How to Hire the Best Software Developers?

The horizon of software development has seen some unprecedented rise, especially in the last two decades. As the audiences become more tech-savvy, it has become essential for business organizations to develop only the best software to keep their customers engaged for a longer duration.

But as many options are available on the market, business enterprises must employ concrete steps when hiring software developers. Having an effective hiring process will help the firm in the long run as the hired software developers will be able to deliver results as per requirement.

Hiring dedicated software developers in today’s dynamic era is a multi-faceted task. The hiring managers have to go beyond just the technical skills and take a deeper look at the process management, social networking skills, and the work ethics of the developers.

Therefore, here, we will understand the best practices that business organizations must incorporate while hiring the best software developers and leading software development companies.

Why Hiring Top Software Developers is Beneficial for a Business Organization?

It is necessary to have the top people irrespective of an organization’s business. Meanwhile, in the realm of software development, hiring top software developers is even more essential as every client wants the best talent to get the returns on their investments.

If a business organization hires the best software developers, they will quickly get accustomed to the fast-paced software development environment and deliver better and faster software cost-effectively. The software development world is fast becoming a complex place. Thus, if the software developers for hire are not ‘worth their salt’, they will not be able to cope with the expectations from the business owners and would perish like a house of cards.

Hiring experienced software developers will allow the software project to sail through the most challenging times. The clever software developers for hire will have the best of both skills, i.e., the hard (technical) and soft (communication & collaboration). Therefore, they will not only be able to do their work correctly but can also guide a team of fellow software programmers and achieve success together.

Another benefit of hiring accomplished software developers is that they can easily dwell on the work culture of the business organization. Their work adaptability and flexibility are excellent, and thus would be able to work on any new project like ‘fish to water’. Moreover, as they are also aware of the top software development process models, they can include that knowledge to develop excellent custom software.

What are the Top Selection Criteria to Hire the Best Software Developers?

Assuming that you have understood the importance of developing software, it is equally essential to select a service provider who is adept at the art and guide of software development. Here the issue is that there is a wide range of developers with different expertise, which makes the selection very critical to get it right.

To help you out with this, we, at TopDevelopers.co, have created a list of the top software development companies to select the best one that suits your requirements.

To build the most appropriate custom software that will take your business to new heights, you will need to select an ideal software development company first to hire top software developers for your software development project requirement. Choosing the right development partner can prove to be a tough task if you don’t know where to look. Therefore, here we have provided top criteria that can help you decide whether the software developers from software company is a good fit for your development requirements or not.

Define your software development needs

Before you approach to hire software developer, you must be clear regarding the features and functionalities that you want in your personalized software.

First, make a detailed list of all the requirements before you have that first meeting with your development partner.

Get viewpoints of all the stakeholders, which will include your bottom level employees, your managers, your top management, people from various departments like marketing, production, HR, IT, and understand their requirements.
By doing so, you will be able to make software development a participatory process where everyone will have a say. It will ensure that once the software system is built, there are no complaints from your employees, and people can get on board quickly.

Do not forget to conduct thorough market research and understand the requirements of the customers. Because if your software is not aligned with the needs of customers, then say goodbye to that fast-growing bottom line that you had always dreamt of.
By being clear about your goals, you will help your software development team in understanding your vision in a better manner, and they will ultimately develop custom software that will meet all your needs.

The good idea is to build user stories; these stories are vivid descriptions of how a user will use the software product.

Always look for intelligence

It is said that the best business enterprises hire the most intelligent people who make their work process more accessible. While hiring remote developers, the horizon of intelligence gets a little wider. Intelligence can be good creative ability, technical knowledge, excellent collaboration and communication skills, problem-solving ability, etc.

Therefore, as the horizon is a little complex, the business firm must have a clear vision of what they are looking for in a software developer. And this will depend on the type of work the developer is meant to do. Moreover, if the software developer has a good amount of everything mentioned and exceptional problem-solving skills, they can be a good fit for the software development project.

Quality of the company

Experience and technical expertise

How do business organizations decide that a software developers are good enough for their project? and What are the best practices to hire software developers? Well, there are specific criteria at which the enterprises can have a look and get a better idea.

