Whether you have an idea for a mobile app which will bring you tons of cash, or you want to provide your clients with better customer service, you’ll need someone to code your app well, to make it fit both your demands and those of your users.
With such a big pool of candidates on the market nowadays, finding the perfect one for the task ahead can be quite an exhausting adventure, and even worse, result in a completely uncertain outcome.
To make your app developer hiring task a bit easier to handle and increase the odds of making the right choice, we’ve rounded up a list of things to look for in your candidates and added a few tips to get you going.
Know What You’re Looking For
To get your perfect candidate, you need to know what exactly you’re looking for.
More than 75% of users download an app and never use it again, and you don’t want your app deleted after the very first use, you have to choose wisely.
If you’re not into coding yourself and have no previous experience with app development, you need to understand quite a few technical details in order to be able to state your requirements.
Some of the things you need to be clear about before you post your ad are:
- Are you looking for an iPhone or Android app developer, or you need someone who can handle both, or convert an Android app to iOS?
- What program languages will your developers be using?
- Will your coders be developing a native app, a hybrid one or a web app?
- Do they need any background knowledge or previous working experience? If you’re developing a banking app, for example, your developer needs to be skilled enough to deal with data loss prevention and encryption.
- What is your budget?
- What is your deadline?
- Does your developer need any other developer skills, such as knowledge of various testing approaches or familiarity with the Android open source ecosystem?
- Does your developer need to know how to publish or submit your app?
Don’t go any further with the hiring process if you don’t know the answers to these questions yourself. If you have experts on your team you can consult, ask them to make a job description together, paying special attention to your future developer’s ability to develop an easy-to-use, intuitive and fast app.
Know Where to Look
After you’ve created your detailed and clear job description, it’s time to place an ad and search for your app developers in the right places, and the best place to start is right in front of you.
Your employees have their own networks of professionals they are in touch with, and it’s very likely that they know someone who fits the bill.
You can also place your job ad in relevant social media groups, use LinkedIn to look for mobile app developers and contact them, or attend meetups, hackathons, and conferences to get in touch with professionals interested to join your team.
There are various mobile developer communities where you can find a developer of your dream too. You can also look for similar apps in the store and get in touch with their publishers, as they could be suitable candidates for your job.
The Pre-Interview Round
Now that you have a number of candidates, you need to shortlist the most suitable ones. You’ll start with reviewing CVs and disqualifying those who don’t match your job description. If they lack experience relevant for the job, put them aside too.
You can schedule telephone or video interviews with those meeting your job requirements, and use this opportunity to ask them more about their experience, as well as to see the examples of their previous work.
When trying out their apps, pay attention to your own user experience, and try to see whether they feel intuitive, easy to use and engaging. If someone’s apps provide you with great user experience, invite them for another round.
Talk about the expected salary during this phase too, as it will help you narrow your list down.
The Interview Round
During this phase, you might want to schedule a team interview with qualified candidates to discuss the technical things about the app and evaluate their input or feedback. If you have an expert in your team, you can choose to test your candidates’ coding skills too and make sure they’ll be able to meet your demands.
Furthermore, use your candidates’ behavioral patterns to assess whether your potential new hire matches your organizational culture, as well as whether they will adapt well in your working environment.
Your app developer needs to have good communication skills and be a team player in order to carry out their tasks properly, so so it’s a good idea to assess those qualities too.
So, by now, you’ll probably have a pretty good idea who’s your best bet.
Make sure to create a talent database and add the other qualified developers that haven’t made it to the final round this time, in order to make the hiring process much easier in the future.