If you’re an HR recruiter, you’ll know first-hand that the gap between the supply and demand of developers is still a bottleneck. The C-levels ask for the best programmer out there to scale up your company's products, but finding the right fit is difficult. Some reasons for this include:
We’ll present 10+ websites to help you attract the best programmers for your company.
First, a disclaimer: we won’t review the bigger and most well-known portals like LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, Glassdoor, or Wellfound for obvious reasons. Those are not specialised sites, and finding suitable candidates over there is very hard. That said, let's get started.
These are the best developer-focused job boards to hire software developers, search for programmers, or hire IT staff. Some of them are very selective and offer curated opportunities to candidates (and thus fewer but more qualified applicants to recruiters), while others are more broad and a bit harder to navigate.
Works best for: Recruiters that want to access global talent and hire internationally. Businesses worldwide can use the platform to hire software developers and tech talent.
Relocate.me, an IT niche job board for techies looking to relocate, is the best option for hiring international talent. We work with techies from more than 150 countries, and our job posts have more than 2,000 views per month on the website alone. You’ll connect with talent that’s already motivated to start a relocation process. When you post an ad, you’ll reach our developer network of techies who’re looking for relocation jobs. So, by working with Relocate.me, you will:
How To Relocate Developers With 10+ Years Of Experience →
One overlooked aspect about international talent who wants to relocate is that it’s a very attractive demographic. A professional who wishes to move is usually around 30 years old, which suggests they have 5–8 years of work with them. So, if you need senior developers to join your team, and you haven’t found those on the domestic market, then hiring internationally can help you overcome the talent gap.
We can help you hire the top global talent by posting your open positions on our site. You can register your company now — it’s free. If you want a quick start, email us at [email protected] to have your company mentioned on the Companies Hiring Internationally list. The best way to hire software developers is matching what you offer — relocation — with the top talent seeking that out.
Works best for: Companies based in Western Europe wanting to hire developers already living in Europe
Honeypot.io is also a recognised place to hire software developers. It’s a dev-focused job platform primarily serving the European market, including Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, and Spain. It’s now part of New Work SE, a German group known for its stake in XING, dubbed “the German LinkedIn.”
They follow a “reverse-hiring” process in which they vet candidates and then recommend them to the hiring managers.
Let’s go straight to its key features:
However, the board’s current focus might leave you empty-handed if your search needs to extend beyond Europe. Its developer bee-hive is primarily European, but even European candidates are left on the sidelines occasionally. For example, some candidates who are EU citizens but are not living in the region were invited to interviews only to be dropped out of the process for not being based in Europe.
Works best for: Companies with HQs in Western Europe wanting to hire developers in Europe
WAD for Businesses is another useful option for finding developers open to work. The platform connects companies and IT workers and offers various services to assist in tech recruiting, employer branding, product marketing and brand awareness. With its headquarters in Vienna, this platform focuses on certain Western European countries, specifically Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the UK.
Some of its practical features include:
WeAreDevelopers offers various paid plans with different features and pricing options.
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Works best for: Eastern European startups that need to access vetted talent from their home countries
If you work for an early-stage startup that wants to save some costs, Lemon.io might be a good friend to hire a software programmer. The board connects recruiters with vetted offshore developers, especially from Eastern Europe.
Some of its distinctive features are:
Works best for: South African or Dutch companies that want local, not international, developers
OfferZen is a dev-driven job board based in Cape Town.
The platform works with a “reverse hiring” method. First, it asks developers to create a profile for free so they can connect with a Talent Advisor. Afterward, instead of devs applying for jobs, companies on OfferZen send interview requests to developers, providing upfront information on the role, tech stack, and salary.
Other key features are:
Works best for: Companies in Japan that want English-speaking devs
Japan Dev is a job platform for roles in Japan that only require English and not Japanese. It’s a good tool for companies that want to start operations in Japan and want to hire international developers who can settle down there. It’s also convenient for companies that need to expand their English-speaking crew. Some key features are:
Works best for: Companies in the UK
Otta is a UK job platform for software developers, designers, or product managers. They work with UK companies that are not specifically developing tech but need up-to-date stacks to stay in business, like the online retailer ASOS. They offer help in hard-to-fill roles to these companies that can’t hire by themselves, maybe because they don’t have tech recruiters on their teams. Some key features are:
Works best for: Companies that want to hire US developers
Established in 1994, Dice is a well-known site, mainly present in the United States. Some of its pros are:
Dice is heavily marketed in the United States, but recruiters and developers from all parts of the world use it. It’s not a narrowed-down, all-in-one solution by any means. Just like LinkedIn, to mention another giant network, it’s spread too thin.
Let’s now see a few remote work-focused job boards. These boards also try to help recruiters find skilled developers, but the difference is that they market themselves to developers as a work-from-home platform.
X-Team operates differently from traditional recruitment platforms. It acts as a facilitator of pre-vetted development teams rather than individual devs. This presents some advantages and considerations for dev recruiters:
Considerations:
Arc.dev, sometimes stylised as Arc(), offers recruiters a pool of vetted developers and also comes with an AI tool that allows you to get a shortlist of matched candidates.
Some of its features are:
Their features look very similar to X-Team, but Arc.dev emphasises AI more strongly because they claim the assistant will help you reach your match rapidly (it’s not clear how it compares to traditional hiring methods). Remember that the site is a relatively new player compared to established platforms, and its user base might be smaller in specific regions or skill sets. Also, Arc.dev is popular among designers, so it could be a great place to look for frontend developers, but not the best to find a Java senior developer.
The Art of Relocating Tech Talent Post-Pandemic →
Devremote is a job board for remote workers looking for remote companies, but not necessarily remote-first companies. Among their clients are Match.com (Tinder), Amazon, and HubSpot, which are companies that certainly have offices and in-person meetings. If your company needs to get developers who are specifically looking for remote jobs, Devremote can help you. Some significant features are:
Remotive is a well-known platform that collects jobs in software development, customer support, marketing or sales. They’re a remote-first platform and emphasise work-from-anywhere (what they call “worldwide”) postings, so if you don’t have a specific location for your new hire, Remotive could help you. Some of their key aspects are:
If you prefer your talent to relocate or to offer a curated jobseeking experience, you should try a niche board. You’ll be competing against thousands of job ads in Remotive.
Lastly, here we’ll present some sites that are not precisely job boards but can still be very useful in your search to hire a software developer.
Turing, founded by Stanford alumni, is a tech services company that connects businesses with vetted developers. Instead of posting jobs and sifting through applicants, you tell Turing your specific needs, and they match you with pre-vetted developers. In that way, it’s very similar to Honeypot, but the difference is that Turing is based in Silicon Valley, and they connect applicants with US companies.
So, Turing could only be the best fit if your company is based in the US. Also, they seem to capture senior talent only. And unlike traditional recruitment, you might have less control over individual candidate selection. In addition, be prepared for premium pricing.
ScienceSoft is a software consulting company that outsources software development and IT services. With offices worldwide, they can source talent from various countries. However, their primary focus is on Eastern Europe and the US.
Their recruitment services lean towards larger, custom projects rather than individual placements. This might not be ideal for filling everyday development roles. You could also combine their recruitment with their services if you’re just starting.
It’s not a way to hire developers, but it is a way to have developers on your team.
Andrew is a serial entrepreneur with more than a decade of recruiting experience in the tech field. To date, he has founded four startups, including Relocate.me and GlossaryTech. In the off time, Andrew is a long-distance swimmer and coffee taster.
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