Hiring Dev Professionals | Teravision Technologies

The software development industry uses different methods to hire between software engineers. From hiring freelancers to outsourcing through a service provider, deciding how you find your software engineers can be key to your project’s success. So, where should you start your search?

Hiring software engineers from a nearshore software development company, like ours, ensures that the talent brought to you matches your needs. Expecting senior talent exclusively? Developers with enough room to grow into your team’s workflow? Regardless of what you need, these types of companies make sure your talent is ready to work. Hiring from a freelancing platform is also a common method of hiring software engineers, though you will not be guaranteed the quality of their work, since the most these platforms do is list available talent, and leave the due diligence fully to you. This can be a blow to your software development process, as it takes time away from the project to the search, vetting and hiring of software developers all from your end.

Providing nothing but top software engineers from Latin America has been in our blood for over 20+ years. From custom software development services to staffing services and maintenance, our experience is something you can rely on. By carefully analyzing the current status of your project and where it is you want to head towards, we modify our hiring process that help you hire developers you can trust, while also giving you tools for you to keep them as well.

What Should You be Looking for When You Hire Developers?

Regardless of the expectations you may have when you begin to hire developers, these are some simple recommendations we’ll give you to better orient yourself while hunting for the next software engineer for your team.

1. Software Developers Should be Smarter than You

They say that if you’re the smartest person in the room, then you might actually be the dumbest one in that room. This should be a thought process we transfer over when we begin hiring software developers. So, the question becomes a very straight forward one: what is intelligence within the software development process? Are there circumstances where intelligence can mean different things during a project? How can this criteria be measured?

While it is true intelligence can be a soft skill that can mean different things according the context of a project or an individual, for software developers the most important measure of intelligence is problem solving. Sure, individual competencies will allow software developers a chance to shine within niche moments. However, developing software can be extremely unpredictable, regardless of how many risk mitigations you implement. In other words, for each new problem that arises, a new solution must be found, and the ability to find the right solution to keep on schedule marks the difference between top software developers and rookies.

2. Software Developers Should be Flexible

It’s impossible to be fully a master in everything technology and software have to offer. With new problems rearing their heads every day, and technology advancing faster as the years go by, taking the time to master each and every skill there is a recipe towards getting left behind.

This is why the best software developers rely on their problem-solving skills mentioned before to find solutions for those problems. They’ll learn by doing by finding innovative solutions, while also understanding standard approaches, widening their skill set while making effective use of what they know.

3. Software Developers Should be Collaborative and Know How to Communicate

Teamwork is the name of the game. Rare are the projects that are being spearheaded by a single developer. Most projects are always going to be handled by a team of software developers, and they can’t work in silos.

This is why software developers require a deep understanding of communication and collaboration. This ensures that a team’s workflow isn’t interrupted by miscommunications, gaps in information, or just general lack of collaborative spirit.

These attributes help great software developers find the best ways to allocate their time and efforts, increasing the impact they can have on the project and helping others in their won activities also. Doing well in your own role while helping others achieve their objectives keep projects on track, while building the best possible outcome.

4. Software Developers Should be Open Minded

This is another attribute that circles back to the capability of a software developer to problem solve. Sure, technical knowledge is important in their role since that’s how the software product will be developed. However, thinking outside the box is crucial in certain situations to find solutions to problems your technical or theoretical knowledge may not be able to. Quick thinking and the capability to think beyond can be the difference between an obstacle and a wall.

5. Software Developers Should be Organized

Process is key in every project. Understanding everything you’ve done up to a specific point in time helps keep a project organized and enables instances to be repeated when testing comes around. Having software developers that understand this and keep detailed documentation on their process helps keep objectivity and a project organized. How can a team of software developers correct course if they can’t find the causes of the errors?

What Should You Avoid When You Hire Developers?

Though it is the job of software development outsourcing companies like ours to make your job easier in terms of staffing and team assembling, there is only so much we can do on our own. Here are some things you as a client should avoid to help yourselves as well.

1. Not Having a Clear Idea of What Software Developers You Need

Making sure we understand your needs and the status of your project is crucial in order to find software developers that can accurately meet those needs. The last thing you need is increasing the turnover rate of your team because the team assembled ended up not quite having the skills and competencies you need. The only thing you’ll achieve is making your product more costly to develop in terms of time and money invested, lowering the efficiency of your budget also.

This is why having a clear idea of what software developers you’ll need also helps companies like ours put our resources to better use. When we have this information on hand, it allows you to assemble teams faster and more efficiently than what it would take without it. You’ll find results regardless, but sooner will always be better than later.

2. Engaging Software Developers Only with Money

Money does make the go around, but depending on the software developers you speak to, this may not be the only thing keeping the world moving. Maybe you find among a group of candidates an engineer who, though is not quite senior level yet, has the potential to become one instantly with the right amount of training. Then again, why not just find software developers who already have senior level experience, right?

Depending on the outsourcing provider you partner with, they may have the infrastructure and skill set necessary to give software developers of all levels training to properly prepare them for your project. Not only can this give you the flexibility to find your team sooner in intermediate talent with potential, but also keeps them engaged and up to date with technologies and skills they’ll be needing for your product. In a market that still allows for remote work, engagement is crucial. Make sure your partner has competencies like this one, like Teravision Technologies, to better your chances of keeping the teams you assemble.

3. Onboarding Software Developers Inefficiently

No matter how talented a team of software developers are, a proper onboarding session is required to make sure they hit the ground running. You can’t expect them to simply appear in a sprint meeting and start working without proper context. Sure, a project manager or Scrum Master’s job should be to help ease them into the workflow, but some things are better handled during or shortly after the final interview.

Giving software developers poor onboarding is not only costly in the traditional sense, but it can permeate throughout the rest of the team, leading to low morale and stifling productivity. Depending on what engagement model you follow (staff augmentation or dedicated teams), this responsibility can either fall on your shoulders or the service provider you’re working with. Regardless, it’s always best to make sure workflows, team culture and responsibilities through proper documentation are handled to keep every team member on the same page.

4. Unclear Expectations of Where Your Product is Going for Software Developers to Follow

Related to previous points to avoid, making sure new software developers are clear as to where a product is going is key to avoid wasting time. If they begin working without having a clear roadmap as to where the project is heading, priorities can become difficult to determine and ideas can become ill serving to your product’s development.

Having clear expectations from the beginning, whether it be through onboarding or during the time of final interview, helps keep communication clean and lead to higher quality results during milestone deliveries. Finding ways new software developers can contribute to the project will ensure their skills are being efficiently put to work, maximizing their impact and complimenting the current team’s overall skill set.

What’s Next?

Time to start hiring software engineers with a competent software development agency! If you found this content interesting or insightful for your own project, maybe consider calling us or sending us an email. We’ll be sure to find a way to best help you here.