How to hire developers without a recruitment agency
Recruitment agencies aren't the only way to hire developers — they're just the most expensive. Plenty of teams fill engineering roles without paying 20% of salary, but doing it well takes a bit of structure. This guide covers the practical steps.
The trade-off is honest: skipping an agency saves money but costs you time and attention. The goal is to spend that time where it actually moves the needle.
Know where developers actually look
Strong engineers are rarely refreshing generic job boards. They find roles through their network, through communities (language- and framework-specific Slack/Discord groups, local meetups, GitHub), through niche tech job boards, and increasingly through platforms that let them browse without broadcasting that they're looking.
The single highest-return channel is almost always referrals: ask your current engineers who they'd want to work with again. A referred candidate arrives pre-vetted and pre-sold on the team, and it costs you a referral bonus rather than a percentage of salary.
Write a spec that gets replies
Most job specs fail because they're a wish-list of every technology the team has ever touched, plus 'rockstar' and 'fast-paced'. Cut the essential requirements to the handful that genuinely matter, and be explicit about the things engineers actually weigh: the tech stack, team size, on-call expectations, remote policy, and — crucially — the salary range.
Publishing a salary range is one of the biggest levers you have. Ranges dramatically increase application rates and save everyone the awkward late-stage discovery that budgets don't match. If you're nervous about it, remember that the candidates who'd be put off by your range would have been put off in week three anyway.
Screen without a technical co-pilot
If you're not technical, screening feels daunting, but you can get a long way with structure. Ask candidates to walk you through a project they're proud of and listen for how they reason about trade-offs, not which buzzwords they use. A short, realistic take-home or a paired problem with an existing engineer tells you far more than a CV.
Standardise it: the same questions and the same rubric for every candidate. It makes comparisons fair, reduces bias, and — importantly — makes it defensible when you turn someone down.
Move fast and keep candidates warm
Good engineers are often in multiple processes at once, and the slowest company usually loses. Decide your steps up front (screen → technical → team → offer), compress them into as few days as you can, and tell candidates the timeline so they don't ghost you for a faster competitor.
Communicate between stages. A two-line 'you're through to the next round, here's what to expect' does more for your conversion rate than any perk on the job spec.
The real cost trade-off — and the middle path
Doing this fully in-house is cheapest in cash but real in time: sourcing, screening and coordinating a pipeline is a part-time job in itself, and it's a skill. For a single hire, the hours can rival what an agency would have charged. For ongoing hiring, building the muscle pays off.
If you want candidate access and a managed introduction without the agency percentage, a flat-fee platform sits in between. Get Me A Techie lets you post roles and browse anonymous, vetted tech profiles for free, request introductions, and pay a flat 10% only if you hire — no retainer, no per-role fee. Here's how it works for companies and the pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to hire developers without an agency?
In cash, almost always — you avoid the 15–25% fee. But it costs time: sourcing and screening well is a real workload. Flat-fee platforms are a middle ground that keeps candidate access without the percentage.
How do I screen developers if I'm not technical?
Use structure: a consistent set of questions, a short realistic exercise reviewed by an engineer you trust, and a scoring rubric. Focus on how candidates reason about trade-offs rather than keyword-matching CVs.
Tech recruitment without the noise
Free to join for techies and companies. Anonymous until it matters, and a flat 10% only when a hire actually happens.