Technical expertise is one of the most important criteria that help you in choosing the best software coders. . An excellent way to gauge the work experience of the company is to look at the combined work experience of the team working there. See how many projects they have worked on.

The certifications acquired by a development company or an individual employee of a company would be an excellent yardstick to ascertain the technical expertise of the software developers you hire. Software development is a continually evolving profession. Hence, the developers who are at the top of their game always put in efforts to acquire new skills.

The hiring manager would require a surgeon’s precision to find a talented software development expert as natural talent is the rarest resource available. Do not have a stringent policy about having specific years of experience because there might be a situation where a business organization might find a prodigy having optimal technical skills.

Thus, it is advised to have a flexible hiring process to find skilled software developers. The procedure of hiring doesn’t have to go by the textbooks and must be focused on searching for talented people with relevant experience.

Before the final process to hire the software development company begins, we recommend that you have a conversation with the team members with whom you are going to work. You can ask some basic questions and get a feel of whether it will be easy to work with this team or not.

Lay emphasis on flexibility and familiarity

We all understand that the software development market is a dynamic space. Therefore, there might be instances where sophisticated software developers have to come out of their shells and do something extraordinary. And to do this, with knowledge and skills, they would need flexibility in their work process.

There are countless new advancements in the software industry. Thus, it is inevitable for software engineers to be on their toes to get familiar with the latest software development trends. Therefore, along with being agile in their work process, a top-notch software developer must also be eager to learn new technology stacks for software development and trends. Business organizations must consider this keenness before hiring developers for their software projects.

Check the Company Portfolio

If an experienced software developer has done some extensive work in the past, they could be an asset to any business. Thus, while commencing the hiring process of software developers, it is necessary to have a detailed look at their work portfolio.

Have a look at their previously completed projects. The website of the software development firm will be an excellent place to start, as usually the best ones proudly present their work.

Before you call the company to have the initial discussion, it would be a great idea to have a look at their previously completed projects and zero down on the ones that are most similar to yours. Ask the company for the contact details of a few clients with whom you can talk.

• When you speak with these companies, ask about their experience of working on the project.
• How do they communicate, and what were the processes followed?
• How did they go about their work?
• Did they keep the clients abreast regarding the progress of the project?
• Ask them if there is some visual proof they can show to have a better insight.

These are some essential questions that you need to ask to get an idea of whether the software company delivers on its promises or not.

Apart from asking the software development team for referrals, you can also search online for recommendations and referrals for the software development agency you wish to work with.

Make sure to visit popular review platforms like Clutch.co and TopDevelopers.co to gather some real customer feedback about your software development partner. You can also check the Facebook and Google reviews of the software development agency.
Another vital factor to check when you choose a software developers is their industry recognition. Have a look at whether your software development partner has got any reputable industry awards or not.

Modern-day developers wear their hearts on their sleeves and are not afraid of showcasing their excellent work. There are many open-source code platforms, such as GitHub, where the developers keep their portfolios. Therefore, hiring managers, CTOs or tech leads, etc. looking for hiring software developers, must check their online portfolio.

This is because the online portfolios will render explicit knowledge about the previous work experience of the software developers and what extra they could bring to the table.

Quality assurance

Presently, the market is too fickle that building and releasing software at lightning speed is all-important. It requires companies to build the software wearing the users’ lenses, which is possible with agile and DevOps. Agile methodology helps in creating and iterating software based on the users’ feedback for features and UI/UX design. DevOps is a practice of empowering collaboration among the IT teams and operations that enables launching products in reduced time-to-market.

You should ask the company how they assure the clients of quality software development. Do they focus on only product development with a product mindset? Or, do they go the extra mile with agile and DevOps? If yes, the company is a perfect fit that introduces a feedback loop in the software development to ensure quality delivery that meets users’ needs.

In addition to the ongoing feedback loop, ensure that the company also facilitates ongoing testing and validation stages incrementally to enhance the solution as business’s digital needs grow.

Certifications and accreditations

Checking the developers’ tech stack capabilities for software development is vital to know which types of technologies and tools the company leverage to build specific types of solutions and deliver unmatched results. Technology partnership with credible software development companies (tech giants) such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Salesforce, and others is a good sign.

