Hire curious, self-directed programmers

Save time with high-quality candidates

We have a proven track record of helping small teams hire strong programmers quickly, especially for their founding teams. You only pay for successful hires.

Find people you otherwise wouldn't

The best employees are self-directed, endlessly curious, and are always building and learning. We run programming retreats where experienced, sharp, and creative programmers come to recharge and grow.

The retreat is our recruiting advantage

We get to know our candidates over the course of months and years, which lets us get under the resume to find great matches you otherwise wouldn't for your open roles.

Diversify your network with strong candidates

We've operated since 2011 and have a candidate pool of more than 3,000 programmers — 35% identify as women, trans, and/or non-binary; 7% identify as black; and 7% identify as Latinx.

We've hired three engineers through RC and each time, the team has thought deeply about our requirements and come to us with candidates who not only fit the bill technically, but are clear values and culture fits as well. I've especially appreciated how, after every interview, the team (Sonali, Sydney, Chloe, and Nick) have solicited our feedback and have immediately taken into account when sharing new candidates. Hiring is an intensive process, but the RC team has reduced so much of the friction, and we will happily work with the team in the future.
— Hari Mohanraj, Cofounder, Whitebalance
We've ended up with a large contingent of Recursers at Coverbase because folks from the community are not just professional engineers, but enthusiasts and tinkerers. The quality of output is accordingly different: There's additional care in the work. It delights our customers and makes a difference to our business.
— Kao ZC, Cofounder & CTO, Coverbase
Recurse alums are a natural fit for Camber because they already think the way we do. Intellectual curiosity, ownership, and the drive to take on hard problems independently and then bring others along: that's exactly the culture we've built at Camber. RC has helped us hire some of our most critical engineers as we've scaled, and the community they've created speaks for itself. They also throw a hell of a party!
— Mallory Foutch, Talent, Camber

FAQ

How much do you charge?

We charge companies 25% of a candidate’s first year salary, excluding bonuses, due the day they begin working at your company. We have a 90-day guarantee, so if it doesn’t work out during that time, we’ll issue you a full refund. Recursers don’t pay us anything to help them find a role or to attend the Recurse Center.

What is your recruiting process like?

We send you engineers that are both interested in your company and that we believe would be a good fit. All the candidates we work with have attended our full-time programming retreat. During this time we get to know their technical capabilities and talk with them about their motivations, interests, and what they’re looking for in a company before making any introductions. We work in whatever way is most convenient for you, whether it's email referrals, directly adding candidates to your ATS, a private Slack channel, or something else.

What types of companies do you recruit for?

We welcome all companies looking for great programmers. Our current partner companies include small startups, mid-size tech companies, public companies, non-profits, and technology-focused hedge funds.

What types of roles can you help fill?

We help companies hire for all programming roles and levels, including Founding, Senior, and Staff Engineer positions, and Backend, Frontend, Full-stack, Data Science, Data Engineering, DevOps, Android, iOS, Mobile, Quality Assurance, Security, UI/UX, Developer Relations, and Engineering Management. Experience levels vary from six months to 30 years of programming experience.

Do you place people outside of New York and Silicon Valley?

Yes. We happily work with companies throughout the US and around the world. We also work with candidates looking for remote work, and are happy to send referrals for remote roles.

What are Recursers like?

The RC community includes over 3,000 people from all over the world. Their experience levels range from six months to over 30 years, and their interests range from front-end to hardware to data science to programming language design. What they do have in common is an excitement about programming, a commitment to building things and to our self-directives: working at the edge of their abilities, learning generously, and building their volitional muscles.

What are the demographics of the candidates you work with?

Approximately 7% of our community identifies as black, 7% as Latinx, and over 35% as women, trans, and/or nonbinary. We are always striving to build a stronger and more diverse community, and have disbursed nearly $2M in need-based living expense grants to people from traditionally underrepresented groups in programming. Read more about our efforts to support diversity at RC.

Do you recruit for contract or part-time positions?

Yes, we have recently started doing this on a case-by-case basis and would be happy to talk to you about it. If you're looking for part-time or contract programmers and a partnership with RC isn't a good fit, we are also happy to introduce you to Monadical, an independent software consultancy that is run by RC alums.

Do you charge for internships?

No, we do not charge for internships. However, if a candidate who was hired as an intern becomes a full-time employee then our standard fee (25%) will apply.

Do you offer discounts for non-profit organizations?

Yes, we have a discounted recruiting fee (20% of a candidate’s first year salary) for organizations registered as 501(c)(3)s in the US or equivalent designations outside the country.

How do I get started?

Complete this form and we’ll reach out with next steps if we think we could be a useful partner for you.