6 Expert Tips to Recruit the Best Software Developers [+4 Pro Tips]

The increasing popularity of remote work and the gig economy is changing the world’s perception of offices and work. Individuals today prioritize their well-being, health, and family time over work. They seek more flexibility and thus are moving towards freelance contractual work over full-time office jobs.

Team recruitment is not confined to geography, which has opened new avenues for businesses to build more diversified teams by hiring resources worldwide. 

Companies, too, prefer to recruit software developers and other resources on a contractual basis globally to save cost while getting technology experts to speed up the time-to-market of their products.

If you are planning to recruit a software developer, this blog is for you. In this blog, we will cover;

• Challenges you may face while recruiting software developers remotely.
• Tips for successful remote recruitment of software developers.
• Mistakes to avoid while recruiting remote developers.

So let us dive into the first element. Understanding the challenges of recruiting remote software developers.

Recommended Read: How to Hire Developers for Startup - Ultimate Hiring Guide

Challenges in Recruiting Software Developers

Below are some of the common challenges faced while hiring remote developers overseas.

1. Lack of Knowledge about the Job Market

When recruiting remote software developers from a job market overseas, you have to consider different nuances like hiring and job terminologies, level of education and knowledge of the resources, geo-political scenario, local hiring laws, and government policies. Not knowing these elements makes hiring more tedious and error-prone.  

2. Time Zone Difference

This is one of the most common challenges while working with a remote team operating from overseas. Since there is a considerable gap in the work time zone, the collaboration between in-house employees and remote teams can become a challenge. 

3. Cultural Barriers

A culturally diverse workforce, though considered a boon, can easily become a bane for your company if you fail to acknowledge and respect the diversity in your team. Hence it is important that you conduct proper training of both in-house and remote teams on cultural differences to ensure a more inclusive and respectful work environment.

4. Communication Gap

This is a common challenge while working with a diverse team. Communication gaps can arise due to a lack of knowledge of the language or analytical skills and can cause low output, mismanaged expectations & delivery, and frustration. 

These challenges can be avoided by creating a proper hiring process. Below are seven tips on creating an effective recruitment process for software developers.

6 Tips to Recruit Software Developers

1. Recruit a Smart Software Engineer

Hiring a smart software developer should be the first requisite in remote recruitment. The term smart here is not confined to technical knowledge but has a broader spectrum that includes creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills of your hired resource. We are not asking you to ignore the technical knowledge of your resource but to look beyond it. 

A technically sound developer would know what to do when things are right, but a smart developer can navigate through new and unforeseen issues that may arise during project development. 

A smart developer will not only resolve the challenges but will work on creating innovative solutions that would improve development speed and product quality. You can gauge the smartness of a developer by their skill learning graph and work portfolio, which gives you an insight into their eagerness to learn new skills. 

2. Flexibility is the Key to Success

When recruiting remote software developers, look for a resource that can wear multiple hats in project development. Though it's impossible to expect the hired resources to know all coding languages and technologies, your aim should be to find a resource with versatile skills instead of hiring someone who is an expert in just one technology. 

Your remotely hired developer should be open-minded and flexible to learn new skill sets to assist in the smooth development of your project. Besides technical skills, the developers should also be open to flexible operations and extending support whenever the project demands.

3. Recruit Someone with Great Communication Skills

Smooth communication is vital for successful development when working with a remote team. But this can only be ensured when the recruited developers are well versed in the language (English) and have good analytical skills.

Good knowledge of language ensures no gaps and miscommunication regarding expectations and delivery. At the same time, good analytical skills ensure a deeper understanding of project requirements empowering developers to build better quality products.

Good communication helps in seamless collaboration between in-house and remote teams to ensure every member is on the same page. Moreover, a good communicator can bring the team together to work on delivering results that are aligned with business objectives.

4. Hire a Creative Developer

It is not what the developer knows but what they can do with their knowledge. A creative developer drives innovation in software development to build and deliver high-quality products and solutions.

Recruit a software developer who is sharp-witted and innovative, always looking to upgrade the project by improving features and performance using different algorithms. A creative developer brings a new perspective to the project. 

5. Look For A Clean Coder

Testing coding skills is imperative when hiring programmers. While developing a product, you want developers to follow international coding standards and write clean codes. 

Having clean coders on your development team will enable flexibility during sprints and ensure quick turnaround time in maintenance and upgrades in the future without unnecessary downtime. A messy code, on the other hand, would result in poor development quality and recurring maintenance and updates issues.

6. Pick Talent Over Experience

When given a choice between choosing a talented developer over an experienced one, choose the experience. Though a talented developer may have all the theoretical knowledge of development, an experience one would understand the true nuances of a project. 

Experienced developers have more hands-on experience, making them more prepared for upcoming challenges that can arise during development. They can guide the team better, improving the overall productivity while reducing the project's delivery time.

+4 Pro Tips to Follow while Recruiting Software Developers

Pro-tip 1: Build your Brand Presence

When you are recruiting software developers, the decision of collaboration is not just with you. The candidates who you wish to attract are also evaluating their options. Thus having a positive brand presence in the global market is vital to attract the right talent for your development team. 

Pro-tip 2: Build a Recruitment Funnel

The hiring of the right software developers for your project is not a hit and try but is a result of a well-planned and calibrated hiring process. So, developing a hiring funnel is necessary for getting it right the first time.

Your hiring funnel should define every process and sub-process of hiring resources at different managerial levels. 

Pro-tip 3: Hiring from an Offshore Development Company

Collaboration with a reliable offshore development company can save you tons of time and effort in finding developers in a foreign country. An offshore development company has a pre-existing talent pool of certified developers across technology stacks. 

You can hire offshore developers on-demand and scale up or down the team to meet project requirements.

Now that you know the dos of hiring software developers. It is time to cover the don’ts.

Pro-tip 4: If you are Uncertain, Do a Trial Run

Mistakes to Avoid while Recruiting Software Developers

1. Ambiguity

Defining the project requirement is the first step in recruiting software developers, whether in-house or remote. Before you start looking, you should have clarity on

How many developers do you need?

• Which technology stack must they know?
• What is the objective of the project?
• Time duration of engagement
• Budget of the project
• Key Skills that the developers must possess

2. Writing too Generic Job Description

Your Job Description will determine who applies for your opening. So, it is important that you create a detailed job description and post them on relevant sources to attract quality talent for your project. 

A job description must include:

• Position for which you are hiring
• Experience and technical knowledge required
• Softskills 
• Project & Company description

3. Don't Ignore ROI

As a business, your cost of recruiting a software developer must be justified by the output they are generating to ensure profitability. If hiring remote developers fails the purpose of cost reduction, fulfillment of talent gap, and quick time-to-market, you may as well hire locally.

4. Don't Skip Training & Project Downloads

A well-planned project download and team training can save you from the hassle of misunderstanding and miscommunication amongst the team members, resulting in unnecessary delays and downtime in project development. 

In a Nutshell...

The process of hiring a software programmer is undoubtedly an arduous task. The hiring team has to be resourceful and strategic in how to search for the best developers. But with the help of this blog, you can build a well-rounded game plan to recruit software developers. 

These approaches will work whether you are a start-up or a multinational firm that wishes to scale up quickly. Besides this, continuously improving your recruitment funnel over time can go a long way in finding software developers.

Your Team in India is a reputed offshore development company in India that helps entrepreneurs globally in finding software developers and programmers best fit for their business. With a team of 200+ readily available experienced developers, we can help you ramp up development quickly.