IT Recruiting Agency
Interim Recruiting | Recruiting on Demand | Recruiting Consulting
Data-driven IT recruiting with a 95% success rate. No high headhunter commissions – only measurable results and full transparency.
→ 28% shorter time-to-hire | 200+ clients | more than 10 years of experience | first candidates in 10 days
IT positions remain unfilled for months - your growth suffers
The shortage of IT specialists in Germany is real: over 96,000 IT positions are currently unfilled. On average, it takes 200 days to fill an IT position. Every week without the right developer, DevOps engineer or data scientist costs you projects, revenue and puts a strain on your existing team.
Does this sound familiar to you?
We know these challenges and have spent over 10 years developing solutions that work.
IT recruiting that delivers more than just promises
At Kooku, you work with an IT recruitment agency that focuses on results. We only take on projects where we see a realistic chance of success, which is why our fill rate is 95%. No commission model that sets false incentives. Instead: Transparent collaboration, weekly KPI reports and a team that treats your vacancies as their own.
Why companies work with us:
95% success rate:
Through 10 years of specialized IT recruiting experience, data-driven active sourcing and thorough requirements analyses in the briefing.
First candidates in 10 days:
Thanks to specialized project teams and lean processes, we get started immediately.
No classic headhunter commission:
You pay for our work, not for a percentage of the annual salary.
Full transparency:
Weekly KPI reports show you exactly where we stand - pipeline, response rates, next steps.
AI-supported processes:
We use automation to be faster, but personal contact with candidates remains person-to-person.
Our IT recruiting services - flexible according to your needs
Whether you need short-term capacity, outsource an entire recruitment project or are looking for strategic advice. We adapt to your needs.
Active Sourcing
Recruitment Process Outsourcing
Interim Recruiting
Expert Search
4 steps to your IT specialists
The result: on average, we fill IT positions in 2-3 months – 28% faster than the market average.
IT recruiting for tech companies and SMEs
Our recruiting consultants specialize in technical profiles. We know where to find the talent and how to approach them.
Are you looking for a profile that is not listed here? Contact us – we can also find specialists outside the classic job titles.
How big is your IT talent pool really?
Many companies are looking for tech specialists, but only a few know how tight the market actually is. Our candidate market analysis shows you transparently how many suitable profiles are available, what salary levels are realistic and how demanding your recruitment will really be. This gives you clarity for planning, budgeting and timing.
What our customers say
“We have found our recruiting partner of choice in Kooku. In recent months, we have successfully filled over 20 highly specialized roles together – from software developers and product owners to software consultants, test engineers and AI developers.
What particularly impresses us: the target-oriented way of working, the deep understanding of our industry and the trusting cooperation that goes far beyond the usual service provider relationship. Kooku thinks along with us, manages proactively and consistently delivers strong candidate profiles.
Thanks to this partnership, we have been able to secure our growth in the long term. An unreserved recommendation – and for us a long-term recruiting partner that we wouldn’t want to be without.”
“I would like to thank you very much for the very successful work with Kooku. Thanks to Kooku’s expertise, we were able to achieve great success with 15 hires in a difficult IT environment. The integration into the overall HR process also ran efficiently and smoothly. We look forward to working together again in the future.”
“IT positions in the public sector are extremely difficult to fill – except with Kooku! The speed, your super-structured approach and quick understanding of the desired roles were really impressive. Thanks to your expertise, we found specialists with perfectly matching skills who also fit perfectly into the team. The collaboration was professional, pleasant and based on partnership. From me, a clear recommendation to all colleagues and many thanks to you for your outstanding work!”
“The cooperation with Kooku was well organized and trustful. The Kooku team’s expertise helped us identify and address weaknesses in our employer branding and candidate approach beyond the initial briefing. This has allowed us to attract more good candidates and significantly increase our fill rate.”
“I can unreservedly recommend Kooku as a partner for recruiting & HR topics and have been working successfully with the team for several years in various constellations.”
Martin Firlus
Business Unit Lead – Tech Recruiting
Martin brings more than ten years of tech and non-tech recruiting experience to the table, has already international Recruiting teams established as well as managed, is MCSA BI Reporting certifiziert and supports us internal im range Data Engineering, Analytics and reportg (Business– Recruiting– & HR– Data).
FAQ - Frequently asked questions about IT recruiting
What is the difference between a headhunter and an IT recruitment agency?
A headhunter (also known as an executive search) searches specifically for managers and specialists by direct approach, often for positions with an annual salary of €80,000 or more. The commission is 25-33% of the annual salary, often with advance payment (retainer).
An IT recruitment agency works on a broader basis and places IT specialists at all career levels – from junior developer to senior engineer. Billing is usually performance-based or on an hourly basis.
Recruiting on Demand combines both approaches: Specialization in IT profiles with flexible billing without high commissions.
When is an external IT recruiting agency worthwhile?
