Hiring the right developer is challenging and important. If you get it right you can have a long-term partner for your business or project. But if you choose the wrong one, it can be a costly nightmare. This blog post will help you to make sure you hire the right person for the job.
If you’re looking to hire a developer, you want someone who is going to get your job done correctly, on time and within your budget. After all, who wants a buggy website or an exorbitant bill?
But, hiring the right developer for your project or business is often more about discovering what he or she brings to the table than it is about getting them to meet some arbitrary requirement or passing some test.
Back in the day, we could spot a lot of coding talent by looking at whether an applicant had worked on refactoring a large application or built a robust chat system. Today, you have to have much better metrics for evaluating a candidate’s ability, fit and its correlation with success at work.
There is of course a lot more to hiring than merely checking references and looking at past projects. In this post, we discuss thighs to keep in mind when looking for a high-quality developer, how to interview them, and how you should onboard them once hired. We’ll also talk about how much it should cost and where you can find the best developers on your budget.
Let’s get started:
Hiring the best developer for your business – Important consideration for success
The way that you hire will have a big impact on how the developer performs. Unfortunately, most businesses neglect to adapt the process to the business and make it harder to find the right developer for them.
Beyond what they can build, one of the most important things to consider in hiring developers is how they will fit into the team culture.
Just like any other team member, developers should have a perspective on the organization’s strategy and goals. They should be able to communicate with their stakeholders and discuss how the technology needs can be met. They will need to understand business requirements and truly be able to think through technical challenges with non-technical colleagues.
Nothing about how you hire your first developer will be a perfect fit to working with your 20th. The exact process will depend on the stage of your startup, what development tasks need doing and how many developers you’re trying to add at each step.
Bottom-line: Whatever the details, your hiring process must be adapted to reflect your unique situation and the objective of getting great people solving real problems.
When hiring a developer, the following steps will help you make the right choice.
How to hire top developers in 7 simple steps
Step 1: Understand your Needs
The first step to finding the right developer for your company is understanding how you want them to work. There are many different types of developers, so it’s important that you know what type will be best for your organization!
Some companies may need a software engineer who specializes in backend development or front-end development. Others might just need a web developer that specializes in how the website looks. By knowing what you want, it will be easier to find a perfect match!
Step 2: Create a detailed job description
Creating a job description for the position is one of the first things you should do when hiring a new software developer. When creating your job description, keep in mind that it’s important to be specific about how much experience you want the candidate to have and what projects he or she will work on.
Below are some tips for how to create an excellent job description for your software developer:
- Be specific about how much experience you want to have in the position. If possible, include a list of technologies that are needed (e.g Java).
- Include a description of what projects will be assigned and how they relate to each other so candidates can gauge whether or not this is the right fit for them.
- Offer a list of projects from your company or those related to the project they’ll be working on (if any) that are publicly available on GitHub so possible software developers know what type of work they’ll be doing if selected.
Step 3: Narrow down your search
The next step is researching and narrowing your search by searching for developers in your area on sites such as LinkedIn, and by using search engines. When narrowing down a search for how qualified someone is, there will be aspects of their work history or how they present themselves online that might help point out whether they’re right for you or not – remember to use your job description as a guide. You can also ask friends and colleagues if they know any reputable people who would be a good fit for your company. However note that this would be quite tedious and time consuming often involving lots of trials and errors.
Step 4: Look out the following Developers skills
After you’ve narrowed your search, it is crucial your options possess the right software development skills. There are many skills that a software developer needs to have in order for them to be successful. It is important how well they work with others. It is also important how they work on their own. In a team setting, how well they communicate and collaborate with others will be key in the success of your project. One skill that cannot be overlooked though are problem-solving skills which can make or break someone’s career as a developer.
Another thing to consider when looking for software developers is how they work on their own. It is important how well they communicate and collaborate with others, but it also matters how quickly a developer can get things done without help from other team members.
Developers skills include:
- Proficiency in programming languages like HTML, Java, Python, CSS.
- Knowledge of how to create databases, platforms and APIs
- Experience with frameworks like Javascript or JQuery
- Developers are also expected to have excellent oral/written communication skills because they will be working closely with non technical staff members.
