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Direct hire recruiting for the hires that have to last.
TekRecruiter is a direct hire staffing and recruiting agency focused solely on technology and engineering roles at tech and SaaS companies. We’re all technical people who go deep with every candidate, so you hire the best engineers: people who build and ship elite software products and make engineering breakthroughs. Beyond skills and experience, we look for HEARTThe HEART standardHHigh agencyEExecutionAAccountabilityRResourcefulnessTTransparencyWhat we look for, beyond skills →.
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What is direct hire recruiting?
Direct hire recruiting is when a recruiting firm finds, screens and presents candidates for a permanent role, and the person you choose joins your payroll as a full-time employee from day one. Most direct hire searches are contingent: you pay a one-time fee, usually a percentage of the new hire’s first-year base salary, and only if you hire someone the firm presented. Senior and executive searches are often retained instead, with part of the fee paid when the search begins.
- Contingent
- You pay a one-time fee only when the hire starts. The most common model for direct hire.
- Retained
- Part of the fee is paid upfront for a dedicated search. Common for VP and C-level roles.
- Placement guarantee
- If the hire leaves early, the firm replaces them. Ninety days is the standard.
What to know before you make a permanent hire.
Whether or not you work with us, these are the questions worth settling before a permanent search begins.
Where should you start?
Write down four things before you talk to any firm: what success in the role looks like at six and twelve months, the must-haves you won’t trade away, the work arrangement (on-site, hybrid or remote), and the salary range you have approved. A good recruiter will pressure-test all four in the first call. Our 2026 Salary & Rate Guide can anchor the range.
What does direct hire recruiting cost?
Contingent direct hire fees commonly run 15% to 25% of the hire’s first-year base salary, and more for senior or hard-to-fill roles. You pay once, when the hire starts. Retained searches, common for VP and C-level roles, are paid in stages. Whichever model you choose, get the fee and the guarantee in writing before the search begins.
What should you look for in a permanent hire?
Two things at once: can they do the job, and will they stay and grow in it? Skills answer the first. The second shows in their track record: how long they stayed in past roles, why they left, and whether the places they worked look like yours. An engineer who has spent a career in large enterprises can thrive at a startup, but that is a conversation to have before the offer, not after.
How do you see past a polished résumé?
With AI, almost every résumé reads well. What separates people is how they talk about their work: what they built, what they owned, what went wrong and what they would change. Checklist questions won’t surface it, because a candidate told what you want to hear will say yes to all of it. A real conversation about past jobs will.
How do you choose a direct hire recruiting firm?
Choose a firm that has filled your exact role many times, not now and then; otherwise your search becomes its learning curve. Then check four things: client reviews you can verify, depth in your local market, a founder or senior leader involved day to day, and an in-house team of recruiters rather than a platform that passes your role along.
What should a placement guarantee cover?
A guarantee protects you if a new hire leaves or doesn’t work out in the first months. Ninety days is the common standard. Before you sign, check what triggers it, whether the firm replaces the hire at no extra fee or refunds part of it, and whether anything is required of you, such as paying the invoice on time.
Most clients call us after a search that didn’t work.
By the time a hiring manager reaches us, they have usually tried an agency, their own job posts, or both. The stories tend to sound alike.
- 01
The agency didn’t listen.
The role was on-site and local, and the candidates kept coming in remote, with “that’s the market” as the explanation.
- 02
The offer fell apart at the end.
Somewhere in the process a candidate was promised something that wasn’t true, and it surfaced at the offer.
- 03
Great on paper, wrong in person.
Everyone has a strong résumé now. The first real conversation tells a different story.
- 04
Too many profiles, or none.
Hours spent sorting wrong-fit and even fraudulent profiles, or a role that drew no one at all.
Skills qualify a candidate. HEART makes the hire.
The people worth hiring permanently are the ones who move a business forward, not just the ones who match the requirements. Finding them takes two things: knowing the skill set well, and knowing what to look for beyond it. For us, that’s HEART, the standard every candidate we present has to meet.
- We know the work: our team of former software engineers and technologists knows what it takes to design, build, ship and scale a product, so we can tell a strong engineer, architect or product owner from a strong résumé.
- We know tech companies: SaaS and technology companies are our focus, from startups racing to product-market fit to enterprises running platforms at scale, and we know who thrives in each.
- We keep that knowledge sharp: technology keeps changing, so we use AI to stay current on what it takes to succeed in each role, not to filter résumés by keyword.
- We look for HEART, not just skills: people who take ownership and want to stay and grow, with a track record that shows it.
| A typical agency | TekRecruiter |
|---|---|
| Recruiters who have never hired | Technologists who have hired before |
| Generalists who learn your stack on your search | A team that knows how SaaS and tech products get built |
| Keyword and checklist screening | Conversations about real past work |
| Screens for skills | Screens for skills and HEART |
| Leaves the close to you | Owns the close, from first call to start date |
The HEART standard
What we look for beyond skills and experience, in every candidate we present.
- High agencyPeople who see what needs to be done and act without waiting to be told.
- ExecutionPeople who turn ideas into results.
- AccountabilityPeople who own the outcome, not just their piece of the work.
