The recruiting technology industry has undeniably inflated and officially crossed over into bubble status. Just take a look at Developer Auction, one of the latest of 482 companies tagged with “recruiting” or a similar term on Crunchbase. Launched to “disrupt” the recruiting industry, Developer Auction allows software engineers to create a profile and auction themselves off to venture funded tech companies. To go a step further, Developer Auction awards developers 20% cash back ($3000-$6000+) when they get hired through the platform essentially sharing their service fee (15% of the winning bid) with developers.
Developer Auction shows employers (all cash-rich, venture-backed tech startups in a few cities) a list of elite, vetted engineers that are looking for new opportunities and allows the employers to bid on talent without having to maneuver through a protracted sourcing process. For software engineers, Developer Auction is like an online speed dating service where all the potential matches are hotties but instead of a good figure or charming sense of humor the suitors have a stocked fridge, free lunches and a collegial environment that are reminiscent of the good ‘ol days on the quad at Stanford and MIT.
The idea is unique and essentially digitizes contingent recruiting but with a giant waft of exclusivity. The developers that get vetted and ultimately chosen for the bachelor style developer auction are all from Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter, Zynga, Stanford, and MIT. It makes sense. Developer Auction is giving elite start-ups in uber-competitive markets access to what they covet most to boost brainpower and company valuation.
The Hiring Sciences Hunch
At Hiring Sciences we love to see new models and encourage further innovation in the recruiting industry. The idea of the reverse funnel created by Developer Auction is thought provoking for sure. But, we can’t help feeling a little “icky” about they’ve created. One of our editors keeps calling the service Developer Kardashians and thinks it reeks of the kind of elitism that insulates technology companies from the real world. He went to public school so it’s probably just his insecurities showing through again. Finally, while the service is certainty different from other sourcing solutions out there, it’s far from being disruptive to the recruiting industry or even technical recruiting yet but we’ll keep an eye on Developer Auction.
If you are interested in learning more about Developer Auction, visit the site at: http://developerauction.com/
