According to recent startup statistics, 21.5% of startups fail within their first year. Of course, there could be many reasons for this — poor management, bad partnership, and ineffective marketing just to name a few. But one common reason that ends these businesses before they can even start is a lack of appropriate talent.
In a tech company, software developers play a crucial role. You need to look for — and hire — the best ones to create a strong team. But how do you find developers for your startup? In this article, we'll help you with that and more.
Need Developers for Your Startup? Here's How You Find Them!
In its first few months, a startup requires a lot of engagement and nurturing to keep it safe in the long haul. It demands a strong foundation that can stand up to challenges without losing its position.
For your tech company, you need to hire developers that can meet your objectives efficiently. However, this may not be as easy as it sounds.
Below, we've shared some tips and tricks to help you find the best startup developers for your company. It all comes down to implementation and using them to welcome the best talent in your startup.
Determine the Technical Background Needed for the Role
Your startup deserves the best talent. But as long as you aren't clear about the technical background requirements for a particular role, you may not find it. Whether you need a software developer, an app developer, or a web developer, you need to determine the skillset and experience they should have to fit well in your company.
For instance, a software developer needs at least a bachelor's degree in computer sciences or a similar field. A master's degree is advisable if you want someone for a senior-level position.
Below are some of the most critical skills and expertise a developer should have.
Project Management
A project may not survive without smart, excellent management. It's crucial to manage workload and solve issues before they become more significant problems. Project management helps keep the team and task on track at all times.
A developer leading a team should have strong project management skills and the required knowledge to meet all these goals. In addition, they should be adequately aware of a project's objectives to guide their team efficiently.
The role of a developer should be beyond the things that they may have learned in school or college. It should also cover some soft skills, such as good communication and strong leadership. A potential candidate with excellent knowledge and skills can easily help your startup achieve success.
Programming Knowledge
Further, a developer should also have specific skills and knowledge that can help them start the job on their first day. For example, knowledge of programming languages, data structures, algorithms, and basics of testing are a few technical skills that can make a candidate worthy of your job position.
Potential candidates should also be aware of various software and operating systems so that they can be a source of comfort for your company. If your company's aim is to develop applications for Android, for example, then prospective hires ought to be proficient in programming languages such as Java, Python, and C++. Take the time to determine what specific hard skills you need your would-be developers to have and make them clearly known.
If a candidate lacks knowledge on these aspects, they may require training before you can hand them over a task. If you can afford training, then go ahead. But if it's costly and time-consuming for you right now, you may want someone who's already well-prepared.
When it comes to determining a technical background, it's also imperative to evaluate the years of experience you demand. For example, if you want a developer for a starting position, an internship in the field would suffice. However, a senior developer should have at least three to five years of experience to handle the challenges of your startup.
So, before you start your hunt, make sure that you're clear on the role's requirements to hire a professional that can meet your company's needs. Otherwise, you might end up with someone who may add no value to your startup.
Identify Ideal Options for Finding Experienced Developers and Tech Talent
Once you're clear on the level of expertise you want for a developer, identify the means or places that can help you find the best tech talent. From there, start to look for available options.
For instance, there are many freelance marketplaces through which you can select an experienced developer. However, be prepared to conduct interviews before you make a decision. Freelance marketplaces provide many options, but you should also be able to differentiate between a good and poor talent to avoid any future problems.
There are many online communities run and managed exclusively by developers. If you can find a way to become a part, you may find developers across the globe ready to work for your startup. Alternatively, you can also get in touch with an offshore development team or remote recruitment agencies for this task.
Offshore Development Team
An offshore development team helps you find mature and result-driven talent that can produce high-end services and products for you. Offshore developers are usually located in a distant location from your office and may also have a significant time difference with you.
The benefit of hiring an offshore development team is that they can fill the gaps in the shortage of talent that might be emerging in your country or more immediate locale. However, handling an offshore team comes with its challenges. For instance, you may have to communicate asynchronously and work through language barriers. You'll likely also have to build an offshore culture so they can work as a unified team.
Remote Recruitment Agencies
If you want to hire the best software talent but are unable to do so with the help of your local recruitment agencies, you may want to get in touch with a remote team of recruiters and take their help to find developers outside your country. One of the best things about hiring a remote recruitment agency to perform this task is that they can find talent worldwide and look after the entire recruitment process on their own.
Whether you need a single developer or an entire team of tech experts, the recruitment agency can help you find talent according to your startup budget and other requirements. When choosing the best remote agency, you should consider a few essential factors. For instance, the fee structure that the agency charges, its social media presence, and its success rate are a few considerations that ought to inform your decision.
Clearly Define the Hiring Process
Once you've selected a few candidates through their resumes, you may want them to undergo a defined hiring process. This process may vary for different startups since not every company has the same skill or job requirements. However, make sure that whoever is conducting this process from your team is clear about what the entire procedure aims to achieve.
For instance, if the objective of the hiring process is to help you find a web developer for a particular project, make sure that each interview or test is conducted according to the task. Every question should be tailored to the main scope of the hiring process.
Similarly, the scheduled date of every interview should be made clear. Again, this is important to ensure that less time gets wasted and no compromises are being made.