- ResourcefulnessPeople who figure things out when the answer isn’t obvious.
- TransparencyPeople who communicate clearly, honestly, and early.
From first call to start date.
We learn what you’re really hiring for
The product, the team, the environment and what success looks like. We agree on the trade-offs upfront, such as whether an enterprise background will translate to your stage, so we screen for the same person you would.
We vet, then introduce
Our team holds the conversations, confirms the track record, and tests interest and compensation early. You meet a short list of people who can do the job and want this one.
We close the offer and back the hire
We keep candidates engaged, set clear expectations through every interview and negotiate the offer, so there are no surprises at the finish line. Once your hire starts, our 90-day guarantee stands behind them.
Direct hire roles we recruit for.
Permanent technology and engineering hires, senior through principal, plus VP, Head of and C-level leadership through our executive search practice.
What clients say.
The few times I’ve hired over the last five years, I’ve always been vendor neutral, and TekRecruiter has been the staffing partner that filled every one of those open engineering roles.
Across multiple companies, I’ve hired more than six senior software engineers through TekRecruiter, and every one of them has been an impressive builder.
He said he would share three to four candidates within a week, and that’s exactly what he did. We hired a senior software engineer we’re confident in, and we’ve been thrilled with how well things have worked out.
The hiring team needed someone who could build a Java automation framework from scratch, and we had worked the search for six straight months with at least 12 or 13 vendors. TekRecruiter sent one candidate, and he got the job.
We needed to hire a senior IAM engineer with deep SOC 2 knowledge, and the role had been open for more than three months. Within a week of speaking with Ron, his team sent over three very solid profiles, and we finally found the right fit in just two weeks.
I got a firsthand look when I needed a software engineer with strong TypeScript skills to join my team. I was happy with the candidates, and I was able to make a hiring decision.
A former colleague referred me to TekRecruiter, and I was very impressed by the caliber of the senior DevOps engineers they presented. I identified two senior DevOps engineers who were exceptional fits for my team.
Their ability to quickly supply highly skilled software and DevOps engineers who blend in well with our existing teams continues to amaze me. They are highly technical at the account management level and transparently propose different solutions, whether staff augmentation or nearshore outsourcing.
When direct hire is the right call.
- The role is core to the team for the long term, and a mis-hire would cost you months, not weeks.
- You know what success looks like, and the headcount is approved.
- You want a partner through the offer, not a stack of résumés to sort.
- The scope or headcount is still moving. Contract-to-hire lets you start now and decide later.
- You want to see the work before you commit. Contract-to-hire lets you work with the person first.
- You need capacity for a project or deadline. Contract staffing (staff augmentation) is the better fit.
Direct hire vs. contract-to-hire vs. contract staffing.
| Direct hireYou are here | Contract-to-hire | Contract staffing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who employs them | You, from day one | TekRecruiter during the contract, then you | TekRecruiter, for the length of the contract |
| How you pay | A one-time fee when the hire starts | An hourly rate, then conversion terms agreed upfront | An hourly rate |
| Commitment | Permanent | A trial period, then permanent | A project or fixed term |
| Best for | Core roles you are sure about | Roles you want to see in action first | Deadlines, projects and backfills |
| Learn more | How direct hire works | Contract-to-hire | Staff augmentation |
Direct hire questions, answered.
How much does TekRecruiter charge for direct hire?
Our direct hire searches are contingent: there is no fee until your hire starts. The fee depends on the role and is agreed in writing before the search begins, and every placement carries a 90-day guarantee.
Do you offer retained search?
Yes. For VP, Head of and C-level hires we run both contingent and retained searches and recommend one based on the role. Retained means committing upfront, and in return a dedicated team is built around your search. Contingent means you pay only when the hire starts. See Executive Search.
How long does a direct hire search take?
Most clients meet a shortlist within about a week of the intake call, and 82% of the candidates we submit get interviewed.
What does the 90-day guarantee cover?
If a direct hire placement does not work out within 90 days, we go back to work on the role. The replacement search starts from the candidates and conversations we already have for the role.
What is the HEART standard?
HEART is the standard we screen every candidate against, beyond skills: high agency, execution, accountability, resourcefulness and transparency. It describes people who take ownership, turn ideas into results and move the business forward, which is what a permanent hire should do. See the standard.
Do you negotiate the offer?
Yes. Closing is our job, not yours. We test interest and compensation from the first conversation, keep candidates engaged through every interview, handle counteroffers and negotiate the offer, priced against our own 2026 placement data.
Can you recruit for on-site or local-only roles?
Yes. If the role needs to be on-site or in a specific city, that is the search. We won’t push you toward remote candidates to make a role easier to fill.
What should we pay for a senior engineer?
In TekRecruiter’s 2026 placements, senior software engineers earned about $170,000 in Miami and $240,000 on average in the New York area, and forward deployed engineers earned $220,000 in New York. Full tables by role and city are in our 2026 Tech Salary & Rate Guide.
Last updated .
Other ways to hire.
Let's make your next permanent hire.
Tell us the role and the outcome you need. You'll talk with our founder, Ron Smith.
