What the VERTX Vetting Process Looks Like From Start to Finish

Why VERTX Vets So Thoroughly

VERTX places engineers directly into UK client teams with no extended probation period. From the first day of an engagement, the engineer needs to work at the expected level. That means vetting carries more weight than a typical job application. It is the main quality check before a company relies on you.

The process is designed to show two things: whether you have the technical depth the work needs, and whether you communicate to the standard UK teams expect. Technical ability without clear communication does not pass. Clear communication without technical depth does not pass. Both must be there.

Application and Profile Review

It starts with your application: your CV and professional profile. We look for evidence that your experience matches the level you applied at, that your stack fits the work UK companies bring to VERTX, and that your written English is clear.

What we read for: relevant commercial experience, ownership in past roles rather than just task completion, clear writing in the application itself, and a complete profile.

• Be specific. Name projects, the technologies you used, and what changed because of your work. Generic lists of responsibilities do not help.
• Link your GitHub if it has visible, recent activity.
• Apply at the right level. Applying as Senior when your experience is Mid level slows the process down for you.
• Read your application through before you submit it. It is the first sample of your writing we see.

Interview: On Camera, With the VERTX Team

If your application fits, you book an interview with someone from the VERTX team. It is on camera. We go through your background and what you have built, you hear how VERTX works, and you can ask us anything. Your spoken English is assessed on the call.

It is a conversation, not an exam. We want to hear you explain your own work clearly, the way you would to a UK team in your first week.

• Pick two or three pieces of work you are proud of and be ready to explain what you did and why.
• Test your camera, microphone and connection before the call, and find a quiet place to take it.
• Bring your own questions. Asking how the work runs is a good sign, not a weak one.

Coding Assessment: A Timed Task on a Real Codebase

The coding assessment is a timed task on a real codebase, picked for your stack and level. There is no algorithm trivia. One part you do unaided. For the other part you use your own AI tools, the way you would on a real engagement. The time window for your task is shown before you start.

It is graded by running your code. We look at whether it works, whether you caught the quiet problems as well as the loud ones, and whether you changed what needed changing and left the rest alone.

• Work in the language you are strongest in.
• Set aside an uninterrupted block of time with a stable connection, and have your usual AI tools set up before you start.
• In the AI-assisted part, check what your tools produce. You are graded on code that runs, not on what a tool said it would do.
• If something breaks on our side, tell us through the support option inside the assessment.

Technical Interview, Identity Check, and Joining VERTX

The technical interview is with a senior engineer. You talk through the decisions in your work and how you approach problems you have not seen before. After it, VERTX awards your level.

Then comes the identity check. You verify an ID document and take a selfie through an independent identity provider, and we run sanctions screening. Once that is clear, you join VERTX: you accept the VERTX Engineer Terms on the Platform, and your profile is ready to be matched with UK companies.

• Think out loud. Walk through your approach before you write code. How you reason matters more than reaching the perfect answer.
• Ask clarifying questions before you start a problem. It is a good sign, not a weak one.
• Be direct and specific. Vague, hedged answers are hard to assess well.

Common Reasons for Rejection at Each Step

• Application: too vague to assess your level. Applying at the wrong level. No visible professional profile. Unclear written English.
• Interview: unable to explain your own work clearly. Spoken English below the standard UK teams need.
• Coding assessment: code that does not run or does not do what was asked. Missing the quiet problems. Rewriting working code to personal taste. Using AI output without checking it.
• Technical interview: knowledge that does not match the level applied for. Correct answers with no reasoning behind them.
• Identity check: a document or selfie that cannot be verified, or a sanctions screening result that rules the application out.

How to Prepare

The engineers who do best in VERTX vetting are not the ones who studied for it. They are the ones already working at the level they applied for. Vetting is not something you can cram for. If your day-to-day work matches what this guide describes, you are ready.

• Review your own GitHub and LinkedIn before applying, and make sure they show what you can do now.
• Read the hiring guides for your stack. They describe what UK companies look for, which is the same bar VERTX vets to.
• Practise explaining technical decisions out loud before your interviews. Think of two or three hard problems you solved in the past year and be ready to describe them clearly.
• Have a stable connection, a quiet place for video calls, and a valid ID document ready, so nothing practical slows you down.