5 Tips for Hiring Remote Developers!
Remote employment is taking over the world as digitalization is on the rise. In fact, 43% of employees in the US are working remotely, to some degree, and the number is only expected to rise. Hiring a Remote Developer is a much more tiring task as the market is becoming more competitive and more businesses across industries are adapting to digitalization by the day.
86% of people in the US believe that they’d be less stressed in a flexible job. That’s a lot of people seeking autonomy and comfort, and it surely comes with its upside. So many companies spend so much money on in-house developers, and the work format is usually a fixed shift, like a good old 9-5.
A fixed shift doesn’t drive developers as much as a target-oriented job. It isn’t like they’ve completed their target and they’re done, although it does happen sometimes, which is all more reason to hire a remote developer, right? But the freedom to do work whenever they feel that creativity kick in and withdraw themselves from work whenever they want is a privilege in itself. Read more about how remote employment is different from managed employment.
The big question is, how? How are you supposed to decide which ones are gonna turn out productive? Well, let’s look at the ways that will help you match with an effective developer:-
Source Them From The Right Market
2 years into married life and a man knows exactly which vendor sells which vegetable and who sells the best one. The employer has to step in the same shoes and know where he can find the developers that would best suit his project. Let’s look at the two approaches:-
- Passive - Posting ads on platforms.
- Active - Reaching out to developers personally.
The employers usually approach remote developers on popular platforms like LinkedIn, Monster, CareerBuilder, etc. That’s not wrong, but it’s a macro-level approach. You may go deeper and find platforms that advertise remote employees. Websites like Upscale, WeWorkRemotely and Toptal provide a common ground to employers and potential remote employees.
Create Qualification Requirements
Now that you have data on what type of developers there are in the market, you will likely have more than their professional data, which will provide you an insight into what kind of lives they’re living. Now you may be wondering why is it important, right? Well, here’s my unconventional approach. Apart from creating an ideal profile for a candidate and then reach out to see where you can find them, you can also adopt a reverse approach where you have a slight idea about what they usually do apart from coding, and then offer them perks in accordance to that. For example, if they’re generally nocturnal, you can offer them time flexibility. The former approach helps you get what you want, and the latter helps you know what they want, and you offer them accordingly.
Have An Attractive Work Description
Why would anyone want to work with your organization when there are literally hundreds of thousands of other organizations that are hiring the same profiles? What are the ways in which you can stand out? What I’m about to tell you is something that goes beyond the theoretical norms of persuasion.
Everything is a sale. From ideas to products, sales go beyond all borders. The biggest difference you can make in their lives is by following the pointers below that are really important to understand:-
- Knowing what the developers need.
- Studying what their biggest problems are.
This is what works in the real world. Above all this, focus on making the work culture seem fun. Considering these pointers, you’ll be able to identify everything you need to, and then highlight them in your work description that will help you attract them towards your organization.
Develop A Hefty Screening Process
Enough with the offerings. This is where you draw lots of boundaries to not let everyone in. This not only helps you with speeding up the screening process, but it also assists you in identifying the developers who are willing enough to go through it.
One way to do this is by sending an email that gives a proper introduction to your company followed by screening questions. It’s recommended that the questions should be technical and must be answered in detail. At this point, only the developers who are sincere and experienced will likely be the ones to be on board.
For example, if you’re hiring a Javascript developer, you may ask:-
- What is the purpose of an
- What is negative infinity?
- Explain the working of timers in JavaScript.
Look For Soft Skills
Following the above will probably have landed you a ton of proficient developers. To take it up a notch, you may look for their soft skills so as to figure out who fits well for which position. The education system is obsolete and you cannot really rely on just the academic qualifications of someone. The ability to manage time, the level of proactivity, and their communication skills are something will help you allocate them in the organization properly.
On the other hand, not having these skills may land them into problems like communication gaps, lack of adaptability in the work culture or even ego clashes, which now becomes your problem. If you hire them from any platform that has their ratings mentioned in their profile, that will also help in decision making.
All this wisdom is something that you require possessing in the ever-changing competitive market. People are coming up with new ways every day and there are no confined rules anymore. All that matters is that you have the ability to think outside the box. And you do. Don’t confine yourself with just what you read. Come up with your own ways. Nowadays, you can hire remote developers from companies that already have an in-house staff of developers. These are called Staff Augmentation Companies. Hiring a developer from a Staff Augmentation Company will save you all the bother of research.