Employees are the backbone of any organization whether it’s an established company or a startup. Especially when you’re a startup then hiring each employee becomes crucial as those are the ones that shape your company.

We all know how IT industry is growing by incessantly adding more and more people in it. With the availability of tons of developers, choosing the right candidate for your organization becomes a tricky task.

But don’t worry, in this article, we’ll look at the top seven things that you must consider while you hire software developers for your startup.

Focus on skills rather than the CV

You must have seen this common meme on the internet that says “a two-page resume can’t decide my future”. Well, literally it can, but I agree with the essence of it. It means that resume is not always a correct parameter to judge someone’s capabilities.

As soon as you advert for vacancies, hundreds of resumes will flood your inbox. In case, if you have decided to keep the qualifications as the parameter, then you won’t be doing any favors to your startup. It’s because a candidate with a fancy looking CV might not be a correct fit for your company.

The other reasons why you shouldn’t hire a developer based on a resume is that; first, people lie on a resume. Second, a candidate could have high qualifications and experience but, would he/she be a good fit for your company? That question would remain unanswered. Lastly, you yourself could’ve developed some preconceived notions over a simple looking resume which could possibly result in losing a talented developer.

Hire developers from the larger talent pool

You should never limit yourself while you hire dedicated mobile app developers for your startup. If you choose to hire developers only from a limited talent pool, then you’ll be forced to select developers that might not have what you truly require.

To avoid such situation, you have two options. First one is to hire developers from offshore companies which have a larger talent pool. Having a larger talent pool to choose from always gives you an edge.

The second option is to hire a remote developer from different regions. You can choose to outsource your work to the developers with greater skills and experience.

Give them real-life technology problems

While testing the candidate in the interview, don’t give him/her a generic code challenge as it won’t serve any purpose for you as well as to the candidate. Instead, try giving them a real-life technological problem that your company might have come across in the past.

By this, you can give the candidate an idea about what kind of works they shall be doing. Moreover, you’ll get to know whether they have the skills to face such challenges.

Prefer problem-solving ability over knowledge of various languages

Even a layman knows that the popularity of computer languages changes at a rapid pace. The ones which are extensively used today might go obsolete in a couple of years. In such a scenario, if you’re still obsessed with their knowledge about the language, then you might need to change your approach.

Focus on the algorithms; see how they approach towards a given problem. Focus more on their problem-solving ability. Moreover, as far as the language is concerned, an active learner can learn it anytime.

Set Your Expectations before Finalizing a Hiring

It’s imperative for you to set your expectations from the candidate precisely in black and white. Otherwise, it would result in an ending which neither you nor the candidate would ever want. For example, if you’re not flexible with your developer working from home often, then you must make it clear to them before you take a final decision on the hiring.

Ensure that They Produce Well-Written Code

It’s strange how the skill of writing good codes is underrated. I am sure you wouldn’t want to get a developer who writes messy codes. In fact, no one would like to collaborate with someone writing messy codes. Even a good algorithm/functionality can’t do much for a poorly written code.

Find the Right Balance

Everyone is looking for the golden ratio between the experience and the ability to quickly adapt. However, you rarely find it. If you go for an experienced candidate, then he/she will get you the work done. However, he/she may or may not be flexible with their working pattern. Moreover, in case, your company demands that developer to be flexible then you’ll be in trouble.

On the other hand, if you go for a young developer, then you’ll get the flexibility but on the cost of productivity and the expertise. According to me to strike the right balance you must choose a candidate who has worked on a live project but not long enough to master it or in other words be tied to technology.

Conclusion

I know that having a startup in Software development is a challenge. Moreover, to hire developers for a startup is another headache. However, if you try to understand the above factors and implement in your hiring process, then I am sure you’ll hiring woes would be over soon.

I hope you this article was of great help to you. If you have any feedback or suggestions, then please write it in the comments section.