- Testing and Debugging skills
The list of skills required to be a developer is constantly expanding and evolving, as new technology emerges on-line. For this reason we recommend you research what current skill sets are needed for web developers in your area before beginning your hiring process. It is
Be sure you know the specific skills that you want them to have when interviewing developers so that it is easy for both of you in narrowing down your list
You should create a list of what skills and experience your ideal developer would have. Then, when interviewing developers for the position, ask them how they can demonstrate their abilities in those areas.
Step 5: Screening and Interviewing candidates
Interviewing and screening candidates is a crucial step in the process. It’s how you are going to determine if there is any potential for them to be an excellent fit with your company. After all, it only takes one person’s opinion from interviewing for you to make up your mind about someone based on their answers or demeanor during the interview.
A lot of companies use a list of questions they ask every single person who comes in, but that may be limiting because it only captures one aspect of them as an individual. You could also take advantage of a skills test, but how do you know what questions to ask if the person is applying for something completely different?
Instead, I recommend taking the time to get to know them as an individual. You should also use this time to learn how they think and how their personality meshes with your company culture.
Interviewing and hiring a software developer can be tricky, but if you know what skills they need it’s easier! You’ll want them to have knowledge of how programming languages work as well as experience with HTML and CSS in order to produce stellar results.
Hire the top developers with these Interview questions
- What are your favorite programming languages?
It is important you discover a candidate’s preferred programming language(s) so you can make sure they are a good fit for your project.
- What is the most complex application or system this person has built?
When asking how difficult it was to build, how challenging it got and how long did it take, try to gauge their experience level with building applications that require more than just writing code.
- What are the candidate’s strengths and how will they help you with your project?
An important question to ask when hiring a new developer is how can this person help me get my job done. It’s also good to know what their weaknesses are so they don’t put too much stress on them or hire an assistant to help them with their weaknesses.
- Will I be able to contact you after hours if there’s a problem that needs to be solved immediately?
As a business owner, you should always be prepared for the worst and this question shows how well they are able to handle pressure. A developer should be readily available in cases of emergencies.
- What is your experience with agile project management and how would you structure the sprints in our timeline?
Step 6: Seal the deal with the most qualified candidates
Following the interview process, contact the most qualified candidate and offer them the role. At this stage it is important to finalize how you want the candidate to proceed. For example, how will they be joining your team? Will they need a visa? What is the next step in the process after acceptance of a job offer (i.e., what documents do I provide and how soon?).
Step 7: Onboarding
When a developer starts working for you, how do they get situated in their new environment? First of all, it’s crucial that your organisation provides them with clear and concise instructions on how to go about their work. A good onboarding process will include:
- Giving the employee an overview of how your company operates (how decisions are made, how they are communicated with)
- Establishing their work space and getting them set up on your system of choice (in most cases this is a computer or laptop that you provide to the employee).
- Providing clear tutorials for how to use all software programs used in the company.
- Giving access to documentation such as how to set up databases, how to use the company’s communication system, and how to do other important tasks.
- In some cases, it is a good idea for employees in different departments of your company (i.e. marketing department) to take them on an introduction tour of that department as well as how they work so that they can better understand how they fit into the company.
- Providing them with their first project and how to get started on it: what tools are available, how long your team’s regular work day is so that they know how much time you expect from them each day, etc.
Where to find top developers to hire online
The process of hiring a developer can be daunting. And if you’re inexperienced, your chances of making the wrong choice is quite high, Not with many individuals claiming to be the best only for them to fail to live up to the hype – leaving with a botched project and money down the drain.
For these reasons and more, many smart hiring managers, CTOs, entrepreneurs, and startups would rather let a third party validate the skills and claims of developers.
Hiremotely for example, only provide software engineers who have all been vetted by a rigorous interview process that tests their skills on how well they know how to code in programming languages including: Java, Ruby, Python or PHP. The company takes everything into account when carrying out their due diligence, including how well they can work in a team and how quickly they get the job done. This way, anyone looking to hire a developer can do so with confidence.
To find the best developers in the market today, register for free on Hiremotely then simply input the type of developer you’re looking for, and Hiremotely will find a shortlist of developers that fit your budget.
