We're a profitable early-stage startup in SOMA, scrambling (like everyone else) to find talented Python devs who can help us build V2 of our web-based social marketing platform.<p>We've been rolling around the meetup circuit, posting online, and pushing the roles out through our networks, but still haven't met the caliber of innovators we're looking for. Since we have some cash for this, we're now thinking about working with a recruiter(s).<p>Are technical recruiters worth it? Should we try to bring someone on in-house, or outsource? Is contingency okay? Any thoughts on this would be hugely appreciated.
Former Tech Recruiter with an agency, currently inhouse Tech Recruitment Manager for a large dev company.<p>If you know of someone with proven experience in the area you are hiring for and you know of organisations that have used them successfully then go for it. Otherwise, don't waste your money.<p>Recruiting is an incredibly difficult challenge that requires patience and persistence. If you are struggling to find people I can guarantee it's for one of the following reasons:<p>1. You aren't paying enough<p>2. The job description isn't appropriate to attract the right folk<p>3. You are looking in all the wrong places (highly doubt this is the reason)<p>4. There are no suitable candidates on the market.<p>I would be amazed if points 3 or 4 were the crux of the issue. If you want you can send me the job description along with the details of the package and I'll happily give you my opinion.<p>In the mean time, some reading material:<p>1. Why you should avoid recruiters at all costs - <a href="http://hackerjobs.co.uk/blog/2012/6/15/all-that-is-wrong-with-the-recruitment-industry" rel="nofollow">http://hackerjobs.co.uk/blog/2012/6/15/all-that-is-wrong-wit...</a><p>2. Recruiting advice for start-ups - <a href="http://hackerjobs.co.uk/blog/2012/11/5/why-should-i-join-your-start-up" rel="nofollow">http://hackerjobs.co.uk/blog/2012/11/5/why-should-i-join-you...</a>
If I was in your shoes, I'd become your own technical recruiter, pick a far-flung college town or city with a good CS program, and try to relo a crackerjack Python dev out of a batch of a dozen you contact. Fly yourself out to Podunk City to seal the deal.<p>Only so many devs come out of bay area schools, and only so many devs relocate out to SF before they have guaranteed employment. There's a lot of pent-up supply of $100k-grade talent pulling in $40k in flyover country.<p>You're going to find and keep those people far easier (and cheaper!) than barking up the same trees (recruiters and H1B) that your contemporaries are.
Not that there aren't good third-party recruiters out there, but the majority I've encountered while personally looking for work were disappointing. They seem to scrape resumes from the Internet, perform rudimentary keyword-matching, and cold-call for candidate volume rather than candidate quality. Part of the issue is that it's in their best interests not to find a best fit for either party, but rather to maximize their own overall throughput. If you decide to use a third-party recruiter, then please, for your own sake and those of your potential hires, vet them thoroughly.
Sometimes hire fast, fire fast really works. If you find someone even matching 50-70% of caliber you are looking for, it might be worth taking a risk. If you are concern is his/her code quality, then ask for code references and if your concern is culture fit related, then you'd know in 2-4 weeks. Keep the conversation transparent though. As an early-stage company, i'd avoid going through a recruiter.
Read this before deciding
<a href="http://www.ewherry.com/2012/06/the-recruiter-honeypot/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ewherry.com/2012/06/the-recruiter-honeypot/</a>
A good recruiter might be even harder to find than a good developer.
You probably need a recruiter if you really need to scale or are in a desperate time crunch.