When you have decided to partner with the software development company, ask them if their technical team has gained certifications provided by the leading tech giants through programs. It ensures that team members have the expertise to deliver exceptional service.

Accreditations from reliable leading research and consulting firms such as Gartner or Forrester help businesses get impartial insights about the company. In the same vein, awards, accolades, ratings, and reviews are a great way to judge the company’s performance practically.

It’s good to place trust in a company that has a partnership, certifications, and accreditation from well-renowned tech giants.

After-sales support provided by Software company

The after-sales support policy of a software company is another criterion to evaluate while selecting a good software developers. Understand that once the vendor delivers the software product to you, the job is not over.

You will require constant support from your hired team of custom software developers, even after the development of software project has been completed. The custom software built for you needs to be maintained and updated regularly so that it can fulfill the changing needs of users, and for updating the software, you will require the support of your software vendor.

You can ask in detail about the kind of after-sales support that your software development service provider will provide. Ensure that everything is written down on the contract papers. Experienced software developers will be more than willing to provide you with robust post-development support because they know that clients require their help most after the software has been launched and installed.

Many bugs which have not been filtered out in the development process will raise their ugly head once the software interacts with the user. Many times the user will find the software to be difficult to use. It mainly happens with those users who are accustomed to using particular software, and the new customized software is significantly different from their previous one.

In such cases, you will require the support of your custom software development service provider to make your software solution user-friendly.

Price Structure

Pricing is one of the most important software development vendor selection criteria that even overlaps with different hiring models chosen by the businesses to get space in digital world. Of course, software development price plays a vital role in deciding the software developers that you will eventually hire. But ensure that you do not get trapped by the lure of the low cost.

Understand that as in all cases in life, in the software, also you get what you pay for. We are not saying that you should opt for the most costly option either. It’s just that if you are hiring a developer much below the average market rate, then it is highly likely that there will be a huge difference between your expectation and what you are actually delivered.

You can have a look at the average pricing levels in the industry and then decide on a suitable software developers.

Discuss the pricing structures that the software company is following and choose the best suitable one for your product development. Here are the best pricing structure followed by most service providers in the industry.

Fixed price model

The specifications, date of delivery and budget of the software product are fixed in this model, and there is little room for changes.

In this model, the price is usually given after the software selection criteria are fixed. As the model is less flexible, managing risk is difficult in the fixed price model. If the specs are changed mid-way, then there will be modifications in the contract, and terms will need to be discussed again. Frequent changes in software product criteria will delay the project and make the time-to-market longer.

When to use the fixed price model?

This model is suitable for shorter and smaller projects where the criteria for software product development can be finalized beforehand. It should be clear that the project requirements are not going to change significantly in the foreseeable future.

Time and material model

Time and material is one of the most widely used software development models in pricing. In this model, the remote developers charge you for the number of hours that are spent on developing your project. The cost includes the cost of materials and third-party plug-ins, which are required while developing your custom software.

In this model, you can change the scope of the project (within certain limits) mid-way. Flexibility and shorter time to market are the advantages that this software development model for hiring offers. By adopting software development methodologies such as Agile and Scrum, you can get continuous delivery of the software product milestones.

By getting continuous delivery, you will always be in control at every stage of the software development process, you will know whether you are getting the exact software solution that you wanted or not.

When to choose the time and material pricing model?

The time and material model is frequently opted for when the custom software product is complex, and it is expected that the project will take more time to complete. If you do not have clearly defined software development project specifications, and there are continually evolving requirements in your project, then also you should go for the time and material pricing model.

The dedicated team pricing structure

It is a model in which the professional custom software development company provides you with a dedicated team. This remote team will work dedicatedly only on your project, and you will need to pay for hiring the team as well as the administrative and material expenses incurred while building your software project.

The advantage of this pricing model is that you will get an in-house team without having to go through the hassle of selecting all the team members. You will also have the flexibility to scale your team up or down according to your requirements and budget.

When should you go for a dedicated team pricing structure?

You should go for this kind of model if you want total control over your project. By hiring a dedicated team, you are, in essence, managing the project yourself, and hence you will be involved in the procedure of software development in a much more profound manner than the previous models.

