A Guide on How to Hire a Team of Remote Developers

The first pillar of a tech-based company’s success is always its software development team —after all, “Great Teams make Great Things.”

Subpar or glitchy software is not an option in today’s fiercely competitive digital landscape. The era of users accepting mediocre experiences has long gone.

The game of survival is simple: digital products that deliver exceptional user experiences thrive, while those that don’t are left behind.

For entrepreneurs, the real challenge often is not conceptualizing great software but finding a team capable of bringing that vision to life. This is no easy feat, especially when high developer acquisition costs pose significant barriers.

Consequently, emerging startups and established enterprises turn to outsourcing as a practical solution for hiring remote developers, just as it proved invaluable during the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.

A study by Upwork shows that by 2028, around 73% of all departments will have remote workers. However, with a surge of developers entering the software industry, outsourcing can be challenging even under normal circumstances. According to the Evans Data Corporation (EDC) report, worldwide software developers are projected to grow from 26.9 million in 2022 to 29.3 million by 2027.

In this hiring remote developers blog, we will look into how you can expertly hire remote developers. So, let’s explore how to identify and onboard the right talent for your business success.

Type of Development Teams

Before hiring dedicated remote developers, it is essential to know the available options first. In the software industry, whenever we talk about hiring remote app developers who won’t be working with a company full-time, we mainly talk about two distinct team compositions: on-site developers and virtual teams.

Virtual teams are categorized into distributed and remote teams, offering distinct advantages and operational structures. Understanding these distinctions is key to making the right choice for your project.

• On-site team of developers: Also known as a co-located team, this model involves developers who work alongside you in your office space. Companies generally run on this model include IBM, Yahoo, and Best Buy, which benefit from face-to-face collaboration and a shared physical environment.
• Distributed team of developers: A distributed team does not have a physical office space. It works independently from various locations, such as cafes, co-working hubs, or even its homes, often spread across different cities or countries. It relies entirely on virtual communication, with no in-person interactions.
• Remote team of developers: The team that lies between both is the remote team of developers. While the terms distributed and remote developers are often used interchangeably, there is an inherent difference between them—just like the on-site model, remote teams also have an office. Companies like Trello, Basecamp, and Help Scout are prime examples of organizations leveraging remote teams for flexibility and efficiency.

Also Read: How to hire a dedicated development team?

Before we discuss how to hire remote developers, it is important to determine whether you actually need them. Let’s explore when it makes sense to bring them on board.

Signs That You Need a Team of Remote Developers for Hire

Determining when to hire a team of remote developers is crucial for your business growth. Some key signs indicate that hiring a remote software development team is wise.

1.  When you lack the desired skill set in your team

The information technology sector is changing at a lightning speed. You will need a constant supply of skills and technical expertise to maintain a competitive edge. Adopting an offshore software development model can provide access to the specialized talent you need to maintain your edge if your in-house team lacks the necessary capabilities.

You may like reading: Why Choose Appinventiv for IT Consulting Services.

2.  When you are struggling with high developmental cost

While exact statistics may vary, the availability of developers in the USA is limited, driving up the cost of hiring local talent. This results in higher app development expenses, which can significantly burden SMEs grappling with tight budgets. Outsourcing or building a remote team becomes a savior, offering a more cost-effective solution.

3.  When you struggle to achieve the time-to-market milestone

What matters is your app idea and how soon you bring it into the market for end users. The one thing remote teams help you with is working dedicatedly on the milestones you have planned for your project. Since their main responsibilities lie in adhering to the clients, their focus is ensuring that your product enters the market just like you expect.

Also Read: How to Validate an App Idea Successfully

Why Hire Remote Software Developers: Reasons & Advantages

In today’s fast-paced digital world, hiring remote software developers has become a strategic choice for businesses dreaming of staying competitive. There are numerous reasons to hire remote developers, and the benefits are significant. Below are some impressive benefits of hiring remote software developers that will give you valuable insights into why hiring remote app developers is a smart and effective choice for your business.

Constant Development

This is the number one reason businesses go on a quest to find developers online. With remote teams spread across different time zones, work on your app can progress around the clock, ensuring that development never stops. Additionally, remote development teams often face fewer distractions because of the unwanted breaks and active work culture compared to traditional office environments, leading to increased focus and productivity. This seamless workflow can significantly reduce the time to market for your product.

