about me
Most recruiters post a job and wait. I hunt. That means deep research, direct outreach to passive candidates, and picking up the phone when everyone else sends a message. I understand technology well enough to have real conversations with the engineers I'm placing. I've built a tech product myself. I'm not just matching keywords to job descriptions.
I'm Joakim Kalliala, founder of RecStrat, a headhunter and talent acquisition specialist with 15 years in the Finnish recruitment and talent market. I started in executive search, co-founded Talent Design, a boutique talent consultancy, and through it scaled the entire product organisation at Swappie during their high-growth phase. I've also built and led TA for Finland at Tieto, and have placed everything from software developers, architects and AI engineers to C-suite leaders.
I'm also the founder of RecHunt, a marketplace platform connecting hiring companies with recruitment agencies across Finland and beyond. If you're looking for an agency partner rather than working with me directly, that's where I'll point you.
I work with 1–2 clients at a time, by design. That's not a limitation. It's what makes the work good.
SERVICES
01
Interim TA Partner / Lead
I embed in your team and own recruiting end-to-end. Best for growth phases, TA gaps, or when you need someone who can both execute and structure. Typically 2–4 days a week.
02
Specialist Headhunting
Direct search for hard-to-fill roles. Technical specialists, engineering leads, executives. I take on the roles where a job post won't work, and find people who aren't looking.
03
Candidate Research & Training
Deep-dive candidate research and long-lists for executive search firms. Also available as research training, bringing executive search methodology and tools to internal TA teams who want to level up their sourcing game.
OR
also by joakim
RecHunt
Stop searching for agencies. Let them come to you.
RecStrat is my personal practice, I work with a small number of Finnish companies directly. But I can only take so many clients at a time, and not every need requires me personally. That's why I built RecHunt.
RecHunt is a marketplace where hiring companies post their recruitment need anonymously and receive competitive proposals from specialist agencies and recruiters. The entire process is free for hiring companies. Agencies pay to submit proposals, so there's no cost or commitment on your side. You stay anonymous until you decide who to work with, so you only spend time on conversations that matter.
HOW IT WORKS
01
Post your need — any role, any location. Free, anonymous, no commitment.
Receive proposals — at least 10 relevant recruitment partners are notified and submit competitive proposals directly to you.
You choose — compare partners, reveal your company details only when you're ready, and select the right fit.
02
03
MY WORK
A selection of cases handled personally through my own practice.
Headhunting cases for hard-to-fill in the Finnish market:
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Lead AI Developer for a data driven healthcare software company
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Senior Cloud Engineer for an industrial 3D simulation platform
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Engineering Lead, Production Simulation for a 3D manufacturing simulation software company
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Senior Platform Developer for a data driven healthcare software company
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Senior Software Engineer for Motion Service and Physics Simulation for an industrial 3D simulation platform
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Senior Software Developer for a 3D manufacturing simulation software company
Cases where I provided candidate research for an executive search companies:
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Head of IT for one of the fastest-growing boat brands in the world
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CEO for a healthcare company
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EHQS Director for a logistics company
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End2End Delivery Performance – Supply Chain management and development for a logistics company
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Head of Partner Sales for an IT company
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Sorting Production unit Director for a logistics company
Training:
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Provided candidate research training, including modern research methodologies, tools and boolean search for the full team of a new executive search agency.
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Scaled Swappie's tech organisation from 1 engineering team to 5 full product teams across 5 domain areas, supporting the company's growth to 500+ people and 11 markets. Also helped them build their own internal TA team. Worked embedded 3–5 days a week for approximately one year, owning the process end-to-end from profiling to offer negotiations and relocation. (via Talent Design)
"Working together with Joakim was exceptionally smooth straight from the get-go. He knew what information he needed to succeed, he was working independently on all stages of the recruitment process, and I knew he would get results."
Jori Ahvonen, CTO, Swappie