Recruitment
Recruiting in the Balkans is a connections game. The strongest candidates are off the major job boards — they hear about roles through ex-colleagues or LinkedIn DMs. Merot has run hiring for our own multi-country product team for 4 years and built a network across Skopje, Pristina, Tirana, Belgrade, Sofia, and Podgorica. We use that network to deliver a vetted shortlist in 14 days — every candidate has had a 60-minute screen with us, an English-fluency check, a reference call, and (for engineering roles) a paid take-home graded against a rubric.
Concrete deliverables
- 60–90-minute role-discovery call: we extract the must-haves vs nice-to-haves and write a one-pager job description in your voice.
- Sourcing across HelloWorld.mk, KosovaJob, Pajobs.al, Posao.rs, JobsBG, JobNa1.me, plus our LinkedIn network and 4 community Slack/Discord groups.
- Recruiter screen: 60-minute video call covering experience, English level (CEFR-rated), salary expectations, notice period, and motivations.
- Technical filter: paid take-home for engineering roles (graded against a rubric we wrote with you), live-coding round optional. Domain interview for sales/ops roles.
- Reference calls: at least one ex-manager and one ex-peer, with notes shared.
- Shortlist of 3–5 candidates in a structured doc: CV, screen notes, take-home result, references, salary ask, notice. You decide who to interview.
- We schedule and joining-bridge your final interviews. Offer-stage support: salary negotiation, counter-offer coaching, accept-by date pressure.
How it works
Discovery (1 day)
60-minute role discovery call. We send you a 1-page job description draft for sign-off.
Sourcing (5–7 days)
Outbound on LinkedIn + niche Balkan boards. Inbound from network referrals. We don't post on global job boards by default — too noisy.
Screen + filter (3–5 days)
Recruiter screens with all qualified inbound. Technical take-home or domain interview for the top 8–12. We grade against your rubric.
Shortlist delivered (day 14)
3–5 candidates with full dossier. You pick who to interview.
Interview support
We schedule, prep candidates on your interview format, gather feedback after each round, and run offer negotiations on your behalf.
How we charge
Hiring for which role?
software engineer
Salary by country, typical profile, time-to-hire.
View →sales
Salary by country, typical profile, time-to-hire.
View →customer service
Salary by country, typical profile, time-to-hire.
View →account manager
Salary by country, typical profile, time-to-hire.
View →graphic designer
Salary by country, typical profile, time-to-hire.
View →FAQ — Recruitment
Can you recruit for executive / C-level roles?
Up to head-of-engineering / VP-engineering at companies < 200 people. For C-level we'll be honest about whether our network reaches the right candidates — for some sectors we'll refer you to a sector-specialist exec search firm in the region.
What's your fee if we hire someone outside your shortlist?
If they came from our pipeline (we sourced, screened, or made the intro), the fee applies. If you found them independently, no fee — even if their first interview was alongside our shortlist.
Do you guarantee the hire?
90-day replacement: if the candidate is terminated for cause or resigns within 90 days, we re-run the search at no additional fee. Doesn't cover redundancy or your business pivots.
What roles do you NOT recruit for?
Anything where the candidate has to be in-person at a non-Balkan location (we don't relocate people internationally), pure-research PhD scientists, or specialised regulated roles (lawyers, doctors).
Will you place the candidate via your EOR or my own entity?
Either. If you have your own subsidiary, we hand the candidate over after they accept. If not, we onboard them under Merot EOR — no recruitment surcharge for using our EOR (the EOR fee is a separate monthly subscription).
Can you do volume hiring (10+ roles)?
Yes — we've delivered batches of up to 25 hires in 90 days, mostly for support and sales teams. Custom pricing; ask us.
Book a call about Recruitment
Free 30-minute call. Quote + plan in 24 hours.