Greater Engagement

Multiple industry studies and surveys have proven that remote workers are much more engaged than office workers. With the help of modern video conferencing platforms, remote developers generally feel much more connected than those who work in an office environment. A Stanford University study found that remote workers are, on average,

• 9% more engaged in their jobs.
• 13.5% more productive.
• 50% less likely to quit than their office-based counterparts

Expanded Development Abilities

When you take the remote route, you are more likely to hire talented developers at very reasonable compensation. Compared to the in-house team, the development capabilities are much greater in the remote teams since they have more time and an immediate need to remain updated with all the changes happening in the software industry.

77% of remote employees report increased productivity and are 52% less likely to take time off.

Expanded Market Reach

Through remote collaboration with developers in different geographical regions of the world, you can expand your market reach indirectly. Since your partnered remote developers are engaged closely with your startup, they act as unpaid brand ambassadors who promote your products to potential customers in their respective areas.

Also Read: How to Hire an AI Developer: A Complete Guide

How to Hire Remote Developers: Key Steps to Reach the Right Talents

Hiring remote developers can be a transformative step for your business growth, offering access to a global talent pool and increased flexibility. Thus, to help you find the right fit for your project, here are the essential steps you can follow in your hiring journey.

Define Your Needs

The process to hire the best remote software developers starts by clearly outlining the skills and experience required for your project. Be specific about the technologies, programming languages, and development methodologies that align with your product requirements and business goals.

The tip is to craft a detailed ‘ideal candidate’ profile, which will serve as your guiding framework throughout the hiring process.

Prepare a Detailed Job Description

At this stage, you must craft a detailed ‘ideal candidate’ profile and a comprehensive job description that clearly outlines the role, required skills, responsibilities,  technical requirements, experience level, and expectations. It will serve as your guiding framework throughout the hiring process.

Key points to include:

• Your Company Name
• Key Project Requirements
• Experience level
• Core Tech Skills – e.g., Android and React.
• Role – e.g., Full-Stack Angular Developer,
• Technical Needs: e.g., AI, ML, Blockchain

Search for Candidates

Once you have created an engaging job post that clearly outlines all your requirements, the next step to hire remote developers is to distribute it to reach the right candidates effectively. You can explore various channels for hiring dedicated remote developers, including:

• Freelance Platforms like Upwork, Toptal, and Fiverr
• Job Boards such as Indeed, Naukri, Remote.co, and We Work
• Professional Networks like LinkedIn
• Developer Communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, etc.

By using these channels strategically, you can broaden your reach and attract top-tier remote talent.

Review Portfolios

The portfolio of a remote development team is one of the best ways to assess their expertise and capabilities in delivering groundbreaking products. Thus, you must peer into their portfolio, look for similar projects they have completed, and review their work for quality, usability, reliability, security, and technical proficiency.

Shortlist Candidates

Review resumes and GitHub profiles (or equivalent) to evaluate their skills and experience. Shortlist candidates who align with your project requirements. Conduct initial screenings via video calls or assessments to assess technical skills, communication abilities, and cultural fit.

Conduct Interviews

After shortlisting the potential candidates, it is time to interview them against various parameters and ask them a volley of questions to evaluate their problem-solving skills and proficiency in your required tech stack. If you are unsure what to ask during the interview, check this blog for essential questions.

Negotiate Terms

Once you have interviewed the candidates and selected your remote developers for hire, the next vital step is to discuss and negotiate terms of employment. This includes setting clear expectations, timelines, project scope, budget, and payment terms.

Hire Remote Developers

Once terms are agreed upon, you can hire remote developers and provide them access to necessary tools. You can also set up clear communication channels and maintain regular check-ins to ensure smooth collaboration throughout the project.

Factors to Consider When Hiring Remote Developers

When hiring remote developers for your project, you must consider several factors to make the right judgment. These factors ensure you build a productive and cohesive team for your project.

A Clearly-Outlined Development Requirement

Before anything else, you should start by identifying the development needs to help you choose the required resources. The development requirements should highlight your expectations (concerning work and delivery time) and what you want the developers to achieve on an everyday and milestone basis.

An In-depth Remote Developer Screening Plan

Hiring remote developers is never easy. The most important concern businesses face when outsourcing a software development outsourcing company is that they would have to share their secrets while expecting superior-grade work from someone sitting thousands of miles away.

Therefore, you must be sure of their caliber, competence, and dedication when you find app developers working remotely. Building an in-depth screening process with proper technical sessions would help evaluate a developer’s abilities and prevent any shock instances later.

Streamlined Communication

One of the biggest challenges in hiring remote developers can be glitchy communications. With multiple time zones, non-similar work timings, and language differences, collaboration on a software project can be a hassle if you don’t create a communication strategy and get your hands on the best tools.