An external IT recruiting agency is particularly worthwhile in these situations:
- Your internal HR department has no capacity for active sourcing
- You have no specialized IT recruiters in your team
- The position has been vacant for more than 3 months
- You quickly need several IT specialists at the same time
- These are niche profiles that are difficult to fill (e.g. DevOps, data engineering, security)
- You want to keep recruiting costs calculable instead of paying high commissions
Rule of thumb: If the internal search does not yield any qualified candidates after 60 days, external support makes sense.
How quickly do IT recruiting agencies find candidates?
The average time-to-hire for IT positions in the German market is 148-200 days. Specialized IT recruiting agencies can significantly shorten this period:
- First qualified candidates: 10-14 days after project start
- Shortlist with 3-5 candidates: 3-4 weeks
- Average time to fill: 2-3 months
The speed depends on: Market situation for the profile sought, attractiveness of the offer (salary, benefits, remote options), and speed of feedback after interviews.
How does active sourcing work for IT specialists?
Active sourcing is the targeted direct approach of IT talent who are not actively looking for a job, which is over 90% of IT specialists. The process includes:
- Research: Identification of suitable profiles on LinkedIn, XING, GitHub, Stack Overflow and in specialist communities
- Qualification: Analysis of skills, projects and experience based on public data
- Approach: Personalized messages that respond to the individual profile – no mass emails
- Pre-screening: Initial telephone calls to check interest, motivation to switch and salary expectations
- Presentation: Introduction of qualified candidates to the client
The quality of the approach is crucial: IT specialists receive job offers every day and only respond to relevant, well-researched news.
Which channels do IT recruiters use to find developers?
Professional IT recruiters use a multi-channel approach:
Business networks:
- LinkedIn (largest reach, international)
- XING (strong in the DACH region)
Specialist communities:
- GitHub (code repositories, project history)
- Stack Overflow (technical expertise)
- Dev.to, Reddit (r/programming, r/cscareerquestions)
Specialized platforms:
- Honeypot, Talent.io (for developers)
- 4scotty, WeAreDevelopers
Events & Networks:
- Tech meetups, hackathons, conferences
- Employee recommendations
The choice of channels depends on the profile you are looking for: front-end developers are active on different platforms than SAP consultants or DevOps engineers.
What are the challenges in finding IT specialists?
The shortage of IT specialists in Germany has several causes:
Supply-demand imbalance:
- Over 96,000 unfilled IT jobs (Bitkom 2024)
- Digitization increases demand across all sectors
- Training and studies do not produce enough graduates
Special features of the IT labor market:
- 90% of IT specialists are not actively looking for a job
- On average, developers only change 3-4 times in their professional life
- High salary demands due to competitive pressure
- Remote work enables global competition for talent
Recruiting challenges:
- Traditional job advertisements do not reach passive candidates
- Lack of IT expertise in HR departments
- Lengthy application processes are a deterrent
How long does it take on average to fill an IT position?
The average time-to-hire for IT positions in Germany is:
- Junior positions: 60-90 days
- Senior positions: 90-150 days
- Executives (CTO, VP Engineering): 150-250 days
- Niche profiles (security, data engineering): 120-200 days
By comparison, the average across all sectors is around 135 days. IT positions therefore last 10-80% longer than the average.
Factors influencing duration: Salary level, remote options, tech stack attractiveness, employer brand and speed of internal decision-making process.
What do IT specialists expect from employers?
According to surveys of IT specialists, the most important factors when choosing a job are:
- Salary and benefits (46% cite this as the most important factor)
- Remote work / flexibility (crucial since 2020)
- Technology stack (modern tools, no legacy systems)
- Further training opportunities (conferences, certifications)
- Team culture and management style (37% pay attention to supervisor expectations)
- Meaningfulness of the projects (purpose)
- Career prospects
Companies that clearly communicate these factors in job advertisements and interviews have a clear advantage in the competition for IT talent.
Which IT roles are the most difficult to fill?
According to market analyses and recruiter experience, these IT roles are particularly difficult to fill:
Very difficult (150+ days time-to-hire):
- DevOps / Site Reliability Engineers
- Security Engineers / Penetration Testers
- Data Engineers / ML Engineers
- Cloud Architects (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Heavy (90-150 days):
- Senior Backend Engineers (Go, Rust, Scala)
- Full-stack developer with modern stack
- SAP specialists (S/4HANA)
- Engineering Manager / Tech Leads
Slightly easier (60-90 days):
- Junior/Mid-Level Frontend Developer
- QA Engineers / Testers
- IT support / system administrators
The difficulty correlates with: Degree of specialization, salary level and availability on the market.
Would you like more information on recruiting? Then feel free to read more about it in our recruiting blog.
Not sure yet?
Use one of the following options to obtain further information or call us directly:
+49 30 99 404 3660.
We look forward to getting to know you!
