If you’re reading this, you likely belong to the 95% of tech recruiters who are currently using or have used LinkedIn Recruiter before. The question inevitably comes to everyone: am I getting the most out of my recruiting tool? You’re curious to see what some of the other platforms are offering.
Good news: there’s life beyond LinkedIn!
CodersRank is a platform that specifically caters to the needs of technical recruiters. It’s a platform beloved by developers for its ranking, monitoring, and career-related features.
It makes sense for a recruiter to be where the candidates are.
It’s CodersRank vs. LinkedIn! This article will walk you through a detailed comparison between the two – strictly from a technical recruiter’s (or a tech company’s) standpoint.
Table of contents
What is CodersRank?
CodersRank has two branches.
- Developers section
- Recruiter/company section
The developer section provides devs a way to showcase their coding journey via a developer profile. By connecting their favorite coding sites to CodersRank (such as GitHub, GitLab, Stack Overflow), they get a full picture of their experience as developers.
It’s a profile that they can continuously monitor as they complete more coding projects. CodersRank also provides widgets, API, and a welcoming community.
The recruiter/company section of CodersRank is a candidate search platform. You get to connect with excellent developers and learn more information about them than on most platforms. This is because, in addition to their proven experience (via the connected coding sites), they also provide professional information about themselves manually.
On CodersRank you can search & discover developer candidates, connect with them, and direct message them, too.
See more on these features in the upcoming sections of this article.
What is LinkedIn Recruiter?
We likely don’t have to introduce you to LinkedIn Recruiter. According to their product page, it’s an “all-encompassing hiring platform for talent professionals that helps find, connect with, and manage the people you want to be on your team.”
You can search & discover professionals, connect with them and reach out to them, as well.
Comparison Chart: CodersRank vs. LinkedIn
If you’re running short on time, this chart is for you.
The following comparison chart was created with those technical aspects in mind that are the most important for tech recruiters looking for qualified developers.
| Features | CodersRank’s Developer Sourcing Platform | LinkedIn Recruiter |
| Nr. of developer profiles | 45,000+ | 1,000,000+ |
| Code-based analysis (technical background validation) | Yes | No |
| Developer comparison (ranking, leaderboard) | Yes | No |
| Job preferences (job-seeker status, salary expectations, etc.) | Yes | No |
| Direct contact via personalized emails | Yes | No |
| Avg. response rate | up to 30% | 28% on avg.* |
| GDPR compliance | Yes | Yes |
| Direct access to additional social profiles | Yes | No |
| Made specifically for tech recruiters/tech companies | Yes | No |
| Price ~ EUR (account / year) | € 1,200 – 2,300 | € 1,200 – 11,000 |
*via a 2016 survey
Features: CodersRank
Basic sourcing features: search, save & connect with candidates
CodersRank is equipped with all the basic features that make a great sourcing platform. For starters, it has a super easy-to-use search to help you sort through talent faster.
Basic & advanced search filters
Refine your search by Languages, Location, Preferred Job Roles, and more. Use Boolean to find the perfect candidate. Bonus: on CodersRank you can combine Boolean search + keyword search! What does this mean? It means that you can search in ALL text areas within a candidate’s profile with Boolean logic. More ways to truly x-ray our talent pool!
Moreover, you can discover even more hidden talent by utilizing the “Users without LinkedIn” filter.
Saved search
Save complex or routine searches for later.
Candidate CV download
View & save a developer’s CV. Does the candidate have no CV? Generate one for yourself with the CodersRank CV Generator!
Conversations
Think of this as LinkedIn InMail. Conversations are direct messages you can send to developers which they receive as emails.
Shortlists
Create unlimited shortlists of candidates and manage your hiring process easier.
Comments:
Take notes on candidate profiles. Only you can see these notes.
Developer-specific feature #1: code-based evaluation
To create their true profile, developers can connect their private and public repositories + accounts from other coding sites. CodersRank then runs its custom algorithm and assigns an experience point to each profile. This gives you a unique view into their professional journey so far.
Thanks to our highly visual Skills Chart, you can also review how they improved their skills over the years.
Developer-specific feature #2: ranking
CodersRank’s ranking & leaderboard view helps you compare any given candidate to other developers worldwide. Our unique scoring algorithm helps you identify the rising stars.
Developer-specific feature #3: job preferences
According to our most recent developer survey, about 65% of devs get offers for the wrong job. Understandably, they are less than happy about that. On CodersRank, you can avoid this scenario by having access to their job preferences, such as:
- Job-seeker status (active or passive)
- Preferred job roles (e.g.: Full-Stack Developer)
- Salary expectation
- Location availability (open for relocation, remote, etc.)
