
Ask HN: As a developer, how do I get into recruiting? - changeseeker
In the past year, we have discussed at length on how tech recruiting is broken, all the irrelevant cold calls&#x2F;mails that we hate, the interview process taking too long, etc.<p>I have been a developer for more than a decade, I have been heavily involved in hiring&#x2F;interviews at companies that I have worked for, and I have always wanted to take a stab at innovating in the tech recruiting space. I think getting to know the nitty gritty details from the recruiter&#x27;s point of view is important, so I was thinking of working as a recruiter or starting  recruiting agency.<p>Does this sound like a reasonable step towards innovating in the recruiting space? How does one go about transitioning from a developer to a recruiter? What would be a typical day for a recruiter?
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JSeymourATL
> Does this sound like a reasonable step towards innovating in the recruiting
> space?

Yes, if you want to learn the trail...then saddle-up next to an Old Trail
Horse.

Suggest by reaching out to friends in the community, ask who is the best 3rd
party tech recruiting firm they know and why? Pro-tip, it's almost never the
big national firms. Most often its a small boutique shop that can really
hustle. Check out these folks > [http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-
valley-best-recruiter...](http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-best-
recruiters-2013-2)

Additionally, you can do an advance search via Linkedin to create your own hit
list of target firms. Think of this as the Discovery Process, set up a Skype
call or even better go see them in-person. Be prepared for an exhaustive
process, upwards of 100+ individual conversations.

Develop a scorecard to help you determine a good match. For example you might
probe for sophistication, tech savvy, and curiosity to see if the firms
leadership is truly open to innovation. And importantly, if they're receptive
to coaching a new hire in the Dark Arts of recruitment. A good firm is one
that takes a consultative approproach with clients and candidates, that's rare
these days.

Recruiting blogs is good for basic info on the space >
[http://www.recruitingblogs.com/](http://www.recruitingblogs.com/)

Scott Love for solid professional development content >
[http://www.greatrecruitertraining.com/](http://www.greatrecruitertraining.com/)

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eschutte2
[http://blog.alinelerner.com/if-youre-an-engineer-who-
wants-t...](http://blog.alinelerner.com/if-youre-an-engineer-who-wants-to-
start-a-recruiting-business-read-this-first/)

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dragon_king
I stumbled across this post a while back, some legit suggestions.

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ljoshua
You probably already have, but if not you'll certainly want to take a look at
what @patio11 and @tptacek did with Starfighter and reach out to them for some
interesting viewpoints on the matter.

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changeseeker
Thanks, I had heard about Straighter but never really read much into it. It
looks interesting, will definitely take a look.

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selllikesybok
I suppose it can't hurt, but recruiters don't really impact recruitment
processes, in a lot of cases.

The biggest problem with my company's recruitment process is their hiring
process.

You can get all the applicants not he world. Of you can't hire them, or won't,
what good is it?

External recruiters, are like black box testers for your hiring process.

Feel free to drop me a line of you'd like to discuss.

