Ask HN: As a developer, how do I get into recruiting? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: As a developer, how do I get into recruiting?

12 pointschangeseeker6 comments

In the past year, we have discussed at length on how tech recruiting is broken, all the irrelevant cold calls/mails that we hate, the interview process taking too long, etc.

I have been a developer for more than a decade, I have been heavily involved in hiring/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's point of view is important, so I was thinking of working as a recruiter or starting recruiting agency.

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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> 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...

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/

Scott Love for solid professional development content > http://www.greatrecruitertraining.com/

http://blog.alinelerner.com/if-youre-an-engineer-who-wants-t...

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

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.

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

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.

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