It’s never easy to hire a professional, especially for a startup project. Every young business is very fragile at the beginning. Hence, every new team member has a significant impact on how the whole company will work. That’s why if you decide to hire a freelancer to help you out, you should be even pickier and highly selective.
Quite often, startup owners are very skeptical about hiring a freelancer instead of a full-time, in-house employee just because they (or somebody they know) had one bad experience with a freelance dev. Only one situation like this shapes their entire perception of freelancers in general.
However, quite often, these startups have no one to blame but themselves. Instead of taking the process of searching for a developer seriously, they underpay, hire from unreliable sources, and ignore the importance of testing the freelance devs before entrusting them with important tasks. The desire to save a little money can cause problems that will cost you thousands of dollars. However, if you hire right, the potential benefits of hiring freelance developers far outweigh the costs.
Why Outsource Your Development at All?
It is believed that in-house teams are more trustworthy and practical for software projects. However, when it comes to a startup with its budget limitations, outsourced professionals are a much better choice. Imagine all the expenses above the hourly rates you need to cover for an in-house team (office, insurance, etc.)—that might be too much for a young project.
In a recent report by Lemon, different businessmen were asked why they hire freelance developers. The reasons they stated were as follows:
- Affordability. Freelancer hourly rates largely depend on their region and professional level. But regardless of these factors, hiring freelancers will cost you less than building an in-house team.
- Flexibility. Since freelancers don’t have a typical 40-hour workweek, they tend to be more flexible with their schedules. On the other hand, they can appear to be less responsible, and it’s harder to have the process under control.
- Variety of skills to choose from. With numerous freelance platforms, you’re not limited to an array of skills common in your area, but rather you can find literally any technical expertise.
On top of that, some employers prefer working with a whole distributed team. Therefore, done properly, freelancers might become a perfect match for your startup as well. Further, in the text, we’ll share the inside tips on where to look for and how to select freelance developers to meet your project’s needs.
Where to Find Your Perfect Match?
The same research mentioned above finds out that among those who never hired freelance devs, 11% didn’t do so just because they don’t know where to search for freelancers.
There are many ways to do so: referrals, social networks, generic freelance platforms like Upwork and Freelancer, and vetted freelance platforms like Lemon.io or Gun.io. As for the last one, people who choose this way of searching for a freelance dev have in general a better experience, compared to other ways.
Therefore, if you don’t know how to find a developer whose skills and abilities can be trusted, simply choose a platform of narrow specification, and always read about their vetting processes carefully. If the website doesn’t have one, it is a big worry and a red flag not to cooperate with them.
How to Interview Your Candidates?
After you find the place/platform to search for your first freelancer, the next step is to decide who’s going to be that one and only to match your startup perfectly. In most cases, you’ll have to choose between a few candidates (sometimes equally good ones!). So, what do you do next to ensure who is going to be the right fit for you?
It’s always a good idea to conduct a technical interview yourself. But if you’re not a tech person and you don’t have a CTO or an in-house engineer, you might perform the following steps:
- Check what types of interviews the candidate has already passed on the platform (in case you decided to go with an online marketplace)—this can establish initial trust in their skills.
- Then, interview them, explaining in detail what you expect them to accomplish and ask to briefly describe the technologies and methods they’re going to use.
- Be as precise as possible when explaining the tasks and setting deadlines to make sure you’re on the right page. Discuss how you will track their progress.
- Pay attention to their soft skills, language proficiency, cultural background, and time zone to build effective communication.
Don’t Overlook Dev’s Soft Skills
We’ve already touched upon the subject of developers’ language and communication skills. It is also worth mentioning that the success of your project depends as much on the technical expertise as on efficient communication between the teams. Make sure both sides feel comfortable during the interview.
What else can you look for? You can research your candidates’ contribution to opensource, as it might tell a lot more than their CV. Passionate developers (and you probably want one) don’t limit themselves to the jobs they are hired to do; they contribute to different software solutions they have a personal interest in.
Summing Up
To find a freelance developer who’ll help take your project to the next level, you must do some research. The first step is to explore trusted freelance platforms and learn about their vetting process. After shortlisting some of the candidates, interview them and give them clear project guidelines.
Make sure every aspect of your communication suits you: you speak the same language, the developer can explain their work processes, and they have a clear understanding of what you need to achieve. If you’re thorough in your search and trust your gut, hiring the perfect developer won’t take long. Good luck with it!