Developer-specific feature #4: resume-bolstering factors
CodersRank is not a scraper tool. Our developer candidates manually provide additional information about themselves on their profile that they might not give out elsewhere. Why? CodersRank has a loyal community of developers who, just like us, believe that the future of tech recruitment is experience-based.
And manually providing additional info is a core part of this joint mission. This data may include:
- Work Experience
- Personal projects (portfolio)
- Certificates
- Education
- Bio
- Dream job description
📥 Who are the developers on CodersRank? Download our Userbase Summary 👇
Features: LinkedIn Recruiter
Basic sourcing features: search, save & connect with candidates
LinkedIn has a vast database of professionals from all industries and specialties imaginable. The option to use it as a sourcing platform has been around since 2009. It has a robust search engine that lets you comb through potential candidates using basic & advanced filtering options.
During a search, you can utilize their ‘smart suggestions’ feature that recommends skills, locations, titles, and more for your role. ‘Saved searches’ lets you save your filtering settings for next time. You can also review candidate endorsements and testimonials.
InMail gives you the option to reach out to qualified candidates either individually or in batch. You can also add notes to your selected candidates. All of the above can be tracked via their analytics.
Advanced feature: integrate with ATS
One of the convenient features of LinkedIn Recruiter is that their Recruiter System Connect seamlessly links LinkedIn Recruiter and your ATS. This way, you get a full picture of your ongoing recruitment processes, see current candidate rounds and collaborate with your colleagues easily.
Pros & Cons: CodersRank
CodersRank is your versatile sourcing partner for day-to-day technical recruiting. Still, as with every SaaS tool, it has pros and cons. We want you to have a clear understanding of what they are.
| Pros | Cons |
| Features specifically created for developer recruitment | Not (yet) possible to integrate with an ATS |
| Less expensive than competitors | Total nr. of profiles is less than LinkedIn |
| Flat-fee, no commission | Young product with some features still on the way |
| Search in ALL text areas with Boolean logic | |
| Reliable, easy-to-understand code-based evaluation | |
| Many active developers who are not available on LinkedIn | |
| Active & passive job-seekers | |
| Loyal & growing CodersRank community | |
| Quality profiles enhanced with manually added info | |
| Developer profiles update automatically as they update their connected accounts (e.g.: GitHub) |
CodersRank is recommended for tech recruiters or tech companies looking to source developers from a platform specialized in their field with the help of factual, code-based evaluation. It’s also ideal if you often need to place candidates for complex job roles and you need a fresh stream of devs.
Pros & Cons: LinkedIn
LinkedIn is also a great tool for day-to-day recruitment. Here’s our take on their pros & cons.
| Pros | Cons |
| Large talent pool | Large talent pool |
| ATS-compatibility | No way to see how the candidate improved over the years |
| Extended options for company representation (e.g.: Career Pages) | Not specialized for developers (cannot validate their experience) |
| Save similar candidates in folders | Developers have a growing resentment against recruiter spam |
| Candidate endorsements | Candidate endorsement credibility is not always reliable |
| More junior candidates for entry-level positions | Not always up-to-date data |
| Reference check (reach out to a candidate’s connection) | Customer service lagging at times |
| Reporting |
Why is LinkedIn’s large talent pool both a pro and a con? Imagine doing a simple search for a run-of-the-mill JavaScript position. You will get the same 10-20 top candidates as every other recruiter.
According to our survey, almost 40% of developers receive 3+ job offers per week. This means that a small number of devs are constantly bombarded, while recruiters completely miss out on other, similarly talented professionals.
LinkedIn Recruiter is recommended for initial rounds of sourcing or executive-level recruitment.
Pricing Comparison
The pricing of a tool is usually is the million-dollar question! At the time of writing this, the cost of CodersRank and LinkedIn Recruiter break down like this:
CodersRank Basic: €99 / month (Basic) or €189 / month (Pro)
LinkedIn Recruiter: €99 or €916 / month
Your ROI would of course depend on your needs. Do you hire a lot or just once a month? Do you often need to place for complex job roles? Or are they straightforward?
Evaluate your yearly needs for developer placements then compare both products based on price and features.
Ready to find your next hire?
CodersRank and LinkedIn Recruiter are both excellent tools. At the end of the day, small differences in capabilities or user interface won’t matter. What matters is:
- Finding the right talent
- Utilizing a platform that is made to meet your needs as a tech recruiter or tech company
- Saving on costs
💡 Try CodersRank for free today
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