This dedicated software development team model is also preferable when you have a small in-house team yourself, but they lack in terms of experience and expertise, and you want to supplement the team with hired software development experts.

After having a look at your project’s requirements, discuss with your selected software development team members the ideal pricing structure that you should follow for your project. Once you fix the pricing structure, then you can iron out the pricing details and then sign on the dotted line of the contract.

Invest in clean coders

It is the most basic requirement if an organization wants to hire software coders for a longer duration. If the software coder doesn’t code their codes cleanly, they can become a liability for the organization in the long run. Therefore, business enterprises must test their skills to have a clear idea of the developers’ command over software coding.

Hiring software programmers with clean coding skills will allow the dedicated team to work well during trying circumstances, maintain the software and install future updates without any hiccups. On the other hand, it would be challenging to collaborate with remote software developers who write improper code. As a result, the entire software development process would get slowed down.

Quality that defines client-friendly outsourcing

Location and time-zone

Location and time-zone differences are some of the most important selection criteria in choosing a software company for outsourcing your project requirements.

In this digitally connected world, location is no longer a barrier while selecting software developers for your project requirement. It is perfectly ok if you choose to select a company that is located nearby if you have time zone issues, although many good software outsourcing companies will provide you with remote team members that can work in your time zone. When you hire developers to work dedicatedly on your project, you will enjoy the benefits of reduced development cost, flexibility, and more.

We can classify the outsourcing software development companies based on their location in the following ways.

• Onshore

The software development team works in your country and in the same time zone.

• Offshore

The software developers works outside of your country and is usually separated by several time zones.

• Nearshore

The software development firm works in a neighboring country that does not have too much time-zone difference with your country.

• Hybrid model

In the hybrid model, a part of the software development is finished onshore, while a part of it is done offshore. For instance, you can go for onshore project management with offshore development or hire offshore developers for parts of the project that your onshore developers cannot complete.

Cost is often one of the most important criteria for selecting software development process models.
Offshore development wins hands down in this arena as, in most cases, it would be the most cost-effective software development engagement model.

When selecting a company for custom software development that is offshore, you need to ensure that there is no communication barrier. You and your custom software development team should be able to communicate in a language that you both are comfortable with.

If you are located in a western nation, then you will find that giving your software development project to a company based in a developing country like Indonesia, India, or Ukraine will have significant cost benefits. This is the primary reason why many western companies prefer to outsource their software development project to these developing nations.

Hot Destinations to Outsource Software Development

Communication and transparency

Software development is a long-term partnership, and this is why you should ensure to have a smooth communication process along with a high level of transparency. While choosing a software developers, pay attention to the following points.

• The language fluency of the remote software developers
• The communication tools used by the team
• The response frequency of the software development company

The best software developers will have a transparent communication process and will be honest with the client regarding the possible roadblocks and delays that the project can face.

Besides having a personal one-on-one meeting, it is a nice idea to check the social media posts and blogs of the software development service provider that you choose to work with.

Before you finalize the contract with the selected software development team, make sure that you have access to:

• The source code
• The project management dashboard
• All documents related to the project
• The production environment

Success in outsourcing software development project hinges a lot on the robustness of the communication process and the level of transparency in the development process.

Top ways to avoid software development outsourcing failures

Data security

One of the vital factor to consider when selecting an ideal software development solution provider while outsourcing your project requirement of the security of your data. You should ensure high data security standards for your project. Always make data security a top priority while choosing a software development team. You do not want your sensitive data to get into the wrong hands.

Ensure that the software developer you choose to work with is experienced in vulnerability testing and has sophisticated encryption algorithms. You can face data breaches and even land up in data privacy compliance issues if the software development agency you choose to work with is not well-versed with high-security systems.

Data privacy and cybersecurity will emerge as crucial software engineering trends in the future and if you want to be future-ready, then ensure robust data security for your custom software.

Here are a few security features that you can discuss with your probable custom software development team.

• Access control
• Application security
• Encryption
• Secure coding
• Multi-Factor Authentication
• Data-centric security
• Firewall
• Intrusion detection systems

Invest time and effort to find a software development company that follows good data security practices.

