Technical recruiters need a different stack than generalist TA. Keyword search on self-reported skills is not enough when the role is Rust infrastructure or a staff frontend hire who has to judge code quality.
This list is for people who fill engineering roles week in, week out. We build one of the tools below.
The stack that actually shows up on a technical desk
| Job | Tool type | Strong options |
|---|---|---|
| Find engineers by real work | Code-backed sourcing | RealGreatDevs, AmazingHiring, SeekOut |
| Find anyone / warm paths | Professional network | LinkedIn Recruiter |
| Sequence and nurture | Recruiting CRM | Gem |
| Track the process | ATS | Ashby, Greenhouse, Lever |
| Screen without wasting loops | GitHub + scorecard | Free + screening checklist |
| Comp context | Salary data | Levels.fyi, local surveys, your own closed offers |
Sourcing: start with proof
RealGreatDevs — 2.5M engineers indexed from public GitHub. Filter on languages, contributions, repos, country. Self-serve. Best when the role is IC and technical depth matters. Skip if you hire mostly non-eng.
AmazingHiring — specialist aggregator for engineers; strong in some EU/CIS markets. Annual contract.
SeekOut — broad talent intelligence with GitHub/patent enrichment. Enterprise pricing ($10K–$30K/seat/yr common for teams). Worth it for compliance-heavy orgs; heavy for a single technical recruiter.
LinkedIn Recruiter — still mandatory for many desks because hiring managers live there and eng managers have thin GitHub profiles. Weak as your only technical source.
Screening: do not outsource judgment to a score
Automated "coding score" products are optional. What is not optional is a repeatable human screen of public work — five minutes per profile using this checklist. Pair with a short structured screen call.
Take-homes should have a deadline, a review SLA, and a scope under three hours. Endless take-homes are why your time-to-hire blows out — see time to hire.
Outreach: quality over sequences
Gem (or hireEZ's sequencer) helps when volume is real. For most technical desks, twenty specific emails beat two hundred sequenced ones. Templates: how to email developers.
ATS: pick for eng workflow, not feature count
Ashby and Greenhouse are common in eng-heavy companies because scorecards and structured feedback are first-class. The ATS does not find candidates. Buy it when process chaos is the bottleneck, not when the calendar is empty.
A lean technical recruiter kit
Solo / small company
- Free GitHub + Boolean (guide)
- Self-serve eng sourcing when volume rises
- Spreadsheet or lightweight ATS
- Personal email
In-house technical recruiter at a scale-up
- LinkedIn Recruiter (managers + mixed roles)
- Eng specialist (RealGreatDevs / AmazingHiring / SeekOut)
- Gem if nurture matters
- Real ATS with scorecards
Agency technical sourcer
- Specialist eng databases for delivery speed
- LinkedIn for client-facing visibility
- Strict Boolean + GitHub screen SOPs so juniors do not burn client brands
What to stop paying for
- A second enterprise sourcing seat "just in case"
- AI writing tools that produce generic outreach
- Assessment platforms you never review the results from
- Job board boosts for roles that only hire passive talent
For category-wide comparisons see best sourcing tools for recruiters and candidate sourcing software.