How to find and hire software engineers: Your complete guidebook

According to the Gartner Survey, tech executives view tech talent shortage as the main blocker to adopting 64% of emerging technologies. When scarcity of local software engineers for hire stands in the way of innovations, businesses are going for alternative ways to find seasoned specialists. One of the cost-effective ways to fill in the talent gap is outsourcing your custom software development overseas. But how to find and retain well-versed specialists and ensure successful cooperation with your remote team? Let’s find out.

What are the benefits of hiring software engineers in distant locations?

Looking for software developers around the globe saves your hiring time and costs—but how exactly? Let’s overview the key advantages of going offshore or nearshore to find software engineers:

• Large talent pools. Outsourcing your tech projects allows you to access the best engineering workforce worldwide. In other words, you can partner with software developers from major outsourcing destinations, such as Europe or Asia. These locations are well-known for vast tech talent pools—for instance, Poland boasts 492+K skilled ICT specialists. The country’s neighbors, Ukraine and Romania, also house large numbers of software engineers for hire: they are home to 298,000+ and 192,000+ tech experts, respectively.
• Well-qualified specialists. Another valid reason for hiring software engineers abroad is the high quality of delivered services. Most popular European outsourcing destinations reach top positions in international skill evaluation ratings. Ukrainian and Polish ICT specialists have made it to the top 5 of the SkillValue list. 
• Access to rare expertise. Staffing overseas, you won’t have a problem hiring a software engineer with a specific tech stack or relevant industry experience. You are not limited to your local candidates and can choose among the best tech professionals with unique expertise from around the globe.
• Ability to scale quickly. Most tech enterprises offer their clients the opportunity to change their project scope in the process. So, if you decide to scale the team or hire a software engineer with specific expertise on a part-time basis, your outsourcing vendor will help you do it on the go.

How to hire software engineers: your step-by-step instruction

1. Get clear on your staffing request  

During the initial stage, you have to define the number of software developers that will deal with your tech request. You can hire software engineers for the whole project or scale your software development team up and down when you need it. Another important aspect is the desired qualification level of your tech specialists and their experience in software development. At N-iX, Middle and Senior specialists constitute around 95% of the company’s engineering talent pool. The average industry experience of our software engineers for hire spans over 7 years which ensures the high quality of the delivered services.  

2. Identify your technical requirements

Your next step is to determine what technical skills you will look for when hiring software engineers. To help your IT vendor select the best candidates, compile the list of required hard skills. Don’t forget to mention professional certifications and essential domain expertise to narrow the circle of potential developers for your project. 

3. Choose the outsourcing destination

Once you prepare a detailed picture of your perfect team member, your task is to select a suitable location for nearshore or offshore software development. Consider the number of ICT specialists in the location—the probability to find software engineers with relevant expertise is higher in a country with a larger tech talent pool. Also, look for destinations with top positions in the international skill evaluation rankings, such as SkillValue or TopCoder. Other important factors are cultural compatibility and average English proficiency in the country. While the cultural match will prevent miscommunication, solid command of the language will bridge the gap between you and your remote team members.

4. Find the right software engineering company 

After deciding upon the location for outsourcing, you are ready to build your team. But how to find software engineers that will help you solve tech challenges or implement a custom solution? When choosing a reliable software development vendor, pay attention to the company’s size. Midsize and large enterprises that employ over 250 tech professionals usually have access to more tech workforce and optimized development processes. 

Moreover, look through the company’s portfolio to find out whether they have experience delivering solutions similar to yours. Don’t forget to check the client reviews and testimonials on the company’s website and trustworthy review platforms such as Clutch and GoodFirms. Lastly, make sure that your tech vendor adheres to international industry standards such as ISO 27001:2013, ISO 9001:2015, PCI DSS, GDPR, and HIPAA. Hiring software engineers that comply with these regulations will ensure safe access to sensitive information and effective data protection.

Read more: How to choose the right software development partner: your outsourcing handbook

5. Decide upon the type of contract

When it comes to shaking hands, defining legal aspects of cooperation is one of the most important stages. The type of contract in IT outsourcing depends on the vendor’s initial business goals, the level of client’s control, the project flexibility, and other factors. 

