5 tips for hiring remote developers

Make sure to carry out a technical assessment

This part usually comes in after an initial CV review where you have shortlisted a few candidates you would like to interview. A technical assessment means a focused test of the candidate’s skills which will be used in the project they are being hired to complete. For instance, if your company wishes to make a software using python, have a 45-minute coding challenge in python as part of the technical assessment. This will measure the candidate’s understanding, skill, and familiarity with the coding language.

If the project you’re hiring for is more complex, you could have the technical assessment over a few days. This could be part-time where the candidate can be tested on various avenues while being paid on a trial basis. This is important for Fintech founders who need developers with specialized skillsets. Hiring developers who don’t have the skills you need can be costly!

Communication skills and English proficiency should be top notch

As the work is remote, managers can no longer stroll into offices to ask if there are any confusions. Plus, nobody likes sending a “I didn’t understand” message to their manager after the end of a meeting. It’s easier to catch your manager before he leaves the boardroom than to send a message asking for more clarity. You assume that the manager might have started other meetings and you missed your chance. This might lead to a superficial understanding of critical concepts with a not-so-optimum project execution. Now imagine the same scenario, but with an employee who isn’t so fluent in English. Just got worse didn’t it?

Communication skills are of prime importance along with proficiency in English. It ensures that everyone is on the same page and can understand each other with full accuracy.

Look into hiring remote teams if remote individuals are not working out

This aspect depends basically on your needs and the complexity of the work. You might just need a developer to add a feature to your pre-existing application. For that you’ll just need one person, but for bigger projects it would be a smarter idea to hire a whole team.

Why? Teams come with a set skills and competencies that one person just can’t have. The developer you hire might be an expert on front-end development, but not on back-end development. They can learn it slowly, but this will cost you more money in hours billed and lost valuable time. A team, on the other hand, knows who does what best and can divide the work such that it is done in the most efficient way possible, saving you both time and money.

If you need developers to work on different projects, but also collaborate with each other, it is in your best interest to hire a team. Getting comfortable working with new people (adjusting to new collaborations or styles of work) also takes time. You will be able to save time and money if the team has already worked together and are familiar with each other. The chances of conflicts decrease and the chances of success increase!

Search for employees that are self-starters

Remote work can bring down even the best of the best. People feed on the energy of their surroundings and are motivated to achieve because everyone around them is also achieving things. Your employees might be used to absorbing the energy from coming into a bustling office. However, there is no energy to feed off of when you are working from your home. One has to be a self-starter who does not need that external stimulus to work hard. The motivation should come from within and that’s what remote workers need the most.

Make sure they are adept at adjusting to new communication channels

The remote workers you hire might have their own methods of communication, be it email or messages. Nonetheless, when they join your team, they should be using your preferred communication channel. This saves you the hassle of going through messages on different platforms and allows you to find everything in one place. If you have trouble finding such platforms or need help choosing one, we have some shortlisted just for you.

Other than being able to find data in one place, using your communication channel helps with collaboration. Your remote employees can now collaborate effectively with your other departments. It provides them with inclusion as well as ease.

Gaper.io has the goal of carrying out these 5 tips for you, so you can focus on growth and development. These tips for hiring remote developers are what Gaper uses during its vetting process to bring you the top 1% of software engineers. These engineers are self-motivated, can adapt to at working with different communication channels, and are great communicators.