Top 7 Tips for Hiring a Software Developer for a Startup
Finding the right team is a challenging task overall. For startups, it can be even harder sometimes. But with the right approach and clear goals, it can be done effectively. To establish a solid technical foundation, it is crucial to hire developers for new business who possess the right skills and experience to bring your vision to life. In this guide, you’ll learn how to find a developer for your startup. Obviously, many companies and projects are interested in hiring a developer for a startup exactly from Ukraine.
Let’s start with why startup programmers are often difficult to find. The first reason is the overall shortage of skilled professionals, especially in the IT industry. In 2019, IT companies in the U.S. alone had about one million unfilled positions. There is a shortage of skilled software developers out there, which makes it harder to find professionals in general.
The second reason why it is challenging to hire developers for new startups is that new businesses often have fewer resources to offer. They need to compete with industry giants when it comes to salaries and bonuses.
The next important complication is that startups are not as well-standing as established businesses. Startups are risky not only for founders but for employees as well. A lot of them might not be as inclined to join the team if there is a decent risk involved.
And although finding programmers for a startup might be difficult, the team is what brings any business to success. That’s why one should have an educated and well-planned approach to this matter.
Common Challenges of Growing Startups
Before you attract coders for hire for new business, it is important to evaluate the common challenges your startup might be facing. These can be factors that influence one’s decision on whether to join the team or not. And they also influence the business itself. The most widespread problems many entrepreneurs face are:
- Recruiting
Understanding how to hire developers for a startup involves considering factors such as technical expertise, cultural fit, and adaptability to the fast-paced nature of the industry. Whether you need to hire programmers for a startup, find a CTO, or internal marketing team, attracting qualified professionals can be hard. There is fierce competition in the market. Also, one needs to be sure that a person they bring in is a good fit in terms of culture and values.
Because of the local software engineers shortage, many entrepreneurs choose to hire programmer for startup remotely or offshore. This strategy not only addresses talent shortages but also offers a flexible and cost-effective way to scale, as highlighted in the “Scaling Up Business Guide“.
- Roles Distribution
In many cases, growing businesses experience shortages in resources. It means that often they have to work with what they have. As a result, professionals might overlap their responsibilities. Or some team members can be involved in the processes that have little to do with their position.
Potentially, it can create a harmful environment where people can burn out of feeling dissatisfied with their work. It can also lead to mistakes and errors because everyone should be doing what they are good at. So if you need to find a developer for startup, do not try to push this role on an in-house system administrator, for instance.
- Financial Issues
A lot of troubles new businesses face come from the fact that they do not have a lot of resources to invest. Hiring a programmer for a startup can be costly and time-consuming when done without proper preparation.
In this case, companies can choose consulting or professional help. Many of them prefer hiring developers for startup from Ukraine. A lot of entrepreneurs also find app developer for startup by outsourcing as it is significantly cheaper.
- Communication Issues
Communication is the key to efficiency. However, when it is a new team, and there are no regulations to that, it can be challenging to keep everyone on the same page. Surely, you have your business goals and objectives. Every department might have a slightly different agenda, so leadership is necessary to align all of them together.
But all of these complications can be overcome and prevented. What every venture needs are a great team, wise leadership, and transparency of communication.
Guide on How to Hire a Developer for Startup
Here is a complete guide with all the tips for hiring a software developer at a startup effectively and quickly.
Step 1. Identify Your Requirements
Start with drafting the scope of your project to understand what kind of tech professionals you need. If it is a low-tech project, it can exist without such experts as CTO, for instance. But if it needs a high level of tech expertise, it is better to consider finding a CTO for your startup.
Chief Technology Officer is an experienced and skilled professional that will oversee, draft, and control the software development process. Such an expert also knows how to find software developer for startup with relevant expertise and skills.
However, hiring a CTO is costly and time-consuming. The alternatives are finding a remote CTO, a fractional consulting CTO, or working with a CTO-as-a-service providing company.
If your MVP is on the low tech spectrum (there is no need for an extensive back-end or it can be built with ready-to-use solutions like WordPress), you need to look for a suitable software developer for startup.
Step 2. Define the Skill Set
The next step is defining what skills and competencies your future employee should possess. It depends on the tech stack of the MVP/project. For instance, if you are working on a web application, you need to find web developer for startup that is skilled in particular scripting languages and databases.
To have a clearer picture of what professional you are looking for, draft the job description:
- The project features one would work on;
- Technical and functional requirements for the MVP;
- Database considerations;
- Scheduling (if you want to release it faster or if it is a complex project, you will need more than one developer);
- Budget.
The hard and soft skills you need come from the project you work on. Identify the crucial technical skills, optional technical knowledge, and the seniority of a professional (junior, middle, or senior software programmer).