What should an interview cover? To start, you can conduct a pre-screen interview to assess communication skills and understand the salary requirements of the potential developer. Besides giving the interviewees different scenarios to evaluate their decision-making skills, you can also ask them how they've solved problems for past projects. Not only will this give you insight into their knowledge and work philosophy, but you'll also be able to get a sense of who they are and gauge whether they're a good personal fit for your team.
You should also design assessment tests as part of your hiring process. These tests can cover basic questions regarding their profession and various challenges they think they might face — or have already faced — while working in a startup. Whether the tests should be taken prior to an interview or during the application phase is up to you.
Conduct a Trial Run To See How They Work With Your Dedicated Team
Conducting a successful hiring process is crucial to finding the most relevant and dedicated developers for your startup. Once you've shortlisted a few candidates, arrange a trial run for them to evaluate their responses and work ethic while working in a team.
Allow the candidates to work on your project for a week, and note their performance and attitude towards other team members. Then, give them different challenging and easy tasks to see whether they handle them correctly or not.
Make sure that you evaluate the results of each candidate for every stage of the trial run. Once that period is over, review the performance of every developer and give them feedback for improvements. Finally, hire the developers that ace every step, and welcome them into your team with an open mind.
If you're successful in conducting all the above steps, you'll find a developer who can help add value to your startup. But make sure that you plan everything before conducting these processes — a minor overlooked detail in the entire process may end up leading to you selecting the wrong candidate.
If there are other people in your team responsible for hiring, make sure they're clear on everything as well so that they know what to look for.
Challenges That Arise When Trying To Find Developers for Startup Projects
Running a startup isn't easy. There are so many hurdles involved at every step that many entrepreneurs can easily lose hope. One of these challenges is finding software developers who are not only good project managers but also great programmers and team players.
A startup has a lot of limitations that make the entire recruitment process tough. With little access to various recruitment platforms and tight startup budgets, many new ventures end up sealing a deal with incapable developers only to regret it later.
In this section, let's explore some of the challenges that startups face while hunting for a developer for a specific project. By knowing them, you'll be more capable of efficiently finding a solution to combat these challenges.
Time-to-Market
In their first and second year, software startups usually have small teams. That's because hiring a bigger team costs way more than these ventures can bear.
However, while a small team is easier to handle, proper work allocation becomes quite a task. One person is usually involved in more than one project, so the time to market for a developer's job position becomes everyone's last priority.
It isn't easy to find talent until — and unless — more and more people know about a job position. Unfortunately, because of time and resources constraints, startups usually compromise on their marketing efforts and then go for developers to whom they can easily reach out.
Tight Startup Budgets
Sadly, most startups start from very little. They have tight budgets, which makes it hard to hire resources that charge more. Moreover, in the first two years, startups are usually learning to manage their costs and revenues properly, so the chances of incurring losses and making mistakes are pretty high.
Like many other things this world, development costs have increased by a significant percentage in the last decade. As a result, not everyone can currently afford a developer that offers excellent services within the company's budget. This creates a significant hurdle when looking for the best developer.
Technical Expertise
It isn't easy to find a single developer with all the required technical expertise. This is especially true when you have a limited network and a tight budget in your hand. Regardless of where you look, a talent that comes with all your required qualities may be hard to approach.
Moreover, anyone who is a great project manager and a programmer with excellent experience would be reluctant to work in a startup that has just developed. However, they may consider your job position if you plan to pay them according to their demands.
Reliability
Since startups sometimes lack experience, they can find it hard to uncover the reliability of a potential candidate during the hiring process, which is why they overlook it. While talent is imperative, a developer should also be reliable to positively impact the company and its team.
There are many ways to test the reliability of a candidate. For instance, there are certain behaviors that reflect their passion for work, such as coming to the interview on time or asking questions during their assessment. Moreover, you can also confirm a candidate's reliability through references that you can trust.
However, it's easier said than done. Startups don't often have time or expertise to implement these methods, and as a result, they ignore testing reliability in the first place.
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Find Developers for Your Software Development Team Today
Regardless of your budget constraints or experience, you can't run away from the fact that a good developer will positively impact your startup and its projects. Talent and knowledge are necessary for the growth of your venture, and you can't survive without them.
However, finding a developer that suits your budget and skill requirements may seem impossible. Considering the current talent shortage, the dream of developing a great software team may feel unrealistic.
Before you lose all hopes, know that isn't so. If you can't develop a team within your country, you can hire remote developers in Latin America and pay them to work for you. Revelo is a well-known marketplace for talent that connects deserving and talented developers in Latin America with the best companies and startups in the USA.
Revelo offers this service by partnering with various companies in the U.S. and helping them grow their development teams efficiently and cost-effectively. What's more, you can try the risk-free 14-day trial on the platform to test the performance of the potential candidates before officially hiring them.
Revelo follows a simple procedure. First, you communicate your requirements so that the talent marketplace can match you with the best developers within three days. Then you can meet the people selected before conducting a free trial.
If you're looking for the best developers and are trying to develop your existing team, contact Revelo and let them handle the work for you.
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