{"id":103150,"date":"2026-09-25T14:37:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T11:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/?p=103150"},"modified":"2026-09-25T15:20:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T12:20:13","slug":"why-defense-tech-jobs-fail-before-hiring-starts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/09\/why-defense-tech-jobs-fail-before-hiring-starts\/","title":{"rendered":"Why most defence tech job openings fail before the search even begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When a position remains unfilled for months, defence companies often blame a shortage of candidates. In a new article for the Arming with Talents<\/a> special project, CORE Team<\/a> COO Natalia Saltykova argues that the real problem is often that the company has not defined a clear and realistic hiring brief before the search even starts.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her column, Saltykova explains how to build an effective brief and define a realistic candidate profile.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paradoxically, one of the biggest mistakes companies make when opening a position is being too confident that they already know exactly who they are looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years in recruitment, including the past four working with defence tech companies, we at CORE Team<\/a> have noticed an interesting pattern. When a client describes the \u201cideal candidate\u201d in great detail during the first briefing and leaves little room for discussion, it does not necessarily mean they have a clear idea of whom they need. Often, it means something else: the business need has not yet been properly defined, and the company is describing not a real role, but an idealised star candidate expected to solve all its problems at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Five \u201cschools\u201d riding the same bicycle: <\/strong>how different cultures collide in Defence tech<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Yes, there is a genuine shortage of candidates in defence today. But our experience shows that many positions are effectively doomed before a recruiter opens LinkedIn or starts approaching the first candidates. And the reason is often not the market. It is the brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a widespread assumption that the hiring manager always knows whom they are looking for. After all, they build the product, manage the team and are responsible for the outcome. In established industries, this assumption may often hold. But defence is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian defence companies are scaling at an unprecedented pace. New products are emerging, technologies are changing and, along with them, new roles and new requirements for existing positions. Many executives are building these kinds of teams for the first time, so defining an exact candidate profile on the first attempt is not always possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you know what? Not knowing the ideal candidate profile is perfectly normal.<\/strong> What is not normal is pretending that it already exists. That is when job descriptions start combining mutually exclusive requirements, unrealistic expectations or simply a list of everything that \u201cwould be nice to have\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good brief is not a list of requirements<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Many people see the briefing as a stage where the recruiter simply records the hiring manager\u2019s wishes. In reality, a good brief starts not with \u201cWho are we looking for?\u201d but with \u201cWhat problem does this person need to solve?\u201d That is a fundamentally different approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you start with technologies, the tech stack or years of experience, it is very easy to end up with a long list of requirements. But when you start with the business problem, it often becomes clear that half of those requirements are not critical. That is why, during a briefing, we try to understand not only the future candidate but also the underlying business need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Candidate screening in Defence Tech:<\/strong> Where security ends and paranoia begins<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

My favourite question to ask a client is: \u201cTell me about this role in your own words.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where it becomes clear whether the manager really understands the role and whether the other stakeholders describe it in the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the manager explains why the company needs the role, what problems the new hire is expected to solve and what they should have achieved after three to six months, it becomes clear what really matters to the business \u2014 and what ended up in the job description simply because \u201cthe guys have it, so we need it too\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And sometimes it works the other way around. We may hear about specific technologies, tools or requirements, but the manager cannot explain what business problem the future employee is actually expected to solve. This does not mean they have prepared poorly. In a young and rapidly changing industry, it is a normal situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is precisely what the briefing is for: to work together to define a realistic role profile before the search begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A briefing is not about having all the answers. It is about asking the right questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where we start the briefing<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Before starting a candidate search, we at CORE Team validate every job description provided by a client and try to answer several basic questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n