Step 3. Choose Hiring Model
There are several hiring models a startup should consider. One can hire an in-house team for constant collaboration. Others prefer consulting or freelancing helps for smaller tasks. And some might choose to augment their IT staff or build a remote dedicated software development team. Learning how to hire a programmer for a startup is essential for success, and it often involves leveraging networking events, online platforms, and recruiting agencies that specialize in connecting startups with talented software developers.
The difference depends on the complexity of the product you are working on, budget, and business goals. In-house hiring is the priciest model, and it takes more time. Working with consultants is more affordable, but it is a timely measure.
IT staff augmentation or building a remote dedicated team allows accessing qualified professionals at a lower price.
Step 4. Compare Salary Rates
To decide, compare salary rates and market trends for the skills you are looking for. Look not only into local salary trends but also outsourcing destinations.
Step 5. Select Candidates
When you have a clear idea of what you are looking for and where you aim, it is time to select candidates.
There are several ways to find them:
- Posting offers online on the company website or job boards;
- Collaborating with local recruiting providers;
- Following recommendations;
- Searching through professional circles and groups online;
- Finding experts offline at conferences, meetings, and industry events.
Look through the resumes you’ve collected to find the best match for the startup’s needs. Remember that there is no ideal candidate.
Step 6. Conduct Interviews
Shortlist the most suitable candidates and conduct online or offline interviews. It is important to figure out the level of skills and knowledge and evaluate the cultural fit for the team. Ask candidates about their prior experience and projects they’ve completed.
Step 7. Ensure Team Integration
When you’ve found the right fit, it is time to make an offer. If the offer is accepted, you need to ensure a new employee is integrated with the team. Make sure everyone understands their responsibilities and the common goal.
Self-Hiring vs IT Staff Augmentation and Dedicated Dev Team Vendors
In the guide on how to hire a developer for startup, we’ve mentioned that it is possible to collaborate with reputable IT team augmentation providers instead of doing all the work yourself. In this case, such providers will select and vet candidates and help with onboarding and administration.
This is particularly useful when looking for professionals outside the country of residence. Local providers are more knowledgeable of the labor market there and all the trends. They are also trained to do everything faster and more effectively.
Here is a comparison table to illustrate the difference between hiring by yourself and using the help of an dedicated development team vendor. We outline the benefits that you can gain when you hire developers for startup:
Salary Rates for Software Developers
Many businesses choose to hire programmers for startup remotely/offshore because it gives them access to talent otherwise unavailable and provides financial benefits. It is not a secret that salary rates for skilled labor differ significantly from country to country.
Here is a comparison of monthly salary rates of software developers in 6 countries to illustrate the point:
- USA – $9,020
- Germany – $5,340
- Switzerland – $8,566
- the Netherlands – $6,060
- Denmark – $6,522
- Ukraine – $4,100*
*Ukrainian salaries are provided based on Mobilunity’s Recruitment Team research on the local job markets. All salaries are net and do not include the service fee (in case of hiring on a dedicated team model). The salaries are provided for comparison purposes and could be not entirely accurate. Contact us to know the exact cost of hiring a developer corresponding to the required parameters.
From the data received it is obvious that cost to recruit a software developer in Ukraine might seem to be the most cost-effective option due to lower price.
Mobilunity Is an Expert IT Staff Augmentation Vendor in Eastern Europe
Mobilunity is a Ukrainian IT company that provides high-quality IT team extension services for international businesses of all sizes. Hiring software developers for startup requires a strategic approach to ensure you are attracting top talent who can help drive your company’s growth and success. We can easily hire part-time and full-time developers for new startups or build a remote dedicated development team for large companies and enterprises.
We have over a decade of experience in providing access to the top tech talent in Eastern Europe for all types of IT projects, whether an InsurTech product or a mobile travel application.
Zenchef (France) is among our clients, which built the leading online restaurant reservation platform. Mobilunity has provided the company with a dedicated development team since 2016, which helps improve and grow the solution.
Another success story is our partnership with XPLG (Israel) to provide a dedicated development team Ukraine to work together with the in-house professionals. Together they were able to speed up the development process and ensure cross-platform compatibility of the DevOps analytic software.
3e Joueur (Canada) went from being an agency to developing its own FinTech product with help of Mobilunity. We’ve been able to offer them a dedicated team of developers to complete more than 300 projects.
Mobilunity has experience and resources to help any startup to reach its goals and find suitable tech professionals. Contact us now to hire Fintech developers or order Rust development services and let’s begin the project to bring your business to the front of the pack!
Want to know how to find a developer for your startup? Contact our team today!
All salaries and prices mentioned within the article are approximate NET numbers based on the research done by our in-house Recruitment Team. Please use these numbers as a guide for comparison purposes only and feel free to use the contact form to inquire on the specific cost of the talent according to your vacancy requirements and chosen model of engagement.
