How to Find a Software Developer

Last Updated on 2024-10-11

Finding affordable software developers to work on your growing startup is like fishing in the vast ocean; it is a risk whether you caught the right fish for dinner. With the developer shortage, coupled with the rising demand for software developers in the US, the cost of skilled software programmers, engineers, and developers rise. In this sea of people and dozens of job ad sites, where can you find highly experienced yet affordable developers?

Before you start your hunt, there are a few things that you need to consider. One is to know what your startup needs. Two is to determine whether you need a full-time or a project-based developer to work on your product.

Read further in this article and discover practical ways to help to find a software developer that understands your business needs.

What is your goal?

The first thing you need to do is to know what your company needs. Defining your goal is an essential factor in finding the right programmer for your business.

Do you need a mobile application? Do you need internal software to maximize productivity? These questions are critical in your choice of a developer or engineer.

Take the medical field, for example. Not one doctor is relatively similar to another. Each doctor has their specialization, and they treat patients according to their specialty. A neurologist can examine the human nervous system, but an endocrinologist can’t.

This situation is similar when hiring a programmer. Each software engineer has their specialization, a language that they are an expert in. When you have defined what you need, then you’ll be able to attract expert developers.

Duration

Another critical factor is the duration of your project. Do you need a developer for a few months? Will your project take a year?

These questions are essential in achieving your goal. The duration will determine what skill set you need to look for and where you will start your headhunt.

Where Can You Find a Software Developer?

Find a Local Software Developer

One way is to hire locally. There are a lot of advantages when you employ locals: communication, culture, geography, and time.

When you hire an engineer in your area, there is minimal to zero miscommunication. Since the applicant is local, they overcome the cultural barriers that are often encountered by offshore employees. Communication is also instant since they don’t need to have conference calls and such, a situation which is often practiced in offshore teams.

Hiring in-house gives the advantage of hands-on management. You can continuously monitor your developers since they work in the same place as you do. You can easily convey messages, demands, and changes when needed.

But still, try to test the waters before you dive. If your local area is abundant with skilled software engineering professionals, then hiring locally is the best option. Assess the salary rate of local engineers and compare it to the budget that you currently have.

Is it worth it? Can your budget cover the duration of their work? f not, no need to panic. You can choose to hire freelancers or a development company of your choice.

Online job sites

If you can’t find local premium developer talent, then it is time to widen your horizon and extend your search to other places.

Most companies leverage the use of the internet in their recruitment through websites that house job postings and job ads. Such sites became lead mining sources for most companies when hunting the best software developers and engineers to work on their teams.

Here are a few popular job listing websites that a lot of companies, employees, and freelancers visit.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the most popular social media job listing site on the internet. It is the home of company job listings as well as job seekers. Some big-name companies on LinkedIn are Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple.

LinkedIn is the favorite go-to place for recruitment because there are a lot of prospective applicants to choose from. You can assess each one of them by viewing their profile. There you can see their work experience and portfolio.

Toptal

Toptal is said to be the largest globally distributed network of world-class talent. Compared to LinkedIn, which displays applicants for all job positions, Toptal mainly focuses on business, design, and technology talent. They also filter the best candidates by accepting the top 3% in every field.

Toptal’s talent is mostly developers, designers, finance experts, project managers, and product managers.

Hired

Hired has one main goal, to match employers to employees. Just like in Toptal, users submit their profiles containing their skills and work experience. The system matches the applicant to a company that is looking for the same skill sets present to the applicant. That is why it is imperative to define your goal to match the exact software engineering professional that you need.

Hired values their transparency in recruitment. Once a company matches an applicant, the company can contact the prospect developer for an interview and an upfront salary offer.

Github Jobs

If you are looking for a job listing platform that targets the tech industry or developers, then consider Github Jobs. Github is a popular platform centered for developers around the world, so Github Jobs is a sure place for developers, especially freelancers.

Create a comprehensive post in Github Jobs to attract affordable software talent. You’ll need to pay an amount for your listing to go live on the website.

Should you opt to hire a freelancer or an offshore company?

Maybe you’ve heard a lot of excellent results from hiring freelance developers. Freelancers are flexible, affordable, and talented. All of these are true. Freelancers are skilled in their talent of expertise, and they charge less than local hires. However, freelance software developers or engineers are not always the answer to your prayers.

A freelancer may work if you are only looking for one developer to work on your project. This is economical and strategic. There won’t be much of a problem in communication since you will only be contacting one person. You can schedule conference calls and daily updates. But when you need a team of two or more developers, then you’ll need a contingency plan.

Finding a team of developers is not as easy as counting one to ten. If it doesn’t go as planned, you might need to find different freelancers one by one. But the thing is, how will the team be productive if they aren’t a unit? Who will lead the team?

Instead of focusing on your business, you will be busy uniting your software engineers. If that is the case, an affordable but globally skilled offshore software development company is your best choice.

With an offshore development company, you are guaranteed skilled developers dedicated solely to achieving your goal. One company is famous for helping startups gain the technical leverage that they need. And that is Full Scale.

Find a Software Developer with Full Scale

Full Scale commits to helping early-stage businesses to grow from the ground up through technical advantage. The company has everything that you need from various skilled developers of any specialization, creative graphic designers, compelling content writers, dedicated project managers, and successful entrepreneur leaders.

With our tried and tested process called Guided Development, you lead your development team even with the geographical distance. Your developers listen to what you want to create and execute the plan.

Tell us what you need and move a step further to achieve startup success and find a software developer! Schedule an appointment here.