How To Find Developers For Startups - Ultimate Hiring Guide

As a startup, you have the liberty to build a more open and human-centric work environment. But building a great culture is of no use if you are not communicating it to the world.

Here is how you can communicate 

• Use social media to your advantage. Build a strong presence on professional networks like LinkedIn, Google my business, and Twitter by regularly sharing co-curricular activities and testimonies 

• Host webinars and video conferences 

• Build a strong college reach-out plan to a build brand presence 

Now that we have established how you can build a favorable brand presence let us discuss the steps to hire programmers for startups.

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8 Effective Steps to Hire Developers for Startup

Below are the 8 simple steps for the hiring process of developers for a startup to build your offshore development team.

1. Define your Business Requirements

The first and foremost step is to specify your project requirement in terms of 

• Product delivery- whether you wish to build MVP or full-fledged products.

• Operating system- iOS, Android, Linux, etc.

2. Decide on the Location

The second step in hiring offshore developers is deciding the country and city where you wish to hire the resources for your project. Though the cost is an important factor, it should not be the only thing to consider when choosing the location. Factors such as:

• Developer Population

• Availability of resources in emerging technologies

• Technologies that are available in the market

• Government stability and foreign policies

• Geopolitical landscape

• Employment landscape

3. Decide on the Engagement Model

Once you have shortlisted the location, decide which employment model of hiring an offshore team you would want to implement. Fixed cost,  monthly rates, or hourly rates. 

Suppose your project has a straightforward requirement with little to no scope for deviation. In that case, the fixed cost may be the right choice, but if the development requires constant updates and changes, opt for a more flexible setup like monthly or hourly engagement.

You also enjoy the flexibility of hiring resources part-time when you hire offshore developers.

4. Finding the Right Developers

When hiring an offshore team of developers for your budding business, you will come across various options like job portals, freelancer platforms, professional networks, and offshore development companies. Unless you have the required expertise in technologies and market knowledge, it is preferred that you opt to work with trusted offshore partners to build a successful and scalable team for your development project.

With a pre-vetted large talent pool, offshore software development companies can provide you with extensive options of resources to choose from for your project.

5. Skill Assessment

Once you have shortlisted the candidates, carry out extensive background checks and skill assessment tests of the candidates. 

Evaluate their experience based on the number of years in the industry and industry served, number of successful projects delivered, and learning graph or how often and how well they have made an effort to stay up to date on the new and emerging technologies.

This process will help you weed out the candidates that don’t match your business needs, leaving you with a more refined group of individuals to choose from.

6. Interview the Candidates

Interviews carried out in person or over video calls are a great way to assess their technical, team, managerial, and soft skills, providing you with a holistic view of the developers. Through interviews, you can assess the personality of the remote developer and gauge if they are the right fit for your company as per the job description.

7. Onboarding and Training

When hiring offshore developers, company induction and training are very critical as the team would be operating remotely. You must plan detailed sessions where the hired developers are trained on the project, work process, hierarchy, workflows, and frameworks. 

8. Kick off the Project

Once you have selected and trained your dream team of developers for a startup project, it’s time to start your project development. Build well-defined delivery timelines and feedback mechanisms to ensure seamless communication between in-house and offshore teams.

Checklist of Skills to Look for while Hiring a Startup Developer:

1. Check for the development experience of the hired software developers. 

• How many projects have they worked on? 
• Which industries have they served
• The complexity of the projects that they have delivered successfully

2. Examine if they have knowledge and expertise in working on startups or similar projects.

3. Evaluate their knowledge of various coding languages and knowledge learning curve.

4. Ask for samples of work delivered previously. Check if they followed international coding standards while working on the projects.

5. Find out which development methodology they follow and have worked on in their previous projects.

6. Assess their communication skills and attitude towards work. Can they handle negative feedback, and are they open to new ideas?

Mistakes to Avoid when Hiring Developers for a Startup

• Focusing entirely on cost- Though cost saving is one of the most evident advantages of hiring offshore developers for your startup's in-house team when shortlisting a candidate, it should not be the only criteria in your mind. Irrespective of which market you hire the resources from, a quality programmer can never be cheap.

• Giving more weightage to a degree over experience- Hiring a certified programmer should be a prerequisite for any business, but it should not be the only factor in consideration. One should pay close attention to the experience of the developer in terms of the complexity of projects, industries they have worked with, and most importantly, their learning curve. 

• Ignoring soft skills- Ignoring soft skills like communication, team player, managerial skills, and empathy is one of the fatal mistakes that cost the company in the long run. These play an important role when interacting with a remote team. A lack of these skills can lead to mismanagement and cause friction among the team members.

• Ignoring cultural fitness – When working with remote developers, it is important to assess if they fit well in your company culture, as at the end of the day, they need to work with your in-house teams and follow your company policies to deliver the output.