Learn how to hire developers for a startup for added assistance, reduced mistakes, and improved time management.

Given the technical developments in the world, a large number of IT startups have emerged in the market. The initial stages of building a startup require a heavy workload, which can become stressful to manage single-handedly. Hence, hiring a developer for a startup improves time management, encourages work flexibility, minimizes error, and provides quality assistance and a fresh perspective.

However, you might face certain challenges while recruiting developers. Some of these include:

• Limited technical expertise
• Competition with other companies
• Gender bias and lack of diversity
• Negotiations over salary

If you have a startup and want a practical, step-by-step guide for hiring developers, read on!

Assessing Your Startup’s Development Needs
 

To kick-start your startup, identify your tech stack requirements. This stack includes the programming languages and software tools needed to create your product, serving as the foundation for your digital solution. It is the foundation of a digital solution. There are seven factors to consider while choosing a startup tech stack.

  These are:

• Technology price and a developer’s salary
• Community of the technology (e.g., Ruby, Python, etc.)
• Speed of the development process
• Scalable programming languages and frameworks
• Project size and growth
• Project type
• The appropriate digital device (web vs mobile)

Balancing short-term success with long-term vision is the key to a thriving startup. You should ensure that your short-term goals are attainable and time-bound, while your long-term vision should focus on sustainability and adaptation. 

Hence, while hiring a developer, it is essential to craft a clear job description and role expectations. Explain the key responsibilities, nature of work (office/remote), technical and soft skill requirements, and any additional benefits. Also, briefly describe your startup, its vision, and its products. 

Sourcing Developer Candidates

As the recruitment process becomes more competitive, almost every company seeks the best developers. The following ways can help you source developer candidates:

1. Traditional methods: Job boards such as Indeed are a great way to discover a developer, while a long-term and reliable developer can be found via referrals from your network.
2. Leveraging professional networks: You can create a company page on LinkedIn and build an exciting profile and source for developers. In addition, industry events, conferences, and trade shows can also be an excellent place for networking and finding developers.
3. Partnering with tech recruiters and agencies: Even though partnering with recruitment agencies may cost some money, it is worth doing so for a successful hire. Communicating your startup’s vision and expectations to the recruitment partner speeds up the process.
4. Exploring remote and global talent pools: Going remote and international can get you a collection of talented developers at a lower salary.

Screening and Shortlisting Candidates 

Your recruitment process reflects your company, and hence, it adds to your reputation in the industry. Some efficient and beneficial steps for shortlisting candidates include:

• Reviewing resumes and portfolios: Besides technical skills, consistency and an upward career trajectory should be considered. Moreover, all job applications (even the rejected ones) should be responded to to prevent negative word of mouth from the candidates.
• Conducting initial phone screens: Phone interviews can be conducted to reduce your candidate pool without compromising the quality. Some major phone screening questions include:

   

  • 1. Why does this position appeal to you?
    2. What are your salary expectations?
    3. Are you willing to relocate for this role?
    4. When can you start?
• Technical assessments and coding challenges: Accessing a developer’s coding skills is an essential step in the hiring process. It can be done by analyzing their programmer portfolio and GitHub account, questioning their Stack Overflow, and conducting coding interviews and programming tests.
• Assessing cultural fit and teamwork: A potential hire’s communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills are crucial in determining the candidate’s cultural fit and teamwork capabilities. This can be assessed by conducting group exercises and presenting them with scenarios that require a problem-solving approach.

 The Interview Process

Structuring the interview process: The interview for assessing and hiring a developer can be divided into three parts – technical, behavioral, and cultural. A few sample questions include:

1. Technical Questions:

1. What is a framework?
2. What is refactoring?

2. Behavioural Questions:

• What does your best day of work look like?
• How do you handle criticism of your work?

3. Cultural Questions:

• Which management style brings out the best in you?
• When you work in a team, what is your go-to role?
• Interview questions and scenarios: Good interview questions focus on what the candidate is capable of rather than their knowledge. To hire a high-quality developer, prepare multi-faceted queries and ask the same questions to all candidates. Also, conduct scenario interviews to see how the candidate responds to a hypothetical situation.
• Practical coding tests and whiteboard exercises: To evaluate a developer’s technical abilities, coding assessments can be conducted via coding test platforms such as Codility, Evalground, and Tests4Geeks. On the other hand, whiteboard interviews (algorithm-based or systems-based) can be undertaken to assess the candidates’ technical and non-technical skills.
• Assessing problem-solving skills and adaptability: In a potential hire, look for problem-solving skills such as parallel thinking, abstraction, and re-using existing solutions. Also, adaptability skills such as communication, teamwork, and organizational skills are crucial elements that must be evaluated.

Source: Tests4Geeks

Checking References and Background

Doing a reference check helps you to rely on the information given by the potential hire. To carry it out, ask your candidates to provide you with the contact information of their former employers. Besides, doing a background check reduces liability, safeguards assets, and ensures quality candidates. 

