In its exponentially increasing complexity, the tech industry has become more and more specialized – a scenario in which it often makes sense to outsource work such as software development. In a sense, it is easy to make the judgment call that you should pay an external developer who has dedicated his or her entire career to the type of software that you are looking to develop. But once this decision is clear, the quest for a skilled developer begins.
Here are three credentials to focus on when hiring an outsourced software developer:
- Language: First and foremost, you need to be sure that your developer knows the language of the platform that you’re building. If not, you will be on an unnecessary learning curve.
- Understanding of your product: Developers tend to speak and think in very systematic, object ways. When it comes to the technical nature of the project, it is important that you can communicate deeper aspects of the project to your developer. For example, if the developer understands your audience and market, then you can allow them the freedom to take on more creative measures such as user interface design, which can save your company time and money in the UI department.
>> Learn How to Hire Great Nearshore Developers with These Five Tips
Access: Knowing how much access you will give to your developer is a subjective and challenging task to achieve. When outsourcing you can be working with people from across the globe, in which case you need to consider the following:
- Spoken Language: We’ve already gone over the importance of programming language, but being able to communicate in a spoken language is important. For example, many of the options when it comes to outsourcing software developers come from India – a country where English is spoken widely – but, there are other countries where a language barrier between you and your developer will be much more frequent. Miscommunications are not just frustrating, but can cause significant setbacks in time and money, and can hurt your company’s reputation.
- Culture: An important question to ask yourself when choosing your outsourced nearshore software developer is whether or not your developer’s culture meshes well with yours. Consider culture on both a business and a personal basis. On a business basis, it should be because of the liability and scope of responsibility. A personal basis because work is fun when everyone is getting along.
- Time zone: Time zones are critical because when communicating people expect an immediate response. While India has more developers who speak English, its downside is that it is halfway across the world, therefore tricky to coordinate regarding time zones.
- Your developer’s clientele profile: You might feel nosy inquiring about your developer’s clientele profile (and in many cases may not even legally be able to ask), but it is nevertheless something to consider, as it will affect your relationship with your developer. If your developer takes on too many clients and most of them are more important than you are, then you will inevitably be pushed back in the line or pawned off to a less experienced developer.
Related Content: 5 Important Things to Understand about Hiring Software Developers
Choosing to outsource your software development team is only the first step in the process. Choosing the right one, with which you are compatible is what will make or break the success of the project and the collaboration between your company and its contracted development team.
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