You should ensure that both internal and remote teams agree on the chosen mode of communication, tools, tenure, and medium. Hiring remote developers will make you much more efficient in managing remote teams and achieving maximum outcomes.

Structured Project Timeline

When working with remote developers for hire, it becomes all the more important to develop a clear, detailed roadmap that defines the scope and timeline of a project. Instead of being utterly unrealistic about the deliveries, making timelines that all stakeholders agree on will always be better. It also helps to know the regional holidays to plan the timelines and milestones accordingly.

Flexibility & Scalability

The last thing you must consider when hiring a team of remote developers is their flexibility and scalability. When you hire a remote team of developers, the main intent is to bring in experts who can contribute valuable ideas and suggestions. A skilled developer often offers insights that can enhance the project. Maintaining flexibility in your development approach and being open to their recommendations facilitate better engagement and collaboration within the team.

How to Manage a Remote Team?

Managing a remote team effectively requires a blend of clear communication, structured workflows, the right tools, constant feedback, and recognition of work. Here are some ways to manage your remote app development team.

1.   Schedule Communications

The remote team is designed to work from different locations and even different time zones. Keeping up with the scheduled meetings helps you organize your team’s workflow and eliminates the time gap and delayed project launch.

2.  Fix the Tools for Remote Teams

Tools are necessary for facilitating smooth collaboration within a remote team, as they form the backbone of structured and efficient workflows. A well-equipped remote team uses various communication tools such as email service, file-sharing platforms, instant messaging apps, project management software, video conferencing tools, etc.

3.  Define the Work Process

Creating straightforward project guidelines for teamwork, productivity, and accountability helps teams know what to expect. It is necessary to present the project idea in detail and clearly describe what you want to be done. The project estimate will depend on the communication you do with the team.

At this stage, it is necessary to review project requirement documents in depth to ensure that all functionalities are included. Most IT companies work using agile methodologies. Therefore, it is always wise to break the process into several iterations and ask your project manager to have a summary session with you after every meeting to learn about the new goals and identify the decisions made.

4.  Offer Constant Feedback

Every sprint and iteration outcome will depend solely on how quick and extensive your feedback is. To ensure maximum transparency, keeping the feedback loop and time gaps minimal is very important.

Another way to keep everyone on the same page is to decide on terms everyone on the team will understand. Try to deliver your thoughts without using slang and idioms to avoid misinterpretation.

5.  Reward the Remote Developers

You are your team’s leader in many ways, meaning your team will look up to you for approval and appreciation. To start with the praise cycle, you can begin every team meeting with praise on the job done so far. Be sure to explain what you liked about the project’s course. Constructive praise like this will help your team move in the right direction.

Hire a Remote Development Team from Appinventiv

Hiring remote developers can transform your business, but it requires strategic planning and the right approach to succeed. Appinventiv has a dedicated remote team of 1600+ tech experts who provide state-of-the-art software and mobile app development services tailored to your needs.

With a proven track record of delivering 3000+ innovative solutions for global brands like IKEA, KFC, Domino’s, and EdFundo, we combine technical expertise with a deep understanding of your business goals.

Hiring dedicated remote developers from Appinventiv gives you access to a pool of remote app developers’ skills, seamless collaboration tools, and a commitment to quality. Whether you want to bring your first MVP to market, build a full-fledged product from scratch, or simply expand an existing one, our team ensures timely delivery and exceptional results. Ready to build your dream team? Hire remote developers from Appinventiv to make it a reality.

FAQs

Q. Why is it better to hire remote developers over freelancers?

A. Hiring remote developers is a better option than freelancers as they offer better consistency, long-term commitment, and deeper integration with your project than freelancers. Also, remote developers are often more aligned with your company’s vision, as they work collaboratively within your team structure, ensuring better quality, reliability, and accountability.

On the other hand, freelancers juggle multiple projects, which could impact their focus and availability.

Q. How much does it cost to hire a remote developer?

A. The cost to hire remote dedicated developers varies based on several factors, including their experience, skillset, and location. On average, hiring a remote team of developers can range from $25 to $150+ per hour.

Discuss your project requirements with us to get a more accurate estimate of the cost of recruiting remote software developers for your business needs.

Q. What is the average time to hire a remote development team?

A. The average time to hire a remote software development team depends on your project requirements and the hiring process. Generally, it takes 2–6 weeks to hire a remote development team, including searching for candidates, conducting interviews, and onboarding.

If you are pressed for time and need to hire remote developers quickly, connect with the tech experts at Appinventiv for a seamless and faster hiring process.