Specifying the Software Developers’ Types

There are different types of software developers available in the market to hire. Therefore, business organizations must know the basic ones, at least to begin with. We have created a list of top software development types and what to expect from each who is claiming to be experienced and expert.

Back-end developers

These developers work on the software application’s logic. Therefore, the backend software developers understand programming languages such as ASP.NET, Python, C++, SQL, PHP, etc. Moreover, knowledge about caching systems, database management, and pipelines would be critical as well.

Frontend developers

Frontend software developers specialize in the part of the software that has a direct interaction with the user. Therefore, whether it is the visual aesthetics of the software or layouts, interfaces, etc., the frontend developer is responsible for making them interactive. The frontend programming languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, etc. would help the frontend developers to deliver better output.

Full-stack developers

A dedicated full-stack developer knows both frontend and backend development. They are famously known as ‘Jacks Of All Trades’ as their knowledge of programming languages is extensive. As skilled full stack developers have a deep understanding of different programming languages, their experience could be valuable in different projects.

Mobile app developers

As the name suggests, mobile app developers specialize in the design, development, maintenance, etc., of mobile apps. Besides smartphones, application developers are required to have strong knowledge about developing apps for wearable tech, tablets, etc. Some of the common app development languages and frameworks that app developers use are Flutter, React Native, Swift, Kotlin, Python, C#, JavaScript, etc. At TopDevelopers.co you can find some of the best mobile app development companies that you can hire for your app development project.

Web developers

Just like mobile app developers, here, web developers specialize in the development and maintenance of websites and web applications. Although their expertise ranges from both backend and frontend, most website developers are proficient in either of them. Top web developers are expected to be aware of Ruby, Java, Go, Swift, etc. At TopDevelopers.co you can find some of the best web development companies that you can hire for your web development project.

What types of questions should you ask?

Apart from considering the top tips on how to hire the best software developers, there are certain aspects about the project requirements with which you must be clear about before hiring. Having clarity about the aspects will help to ask the right questions and make an informed decision.

There are a few questions with which you must be prepared before starting communication with a software development partner, the questions relates to everything that you should know right from the work process to technical and business management, documentation, security, methodologies, and the pricing.

• Which communication tools are used by the company to facilitate seamless communication?
• How company ensures collaboration with the client in case of time zone differences?
• How does the company delegate the project responsibilities to the team?
• Which process company employs to take the development project forward?
• Which tools are leveraged for documentation, designing, and testing?
• Which working methodologies are used for software development?
• How do expertise and experience bring differences in developers’ rates?

The list of questions could go on based on your requirements but those listed here are the most basic ones’ that will be applicable in most case of hiring a software development partner.

How can TopDevelopers.co can help?

Hiring software developers that are the best fit for the project requirements and the company’s culture is not a run-of-the-mill job. As a business owner, you need to pour in a lot of time, resources, and effort to find the maestros that make the project a great success while matching the business vision.

What’s more? We at TopDevelopers.co help you cut down the boring and mind-numbing activity of finding and sorting the top ones to approach. We help you with the top service providers and you can directly proceed by selecting the best and asking questions that will help you in hiring the most suitable company for your project.

Further, if you want more help sorting the best service provider based on your requirements we can certainly help you with that as well, you would just require to send in your project details and requirements here. Once we have your requirements we will get in touch with you to learn more about the project and provide you with a couple of the best companies to approach for your software development project. Thus, TopDevelopers.co has made the software developers hiring process damn simple.

The platform enables the source, match, and manage the developers across the globe. The featured list of professionals makes things faster in addition to top talent hiring.

Find out the ideal team of developers from TopDevelopers.co and ask the set of questions to get the best team on the board to add life to the dream project.

Final thoughts

Business organizations have to consider many steps when they are looking to hire software developers. But most importantly, they must be aware of their requirements. Because once the enterprises know what they exactly want for the software developers, they would be able to ask them the right questions and streamline the entire hiring procedure.

Gillian Harper   |  Dec 28, 2022

A professionally engaged blogger, an entertainer, dancer, tech critic, movie buff and a quick learner with an impressive personality! I work as a Senior Process Specialist at Topdevelopers.co as I can readily solve business problems by analyzing the overall process. I’m also good at building a better rapport with people!