The 10 Best Software Development Recruiters

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• [toc headings="h2" title="Table of Contents"] In today’s world, tech companies aren’t the only ones hiring software developers. Today’s consumers expect convenience, and businesses across industries aim to meet these expectations with mobile apps, self-service portals, and other digital offerings. To do that, they need to hire candidates with software engineering experience, UX expertise, and programming skills, adding more demand to an already strained developer talent pool. A recruiter dedicated to IT staffing can help employers build a better development team regardless of what industry the business is in. In fact, recruiters can often be even more impactful for companies in non-technology fields, whose lack of knowledge about IT roles and what job seekers in this sector look for can be an impediment to finding the right people. Before you post your next software developer job opening, consider whether one of the staffing agencies below could be a better way to hire the right candidate.

• The top 10 software development recruiters

• 1. Nexus IT Group

• Nexus IT Group is a leading national recruiter of high-quality information technology professionals. Their software development recruitment team finds talent solutions for employers ranging from tech startups to Fortune 500 companies, quickly filling their positions with software engineers well-versed in programming languages, Unix, user experience, and other key skills. The motto of “Quality Through Understanding” you’ll see in their logo isn’t just a tagline, but is an indication of their goal with every search. Their decades of experience recruiting IT professionals are a key advantage for the more than 1,000 customers they’ve worked with, giving them a broad candidate network and an efficient hiring process that lets them quickly identify the best fit for the company’s needs. Read more about Nexus IT Group

• 2. Red Shift Recruiting

• Redfish software recruiters work at the heart of one of today’s fastest growing and most competitive sectors. SaaS, cloud solutions, front end, UI, UX, Unix, Linux, database management, storage solutions, networking, security: find it all in their network of highly-skilled software developers and software engineering professionals. Since their inception in 1996, Redfish Technology has solidified their place as a pillar of the technology recruitment industry. Read more about Red Shift Recruiting

• 3. CalTek Staffing

• CalTek Staffing was founded in 2002 by two professional recruiters, and that depth of expertise is their main advantage for clients. Headquartered in San Diego, they've expanded their reach as an IT recruiter beyond California, with offices in Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, and Atlanta, Georgia. While their specialization is finding IT and software engineer talent, they can provide these staffing solutions to businesses in a range of industries, from aerospace and defense through pharmaceutical and telecommunications companies. Across fields, the depth of the relationships they build with clients and candidates is at the heart of their success as a staffing agency. Read more about Caltek Staffing

• 4. DevTalent

• Based in Toronto, Canada, DevTalent is a technical recruiting firm with a reputation for finding the best talent, not just in Canada but across North America. They recruit for a range of roles in software development and tech sales, aiming to help companies solve complex technical problems by hiring the right IT professionals. Since their recruiters all come from a tech background, they bring first-hand experience to every job search, allowing them to fully understand the requirements of each role and relate to the software engineer candidates they source. Read more about DevTalent

• 5. Alliance International Services

• If you're an international company looking for the best developer talent from around the world, then Alliance International Services can be an excellent recruitment partner. They've helped hundreds of companies across 36 countries meet their employment goals, including many across the US and Canada. In addition to executive headhunting and permanent direct placement services, they offer IT outsourcing and other temporary talent solutions. That variety of recruiting options, along with their broad information technology talent pool, makes them a top choice to fill a range of software developer opportunities. Read more about Alliance International Services

• 6. Scion Technology

• Scion Technology's excellence in talent acquisition has earned them a number of awards, including the Best of Staffing Client Satisfaction and Talent Satisfaction designations. They work with hiring managers across the United States, with offices from Boston to Los Angeles and in many major cities in between. Their knowledge of the technology hiring landscape is one of their main benefits for clients. They also bring a hands-on, personalized hiring process to every search they undertake, providing a combination of expertise and flexibility that you won't get from just any staffing firm. Read more about Scion Technology