For small and medium projects with a set budget, a Fixed Price model is an optimal choice. When you sign this type of agreement, you need to provide your tech enterprise with a predetermined budget, the scope of work, and the time of project delivery. The software development vendor takes complete responsibility for reaching the milestones within the estimated budget and on time.

If you want to hire software engineers that will be able to handle a project without initially defined requirements, opt for Time and Material model. This type of contract offers high flexibility and the ability to change the team’s size in the process. T&M works best for projects with small or medium work scopes.

In case your goal is to find software engineers for a large project with evolving requirements, consider a Dedicated Development Team model. You rely on a technical team gathered according to your business needs. Like T&M, this model is flexible and allows you to scale when you hire a software engineer with a specific skill set.

Keep reading: Software development outsourcing: how to avoid contract loopholes

6. Set up effective communication

After you find out how to find software engineers, you may want to know how to manage your engineering team. Using collaboration and communication software can help you track your project's progress and resolve issues in real time. Here are the types of work tools that will keep you and your dedicated team on the same page:

• Corporate messengers such as Slack or Workplace allow you to organize conversations with your remote software developers;
• Project management solutions help you do the planning, delegate tasks, and set deadlines. Some of the most popular software for project management are Jira and Trello;
• Web and video conferencing software, for instance, Zoom and Skype for Business enable live communication like conducting weekly meetings and knowledge sharing sessions. Also, these solutions usually go with a set of useful features such as screen sharing, call recording, and many others;
• With collaboration and prototyping tools like Figma, multiple team members are able to edit the same file simultaneously;
• Google Drive and OneDrive are examples of file management solutions that are helpful when you need to organize your digital documents and quickly search for the necessary information in the system;
• When utilizing scheduling tools such as Calendly you can automate scheduling processes, share your availability status among team members, and many more.

7. Conduct knowledge transfer

An essential part of successful collaboration is delegating the project to your new team without knowledge loss. Here’s a checklist of must-do steps for enterprises that hire software engineers to work on their ongoing project:

1. Determine what knowledge items to collect. At the initial stage you have to decide upon what exact pieces of knowledge you have to gather;
2. Define knowledge holders and knowledge recipients. Find experts that will be in charge of knowledge transfer on each of the levels: organizational, team, and individual;
3. Choose the best methods for knowledge transfer. Possible options for effective knowledge sharing include technical documentation, live demos, on-site training for a focus team, Q&A sessions, tech talks, and more;
4. Select a knowledge management platform. Use scalable company-wide knowledge storage software to keep all the project data in one place;
5. The last step will be to execute the knowledge transfer plan—start by introducing your new engineering team to responsible experts and giving them access to knowledge storage.

Final thoughts

While hiring software engineers overseas helps you get access to large talent pools, it might be challenging to find and retain the perfect matching experts for your project. It is crucial to clarify your business needs and tech requirements before you start searching for a location to outsource. Once you have a clear understanding of your expertise gaps, you are ready to analyze what the global tech market has to offer and choose the IT vendor based on your request. When comparing the enterprises, pay attention to the companies’ size, proven portfolios, types of contracts they offer, and data protection policies.

After you shake hands with your engineering partner, you have to set up team management workflows and conduct knowledge sharing. Effective communication with your remote team and knowledge consistency is key to fruitful cooperation.

Why hire software engineers at N-iX to handle your tech request

• N-iX is a trustworthy European software development vendor with 20+ years of market experience in manufacturing, logistics and supply chain, fintech, telecom, retail, and other domains;
• Our 2,200+ engineering specialists are well-grounded in Data Analytics, Big Data, Business Intelligence, Internet of Things, Digital Transformation, Machine Learning, and more;
• The vendor’s recruitment database contains 60,000+ candidates with versatile engineering experience;
• Our portfolio spans successful cooperations with global market leaders including Fluke, Currencycloud, Gogo, AVL, and many Fortune 500 enterprises;
• N-iX specialists comply with the recognized standards, namely ISO 27001:2013, ISO 9001:2015, GDPR, PCI DSS, and more;
• The enterprise is well-recognized in the industry: N-iX reached top positions in IAOP Global Outsourcing 100 rating, CRN Fast Growth 150 list, and was nominated to the GSA Strategic Sourcing Awards shortlist.