Recruiting in tech has become more about research and sourcing than ever before. 10 years ago the recruiter did the sourcing and all you had to do was to scan the job sites. These days its different while there is plenty of talent, they are just more hidden and less likely to engage. More and more inhouse recruiting teams are including a researcher/sourcer who is usually highly skilled at internet sourcing and the use of yes i'm going to say it "Boolean Search Strings" coupled with a technical recruiter.Some startups will hire a marketing/researcher specialist to track down talent rather than having someone from a recruiting background. So with these things in mind what can you do when looking for a highly sought after developer, a little bit of leg work i'm afraid but well worth it. Attack it from all angles - these are just some.....

1) Github - check out developers code, profiles and advertise, you do pay for posting but it hits a really specific audience. Good go to for Ruby and Python hardcore devs

2) Stackoverflow - Great site to post on and to search for talent, pay for posting, same as above

3) check out www.workingwithrails.com for Ruby talent

4) Google Code - they host and house projects done by developers. Search and find projects that match search terms then see the project, code and team members involved, you can possibly connect to team members via google +

5) Stack Exchange - this is a list of links to the Q+A sections of devloper sites like StackOverFlow.

6) Developer.com - this is a pure developer site. Search by technology, find answers to questions, sample code, open projects and more - you can contact developers.

7) Download the google search bar or Recruiting Bar (the Sourcer's Toolbar) for free helps with boolean searching to find what i call under the hood of the internet candidates

8) Check out this white paper by Michelle De Rubeis of Stafflink.ca - boolean search secrets for becoming a master recruiter - this uses plain old google search bar, but by entering various different syntax you are able to peel the 'cover' off google hood and find hidden resumes - its amazing what and who you can find!

9) Represent your company - go to every single meetup to do with your technology areas as possible, meet folks out of work and mingle and get a conversation going.

Join Linkedin groups - there are a ton of recruiter groups specific to whether you are an agency or internal recruiter  - the boolean group is brillian, all members truly help each other out. I have often asked for help with a particular search string to find candidates with really specific skill sets and members will share their search strings with you. Save your search strings as you will need them later.

Recruiting is not rocket science, however when you have a really hard developer role to fill you have to attack it from all angles bring you excellent results, candidates to add to your database and a whole list of new talent that other companies and many agencies don't have - often agencies do not have the bandwidth to hire and have on their staff a specific internet sourcer/researcher. Time spent with this kind of research is likely to provide far better results than bulk emailing or posting jobs on meetup boards (beware!)

I am not recommending these are the only way you source its one of many ways, more methods to be used in conjunction with other sourcing techniques.

You can find me on linkedin http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ruby-bhattacharya/1/655/818/ , my website www.mynetsolinc.com

If you have any burning challenges or want to receive free tech recruiting "cheat sheets" that cover the full recruiting life cycle email me mynetsol.inc@gmail.com, and ask for this month's copy. Any burning recruitment challenges bring 'em to me!

Happy Hunting

Ruby