The field of software development is one that continues to gain momentum, both in terms of demand, as well as with the influence of trending technologies such as AI. No business can now function without it, no matter how small, as positioning products and services to target markets is now typically done either via ecommerce or a mobile app – ideally both.
Software companies in Sri Lanka and the world over have since evolved to cater to the niche requirements that their clientele have, as a result. From diversifying software outsourcing models to integrating cybersecurity and cloud services management, much is now offered to the average client, by software outsourcing companies.
Remote developers are one such offering as well; by integrating the best global talent into growing software development teams, distance is never considered a constraint to hire the best expertise that is out there. In this article, we discuss the advantages of hiring remote developers, as well as how your business can go about sourcing, screening and hiring the best one for your unique needs.
Looking to source remote developers for your business? Whether you’re looking to hire developers for startup projects or for one that’s more established, we’ve got your back. Talk to us today to know how we can scale your hiring needs, following a thorough assessment of the end objectives your business has. 
Being able to hire engineers that are the most experienced and are also the most feasible in terms of budget is something that businesses can now solely focus on, without ever having to worry about how far away their candidate of choice is located.
With distributed work environments having gained so much popularity over the years due to the high level of convenience they offer, hiring and working with remote developers has also experienced less resistance from business leaders that previously had reservations about distributed teams.
Even though dedicated software companies deliver significant cost savings through their services, using the services of a remote developer can further help reduce costs. This is because no overhead costs need to be borne by the software outsourcing company – subsequently causing no costs to be passed down to their clientele as well.
Instead, the savings made can be used to invest in more sophisticated, real-time and web-based collaboration tools such as task or project management software, to ensure communication between distributed teams remains seamless, and no information falls through the cracks.
Opting to hire engineers that are based remotely speeds up the process for sourcing and integrating new team members to projects that are experiencing a growth in demand from customers. If you also aim to add new innovation to your existing software or application, a remote developer is a good option once again, as they can blend right in with their skills to start building, testing and iterating with minimal downtime.
Remote developers make such rapid scaling possible as geographical constraints, equipment costs and any other administrative formalities that are conducive to hiring someone for an in-house team are all alleviated.
While a list of roles and responsibilities is something that will definitely be required to hire a developer for a project, it is also a good idea to conduct an overarching assessment of your business to ensure you have a complete picture of what is currently under execution, and any existing gaps that your new hire can possibly fill.
By gathering relevant members from both your software development and business teams, discussing the below topics further can help shed light on the current situation surrounding software and application development operations:
While discussing the above topics can resurface many action points for your business overall, many feedback items also stand to impact the final job ad that you build for your remote developer; if there is something that needs attention, and can be built or fixed by your new candidate, it can make it into the final job ad.
Also, if your business partners with a software outsourcing agency, they will coordinate for the above, while also following through with headhunting, employing and managing your new remote developer – all on your behalf.
Once your job ad is ready to be circulated, sharing it across online job boards as well as within your own network is a good combination; while online job boards are a common and popular source for employers and job seekers alike, passing the word around to your connections can help you get recommendations of developers who have previously maintained a good track record.
Although your software outsourcing partner shall be coordinating on your behalf, ensure someone from your business team is part of the interview panel, so that candidate assessments, including skills pertaining to communication, problem solving and leadership can be gauged directly by your business too.
Once you and your software outsourcing team are happy with the right candidate(s), hiring and inducting them into your team is the next step. Following placement, ensure your team has KPIs established to evaluate your new remote developer against.
While regular performance evaluations can shed light on the overall quality of their work, observing daily actions such as how they respond to and execute on feedback, as well as their general style of collaboration can give you and other managers an idea of whether they are up to par, or if more training may be required to help them be a better fit.
Hiring remote developers is now a popular choice among businesses that have in-house teams, as well as software outsourcing companies that are looking to further offset costs – while not compromising on quality. Offering the ability for software development teams to embrace talent without having to worry about geographical boundaries, the normalisation of distributed work environments have further propelled the adoption of remote software developers.
To choose the best talent, companies still need to be cognizant of thorough business assessments, prior to building and publishing a final job ad. While a carefully conducted business assessment can shed new light on existing problems, it can also help identify any key areas that your new developer hire can focus on.
Once candidates are screened based on both hard skills i.e. assessments as well as soft skills such as communication and problem solving, the best ones can be selected for placement into your team. This needs to then be followed with periodical performance assessments, to ensure your remote developers are meeting KPIs and contributing to overarching business goals.
Stay updated with our tech articles – your go-to source for the latest insights, trends, and innovations in technology.