviews where even minor knowledge gaps are disqualifying; or about tests so difficult that even seasoned professionals struggle to complete them in time. All this contributes to a growing sense of discouragement and exhaustion toward recruitment itself. Many professionals even claim that the hardest part of changing jobs is not the new role but getting through the recruitment process. This is a crucial signal for employers: to focus on candidate experience, simplify procedures, communicate clearly, align expectations with reality, and above all, show respect for candidates’ time and effort.
The Growing Role of AI in Candidate Selection
One of the most important trends shaping recruitment (not only in IT) in 2025 is the increasing use of artificial intelligence and automation in the selection process. We’ve already mentioned ATS systems that filter résumés or algorithms that assess video recordings—but that’s just the beginning. AI is now expanding into more and more stages of recruitment.
Modern recruitment systems can not only catalogue applications but also automatically evaluate CVs for job fit. Thanks to AI-integrated ATS platforms, software can compare CV content with job requirements and suggest top candidates to recruiters. Candidate sourcing is also being automated – so-called recruitment bots now scan LinkedIn and databases to identify profiles that meet specific criteria. Chatbots and voicebots increasingly support communication: scheduling interviews, answering FAQs, and even conducting preliminary screenings. One Polish example comes from Aldi, where applicants for certain roles could call a hotline handled by a voicebot that asked about experience, recorded responses, forwarded them to the system, and automatically provided feedback on next steps. Such applications of AI help relieve recruiters of repetitive tasks and speed up the process for candidates (e.g., instant confirmation of CV receipt or an automated interview invitation).
The most advanced – and controversial – developments involve AI tools that attempt deeper candidate analysis. Some systems use behavioral analytics to assess personality traits from recorded interviews (whether human-led or AI-led). Based on microexpressions, body language, and vocal tone, the algorithm attempts to estimate qualities like honesty, optimism, or stress management. It sounds like something out of science fiction, and indeed it has sparked intense debate. Critics compare it to a lie detector, raising ethical and legal concerns – is such deep analysis even permissible, or does it violate privacy and equality principles? Current regulations (like GDPR) lag behind these developments, but new restrictions on overly invasive AI use in recruitment are likely to emerge soon. Moreover, a technological arms race is already underway – some developers have created deepfake-based tools that allow candidates to trick AI systems by overlaying “digital masks” showing ideal facial expressions or emotions during video interviews. This illustrates how excessive automation can lead to absurd outcomes – where AI ends up recruiting another AI, leaving the human element behind.
Despite these controversies, the trend is unmistakable: artificial intelligence is becoming an integral part of HR. For candidates, this means understanding how these systems work and learning to navigate them effectively. Practically speaking, it’s worth optimizing CVs with relevant keywords (so ATS and algorithms don’t overlook them), getting used to chatbot-based communication, and preparing for the possibility of video interviews. In the near future, attaching a short video self-introduction to a CV may even become standard practice – some companies already suggest it. Candidates can also use AI to their advantage – for example, tools like ChatGPT can help prepare for interviews, simulate recruiter questions, or polish résumés. In short, AI is both an ally and a challenge. Companies that use it wisely can streamline recruitment and improve candidate-job matching. Those that rely on it blindly, however, risk dehumanizing the process and alienating valuable talent who don’t feel comfortable being judged by a machine.
**Summary: The New Recruitment Reality ** IT recruitment in Poland in 2025 is a complex and multifaceted process. From a candidate’s perspective, it resembles an obstacle course – tailoring the CV for ATS, navigating AI-driven interactions, taking demanding coding tests, participating in multiple interviews, and completing final presentations or tasks. All this takes place in a market that is still competitive (though slightly less than at the peak of the crisis – an average of 29 candidates per offer at the start of 2025, compared to 44 a year earlier) and where companies emphasize caution and precision in hiring. For many specialists, this means putting in greater effort: continuously developing skills, preparing for challenging interviews, and coping with uncertainty while waiting for decisions.
Despite these challenges, the Polish IT sector is gradually entering a new normal. Companies are starting to realize that candidate experience is not just a buzzword – in the competition for top talent, what matters is not only salary but also how candidates are treated throughout the process. The most forward-thinking employers are already simplifying procedures (e.g., merging stages) and improving communication with applicants. The growing presence of investors and R&D projects in Poland may further accelerate the adoption of global HR standards, where respect for candidates is an essential part of employer branding. At the same time, AI technology will continue to reshape recruitment – in a few years, the first interview may always be with a bot, and résumé screening may be fully automated. The key will be finding the right balance between automation and human touch.
For candidates, the most important thing is to be prepared for these realities: to know what to expect at each stage, make the most of available tools (such as technical training and interview simulations), and take care of themselves throughout the process – by asking recruiters questions, requesting feedback, and setting boundaries (for instance, negotiating deadlines for home assignments). Recruitment is a two-way process: just as companies choose employees, candidates choose their future employers. Hopefully, 2025 will bring further improvements to the IT job market – more transparency, faster decisions, and better-aligned expectations – allowing both sides to find what they are looking for in a spirit of mutual respect.
Sources: Industry studies and current IT job market analyses for 2024/2025, including Just Join IT, LinkedIn Pulse, Business Insider (NFJ Report), 300Gospodarka/JustJoin, Euronews/Adecco, ITwiz, and others as cited above.