How to Hire a Remote Software Developer

We live in an age where every company is a tech company. From real estate to education, everyone is relying on technology to grow.

With the surge in technology jobs, most companies struggle with this problem:

The demand for tech talents is greater than the supply.

To solve the shortage in tech talents, businesses turned to outsourcing. Some companies dragged their feet while others hopped in enthusiastically. Regardless of how they went about it, the results were mixed.

Outsourcing does not guarantee success. Hiring a remote developer (quality analyst or any other tech talent) requires some tricks in the trade.

This post digs into:

• Tips on how to hire remote developers
• How to hire developers on freelancing platforms
• How to hire developers on developer platforms like Github
• How to outsource to a software development company

(This assumes that you already have a business goal for bringing in a new developer. You're at a stage when you're ready to find people who will help you realize that goal.)

General tips on hiring remote developers

Choose the developers with the right tech stack for your project

Are you searching for a front-end developer? Try looking for a Javascript developer instead. Even better, try ReactJS developer.

This helps narrow down your search for people who are the best fit for a role.

As a founder or recruiter, having an idea of the right technology stack for your business goal can contribute to successful hiring.

Understanding the best tech stack for the job will help you write the kind of job description that attracts the right people for the job.

Remove the requirement for educational backgrounds

A degree in computer science used to be a requirement to land a tech role.

But many companies have shown that by removing this barrier, they were able to access a greater pool of highly qualified individuals.

In many contexts, demonstrated competence is more important than having a degree.

How to Hire tech talents on freelancing platforms

Freelancing platforms offer a wide range of talented individuals that are eager to find work.

Disadvantages of freelancing platforms

The main disadvantage of hiring through freelancing platforms is the service fee. Over time, the money that you spend can rack up to a significant amount.

You can take work outside of a freelancing platform but you may be required to pay an "opt-out" fee.

Another disadvantage is the commitment and accountability levels on freelancing platforms. It's easy for developers to leave since many platforms don't have a rule on terminating a project -- even if it is still incomplete.

Advantages of freelancing platforms

Freelancing platforms let you view an individual's work history and review from previous employers.

Regardless of the disadvantages, freelancing platforms offer a viable alternative for completing small projects on a tight deadline and a shoestring budget.

Popular freelancing platforms

Toptal, Upwork, Gun.io, Codeable, and YouTeam are some of the most popular freelancing platforms.

TopTal. TopTal is a platform where you can hire IT professionals such as project managers, developers, and designers.

TopTal has a rigorous screening process for freelancers. That's why the platform can claim that it hosts the best freelancers, the top 3%.

Upwork. Just like TopTal, Upwork is a freelancing platform for all sorts of IT talents.

But unlike TopTal, the screening process is not as rigorous. This means you get access to a broader set of skills and salary ranges. It also gives you a chance to hire excellent talent that may be (mistakenly) filtered out by a tough screening system.

Gun.io. Gun.io screens applicants who want to join the platform to weed out less committed freelancers.

Applicants need to pass the following criteria to be eligible for hiring on the platform:

• English proficiency
• Work portfolio
• Online footprints (like their code on Github)

Freelancing platforms can be an excellent start towards building a long-term work relationship with tech talent.

Just be mindful: hiring a developer outside a freelancing platform may constitute a violation of their terms of use.

How to Use developer platforms like Github, Stackoverflow, and Discord channels

Discord, Github, and Stackoverflow are platforms where developers gather virtually.

It might take more work to find developers on those platforms. But the tradeoff is that you are likely to find qualified individuals through them.

How to use Github to hire developers

Github is an online platform that developers use to save and manage changes in their code.

It's also a place where people collaborate on coding projects and a good place to find discussions about code.

Search for developer accounts.

1. Sign up for a Github account.
2. In the search bar, enter your parameters. For example: language:python
3. On the left tab, click Users to show user profiles. You may also add filters like:
   • location:london to list developers in London
   • followers:>50 to list developers with more than 50 followers

View trending repositories.

1. On the top bar, click Explore.
2. From the menu tabs, click Trending.
3. You may use filters like Spoke language, Language, and Date range to refine your search.

By default, you will see the trending repositories. You can view the top contributors in each repository to see prospects.

Alternatively, you may click the Developers tab to view the top trending developers.

How to use Stackoverflow to hire developers

Stackoverflow has a side panel where you can view active users.

You can sort by:

• Reputation: helpful votes
• New
• Voters: find people who vote but didn't post or answer a question.
• Editors: sort by the number of edits. Stackoverflow allows collaborative editing (like Wikipedia).

Try Stackoverflow Talent Stackoverflow has its own job board called Stackoverflow Talent.

Stackoverflow has a reputation as a platform for the developer community. This attracts skilled developers looking for employment.

Stackoverflow Talent has a candidate feature that lets you reach out to IT professionals who opted in to be contacted by recruiters.

How to use Slack/Discord channels to hire developers

1. Find the right servers to join. Go to DiscordMe to search for developer channels.

This is when knowing what tech stack you're looking for becomes handy.

You'll get better quality leads when you look for channels of a specific programming language.

2. Some channels will have a dedicated space for job postings. You can safely bet that job postings are okay in those spaces.

If you're not sure, review a channel's community guidelines. Some communities may discourage job posting.

How to outsource to a software development company

If you're engaged in a long-term project, it makes sense to hire a software development company.

There is a clear advantage to hiring a software development company: Instead of hiring individual developers on your own, a software company has a roster of vetted talents.

They have experienced individuals who are experts in domains and programming languages.

Another advantage: If the company does not have the tech talent you're not looking for, they'll be able to find the right person for you.

Most software development companies have a technical recruiter. A tech recruiter is an expert at evaluating the right candidates for a specific role.

Refer to review websites

Review websites aggregate information from previous clients. Client feedback can help you decide which software development companies suit your business goals best.

These are some of the top review websites for software companies:

Clutch. Clutch is an agency listing company that lets you sort software firms based on location, services, and budget. This summary of Hireplicity's services is an example of a Clutch review.

Upcity. Upcity is a platform that connects business owners with software development companies and marketing agencies. To rate service providers, Upcity uses client reviews and social signals (like Google reviews, domain authority, and search engine presence).

GoodFirms. GoodFirms is a review aggregator that has a global database of the top software development companies.

Like its competitors, GoodFirms use digital signals and client reviews -- plus a "confidential assessment".

Once you have your narrowed-down list of top software companies, you can begin contacting them to assess if they are the best fit for your business goals.

Ask when choosing a software development company

These questions fall into three broad categories: general, technical, and business.

General questions What are your experiences in my particular domain?

What's your work process like? Can you show a demonstration of how you build a product?

How do you manage communication across different time zones or work schedules?

Who are the members of your development team? What are their responsibilities?

Technical questions What tools, programming languages, and frameworks would you use for my particular project?

How do you document the software that you build? Do you use any particular framework or tools for your documentation?

Business questions How do you estimate the timelines for your projects?

Do you hire contractors or freelancers for any part of my project?

Will I have ownership of my project's source code?