• 7. The HT Group

• Since 2004, the HT Group has been a top-ranked staffing firm, winning accolades from Forbes, Best of Staffing, and the Austin Business Journal, just to name a few. Their recruitment success starts with their proven screening process, which is tailored to the specific details and requirements of your role to ensure the candidates they send along are a perfect match in both skills and culture fit. They also pride themselves on serving as business consultants as well as talent acquisition specialists, providing their clients with resources and knowledge to help them become a more effective employer and meet their business goals. Read more about The HT Group

• 8. RedShift Recruiting

• RedShift Recruiting has more than 40 years of experience helping companies hire the right technology talent. The agency was co-founded by a former CIO, with a team of developer recruiters who have similarly hands-on tech expertise. This background allows them to serve as a strategic partner for companies who need tech talent, with an in-depth understanding of the terminology and skills needed for each developer role they fill. Their staffing solutions are ideal for roles such as web developers, front end developers, UX designers, full stack engineers, and project managers. Read more about RedShift Recruiting

• 9. Oxford Solutions

• For companies in the Midwest, Oxford Solutions is a premier software staffing firm headquartered in Pittsburgh. Their primary focus is as contingency recruiters providing enterprise staffing solutions for critical projects, and their experience and in-depth understanding of the industries they serve is their main advantage. They work often with organizations in the finance field, making them uniquely qualified to find job seekers with skills and experience in FinTech development. Read more about Oxford Solutions

• 10. Expect Technical Staffing

• Founded in 2013, Expect Technical Staffing is the #1 IT and engineering recruiting firm in Colorado. They work with organizations of all sizes, from tech startups to Fortune 500 companies that need to add IT professionals to their team. The developers in their network are experts in all of the modern programming languages, databases, and frameworks, able to meet the requirements of any developer role. Expect offers flexibility, as well, hiring talent on either a permanent or a contract basis to bring their clients the workforce they need today. Read more about Expect Technical Staffing

• Types of software development recruiting services

• All software recruiters do the same basic things: they identify the best professionals in the field and match them to the positions that clients have hired them to fill. The main difference between recruiting firms comes down to their recruitment process and their pricing structure for employers. There are four big-picture categories that you’ll see: executive search firms, retained recruiting agencies, contingent recruiting agencies, and staffing firms. One note to keep in mind is that these categories aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s common for recruiting firms to offer both retained and contingent search options, for instance, and you may even find agencies that make hires using all four of these methods depending on the situation. With that in mind, here are the defining traits of each of these types of recruiting.

• Executive search firms

• Also known as headhunters, executive search firms specialize in recruiting candidates for senior-level leadership positions. They typically offer the most hands-on and personalized service of the recruiting agencies you’ll find. Instead of simply posting job ad templates on marketplaces, for instance, they’re more likely to proactively contact passive candidates, often using a detailed and structured process to identify potential applicants who would be the best fit for the role. This hands-on approach also typically extends to how executive search firms interact with clients. They’re more likely to offer customized, boutique service, and often aim to foster long-term partnerships with companies that extend beyond a single search. Usually, they’re also equipped to provide confidential search services, something that is often required when filling C-suite or board member positions. As you might expect from this level of service, headhunting firms also tend to charge the highest fees of any recruitment service.

• Retained search firms

• A retained search is an exclusive agreement with a single recruiting firm working to find the right talent. The recruiter is paid a flat fee, often on an ongoing basis. This is similar to the typical process for executive searches, and many retained search agencies also offer executive search services. This is also commonly used by companies that have a variety of specialized roles requiring niche skills that can be difficult to find in the talent market. Rather than approach each search as its own entity, they can hire a single firm to fill all of their positions. The main advantage of a retained search is that they develop a long-term relationship with the client, often giving them deeper insights into the company culture, mission, and the specific needs of their teams. They also tend to perform more extensive screening of candidates, including things like psychometric testing, background checks, or comprehensive pre-interviews, that can help them to provide a higher tier of talent.

