blog
Posted On Thursday, February 19, 2026
Author: Philip Sampson (Account Director)
In the thrilling jungle of tech recruitment, we often come across an intriguing cast of characters—the many flavors of developers. Whether you’re a recruiter scouting talent or someone just trying to decode developer-speak over coffee with your CTO, it helps to know exactly who you’re dealing with.
So here’s a fun breakdown of the 10 most common developer species recruiters bump into in the wild—and how to spot, attract, and maybe even understand them (no net or tranquilizer darts required).
The Anti-Framework Fighters
Ah, the Purists. These devs believe in the gospel of Vanilla JavaScript, the purity of clean code, and the sacred doctrine of “no frameworks unless absolutely necessary.” Show them a job description that mentions five JavaScript libraries and watch them twitch.
They’re the type to build their own CMS just to prove they can. Recruiters, don’t pitch them roles filled with bloated stacks—they'll ghost you faster than a flaky candidate on a Friday.
The “Done is Better Than Perfect” Crew
Doers get stuff DONE. Their GitHub is a battlefield of delivered features and tight deadlines. They’re tool-happy, love automation, and probably have three backup frameworks ready just in case.
They live in start-ups or rapid development shops where speed rules. When you're recruiting a Doer, sell the mission, the pace, and the chaos—they thrive in it.
Code in Every Language Except Klingon (Maybe)
These devs make you feel like you need a passport just to read their resumes. Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, Swift—they speak them all. Recruiting Polyglots is a dream if you're hiring across multiple stacks. But beware: they get bored quickly. Challenge them or lose them.
Pro tip: Don’t list “expert in HTML” as a requirement. That’s like telling a chef you’re hiring because they can use a fork.
The Code Craftspersons
These are the unicorns who enjoy writing documentation. They name variables like they’re naming children. Their pull requests include screenshots, comments, and three optional improvements.
They don’t just want to code—they want to elevate the codebase. Find them roles with strong code review culture, collaborative teams, and long-term projects. Then sit back and watch the magic.
The Pixel Poets
Their love language is CSS. They live on CodePen. They believe gradients are emotions and animations are storytelling. They’re often confused for designers but are, in fact, developers who sculpt visual delight from divs and classes.
Looking to wow clients with gorgeous front ends? Artsy devs are your go-to. Bonus: Their portfolios are always stunning.
The DRY Devotees (Don’t Repeat Yourself)
Efficiency is their vibe. They’ve got folders full of utility functions, custom components, and magical snippets they’ve honed over time like an artisan sharpening blades.
They’re gold for any team that values scalable code and clean architecture. Reusers make amazing tech leads and team mentors. Just don’t expect them to hardcode anything—ever.
The Stack Overflow Skeptics
You’ll find these developers surrounded by physical books in a digital age. They don’t copy-paste from forums—they understand the logic. They probably know how memory allocation works at a low level. They once fixed a bug by referencing a dusty textbook from 1997.
Recruiters, highlight training budgets and R&D time. Bookworms want to grow—and they’ll take your codebase with them.
The Bug Whisperers
The Sherlock Holmes of tech teams. Give them a vague error message, and they’ll trace it back to a semicolon missing in 2016. They love problem-solving and hate lazy logs.
These devs are essential for stabilizing legacy systems or joining QA-heavy roles. Want to win them over? Talk about unit testing, clean commits, and “murdering bugs in cold code.”
The Stack Overflow Contributors
They don’t just fix problems—they write blog posts about them. These devs spend more time understanding why something broke than actually fixing it. They’re methodical, thoughtful, and terrifyingly well-read.
Researchers thrive in roles that let them experiment, document, and build tools. They also happen to be recruitment gold for internal documentation, onboarding, and tech knowledge sharing.
The Extroverted Unicorns
Yes, they exist. These are the developers who like talking to people. They go to meetups, mentor juniors, host dev podcasts, and even know what your HR team does.
Sociables are your internal champions. They lift teams, communicate well with clients, and might even write their own job ad. Need a dev who also presents to the board? Here’s your champion.
Recruiting developers isn’t about checking off a tech stack wish list. It’s about matching personalities, workflows, and quirks to the right projects and teams.
Whether you're placing a Polyglot into a jack-of-all-trades role or recruiting a Perfectionist to polish up a messy legacy app, knowing these dev "types" helps you speak their language—and place them where they’ll thrive.
And hey, if you don’t recognize any of these types in your current candidate pool, maybe it’s time to up your sourcing game. Or at least, hang out on CodePen once in a while.