Some legal challenges, such as taxation, ownership of the product, and dispute resolution mechanisms, should be considered before hiring a developer. Verifying the authenticity of the candidate’s degrees and certificates ensures safe hiring.

Evaluating Soft Skills and Cultural Fit 

Before hiring a developer, it is essential to assess the range of soft skills the candidate has. This includes communication abilities,  empathy during group work, perseverance, openness to changes, adaptation skills, and creative and critical thinking. 

Source: Test Gorilla

Cultural fit, on the other hand, represents the alignment between the startup’s culture and values and the candidate’s beliefs, values, and behavior.  Assessment of a candidate’s cultural fit can be done by:

• Conducting a cultural fit assessment
• Asking the right questions
• Being prepared to answer questions from the candidate
• Letting the candidates converse with the team
• Offering insights about your startup

Making the Offer 

While making a job offer, it is essential to include the job title, salary, benefits, and start date. Negotiating the salary amount is equally important. Maintaining a fair salary within budgetary restrictions can be challenging. Hence, being aware of the industry standards, setting a range, and expecting counters can help negotiate. Moreover, certain employee benefits like technology stipends, health benefits, or educational assistance can attract and retain quality developers.

Create a customized and compelling job offer that caters to the role’s requirements and responsibilities, as well as the candidate’s interests and qualifications. If the candidate makes a counteroffer, maintain a professional and positive tone, and let them know your decision.

Onboarding and Integration 

Onboarding and Integration are processes that help the new employee be immersed in the company’s culture and vision. They also socialize the candidate to their new job role and provide them with resources to make them successful. Onboarding developers can be done in the following ways:

• Celebrate their arrival
• Allow initial mistakes and make room for improvements
• Encourage teamwork
• Have clear communications

Provide sufficient training and resources to the new developer to attain maximum productivity in the later stages. Train them to understand software complexity, encourage leadership qualities, and familiarize them with the existing code base. Don’t forget to set specific, measurable, and achievable goals for them to attain. 

Retaining and Developing Talent
 

Developers are precious. Hence, efforts should be put into retaining and developing them. You can do this by:

• Building a positive and flexible work environment (e.g. hybrid mode)
• Offering opportunities for career advancement (promotion to the role of Lead Developer or VP)
• Recognizing and rewarding their achievements publicly in team meetings, newsletters, or emails
• Addressing challenges and conflicts proactively and creating a supportive work environment

Legal and Contractual Considerations 

When hiring a new developer, it is essential to agree on well-structured legal contracts to prevent future mishaps. These mainly include:

• Employment contracts and agreements protect the candidate and employer by specifying duties and expectations and preventing future disputes.
• Intellectual property and confidentiality agreements prevent new business inventions from reaching other competitors or the public.
• Compliance with labor laws and regulations to protect the candidate’s health and well-being and to prevent over-exploitation.

Remote and Freelance Developers 

Hiring and working with remote and freelance developers has its pros and cons. 

Pros include:

• It is cost-effective.
• Access to a large pool of talented and skilled developers.
• More flexibility and scalability in terms of time, money, and project scope

Cos include:

• Communication challenges
• Quality and security issues
• Exposure to legal and regulatory compliance risks

To effectively manage remote and freelance developers, consider these steps:

• Develop a detailed project plan.
• Maintain regular check-ins and provide feedback.
• Value and incorporate your developer’s feedback.
• Ensure an NDA is in place.
• Focus on time management and compatibility.
• Provide competitive compensation

There are plenty of communication tools that make remote team collaboration smooth. Examples include Slack, Google Meet, Miro, Google Drive, Jira, and Confluence.

Source: Slack

So, before you set out to hire a new developer for your startup, consider the above tips and tricks. Make sure to screen, shortlist, interview, and evaluate the candidates. Do a formal check on their background and then make an offer to the right talent! If needed, invest in partnering with tech recruiters for the same. Better safe than sorry!

What strategies have you followed to enhance your developer hiring process? Let us know on Linkedin, Facebook & Twitter!

FAQs

1 . What qualifications should I look for while hiring a developer for my startup?

Some essential qualifications for hiring a developer include knowledge of relevant programming languages, technical skills, creativity, problem-solving skills, and collaboration.

2. How do you hire programmers for a startup?

To hire appropriate programmers for a startup, specify your business needs, find necessary candidates, analyze and verify their skills and qualifications, conduct interviews, and start the collaboration post-selection.

3. How many developers should I hire?

The total number of developers depends on the project size. Too many developers with different viewpoints may confuse and hinder the work process. Hence, it is essential to hire developers as per requirement. 

4. How can I coordinate work with remote developers?

Find remote developers who have outstanding communication skills. Use time management, project management, and messaging apps to collaborate.