• Contingent search firms

• The first difference between contingent and retained search processes is the payment structure. Contingency recruiters essentially work on commission. They’re paid at the successful conclusion of a search, with their fee normally based on a percentage of the new hire’s first-year salary. Since their pay is determined by results, contingent recruiters are driven to fill open roles quickly, and many offer a placement guarantee that serves as extra motivation to hire the right person for the role. Contingency recruiters are often the most cost-effective option for their users, especially for companies that have multiple roles to fill at various levels of the organization, and this is the main advantage of this model. They also can often fill positions faster and may offer easier integration with your in-house recruiting efforts. Since they’re non-exclusive, you can also work with multiple firms for the same search, letting you essentially demo which one will be the most effective at filling your roles so you can work with them more in the future.

• Staffing agencies

• In addition to permanent placements, many software recruiters also offer contract or temporary staffing services. Companies that only offer this kind of talent are referred to as employment agencies or staffing agencies, though you may also see those labels applied to companies that fill permanent roles. Staffing firms are a great option for one-off projects, like the development of a new user interface, web application, or internal system. Typically the recruiting firm handles all the administrative details of managing this short-term staff, overseeing their onboarding and payroll and reducing the workload on in-house HR staff. That makes temporary staffing a convenient choice for growing businesses with workload spikes, in addition to those with one-time development projects.

• Factors to consider when choosing a recruiting firm

• The first thing you want to look at when deciding on a recruiting firm is their area of specialization. Software development is a broad field. Some recruiters fill a range of roles within this sector, while others focus on a niche. Perusing the agency’s recent placements, current openings, and client list can help you identify their specific area of expertise and whether it aligns with your hiring needs. Your budget is also often a factor when deciding on a recruiter. Hiring a recruiter typically lowers both the cost and time required to fill a position compared to filling it in-house, but only if you choose the right firm. As a general rule, retained executive search firms will have the highest costs, while contingency staffing firms focused on mid-level and entry-level roles will be the most affordable. Aligning the recruiting firm to your staffing needs can help ensure you’re not spending more for your search than necessary. The type of recruiting software and tools employed by the agency could be a factor in your decision, too. Most modern recruiting firms will at minimum use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform to manage their workflows and keep track of candidates. The features and integrations of these programs vary widely, however, so it’s worth asking for more information about their tech stack. Find out what kind of data analytics they use to evaluate candidates, how they employ automation in their candidate outreach, the tools they employ to manage the candidate experience, and how all of these pieces influence their decisions about which resumes they pass along to clients. Some recruiting firms may also use technology in their candidate marketing, such as by offering webinars or posting video content on social media, which can be especially useful for attracting younger candidates. Related to this, it’s helpful to research how the recruiter sources and engages with candidates in a broader sense. While most recruiters will make use of widely popular platforms like LinkedIn, that shouldn’t be their only source of talent. Ask where they advertise their open jobs and what strategies they use to market to candidates. Ideally, you want to hire a recruiter that actively engages passive candidates as well as active job seekers, particularly if you’re hiring them to fill executive or specialized roles. Finally, you want to make sure you choose a recruiting firm that you’ll work well with. The best way to discover this is to have a conversation with their team to get insights into their recruiting process and how they communicate with clients. Ask how frequently you should expect to get emails or updates on your search progress, as well as their preferred communication format and what kind of reports or information they’ll send along about the candidates they source. You can also check out reviews and testimonials from past clients, or reach out to some of these clients to hear about their experience with the company. Recruiting success is often a direct result of strong relationships, and you want to work with a staffing agency that you feel understands your company and needs. Having a conversation with the recruiter can give you a sense of their communication style, along with insights into their sourcing and screening process that can help you decide on the best fit for your organization. Different recruiting firms provide different levels of involvement for the client. Some conduct initial interviews, perform background and reference checks, or take other action to screen and vet candidates prior to sending along their resumes, but that’s not a guarantee. Knowing exactly what tasks the recruiter undertakes during the process is the best way to know if they offer the level of hiring support you need.

• Solving your software recruiting challenges

• As long as businesses need to develop new software for their customers, clients, and processes, software development talent will continue to be in high demand. An experienced software recruiter is the best way to navigate this challenging recruitment landscape, particularly for startups and smaller companies that lack the resources and reputation to attract the best talent on their own.