How to Find & Hire Best App Developers For Your Project? – (Step By Step Guide)

Application development is the process in which potential app developers create a set of computer programs or a single program to perform different types of tasks that a specific program is designed for. When these apps are built to run on mobile devices, the process is called mobile app development.

The critical task here is to find a developer that fits the requirements of your app and business. To save yourself from apps’ problems like code issues, untested features, and broken functionality, you need to understand the key to find app developers and also hire them.

Defining Business Needs

Before you start the process of finding an app developer, you should first define your business needs.

Analyse Business Challenges

For this exercise, there are three common situations faced by many companies when they want to hire an app developer.

a) You need more Professional App Developer in your existing in-house team. Based on the scope and requirements of the project, you need them to work on; you can find a freelancer, an in-house employee, or take an outstaffing agency’s help to find a developer.

In the case of using an outstaffing agency, you become the outsourcing agency (employer) who hires a professional remotely to execute all job roles and duties for a client.

b) For your app, if you want to use the technology you have not carried out earlier, you are left with two choices.

You can either train your existing developers to learn that technology or you can hire a freelancer, an in-house developer, or take the help of an outstaffing agency to hire a specialist.

c) If you want to start a new project, depending on your budget and vision, you can go for outsourcing developers or create a dedicated in-house team for the long term.

Outsourcing vs In-House Team

When it comes to releasing a new app, many factors have to be counted.

The timeline to finish the project, quality aimed for, and the budget are always prioritised when making a decision about finding and hiring app developers.

Whether you go for an in-house team or outsourcing, you should consider the advantages and disadvantages of both before concluding.

a) Outsourcing

A widely followed practice, outsourcing lets you work with independent freelancers or a team offered by another company.

Here are the advantages of outsourcing to find an app developer:

• You can hire in less time, the best talent needed for your project.
• Team building becomes a quicker activity with this approach.
• You do not have to invest in office space and equipment for developers.
• Provide the premium quality of work.
• With location, not a factor to be considered, it gives you the chance to expand your search.

Disadvantages of outsourcing:

• Lack of personal communication happens to be the biggest negatives of outsourcing.
• The time-zone difference among members of the developers’ team can be one big hurdle.

b) In-house Team

When you have an in-house team, they share the same office space with you.

Mentioned below are the advantages of this approach:

• You can easily and quickly communicate with the team and receive prompt responses.
• They have better knowledge about the app, your business, and your corporate culture. Also, grasping is quicker as they are present in the same space.
• They can offer long term tech support.

Disadvantages:

• You have to spend on the team in terms of their full-time salaries & their equipment.
• You get confined by geography. Only developers based out of your city or willing to relocate could be a part of the team.
• You might spend more time hiring as you have a limited number of applicants.

Freelancer or agency

Depending on the scope of the project and the time you or somebody else in your team has to manage the app development process, you can choose if you want to go with a freelancer or an agency.

Managing freelancers with whom you do not interact face-to-face can be difficult and the time-zone difference can add to this issue. With freelancers, there is also the risk of not meeting deadlines or not getting their best all the time.

Their sense of responsibility can differ as in some cases, project managers are not a part of the team to manage the whole process. Choosing freelancers can be a wise decision when projects are short-team and do not involve a big team.

When you find and hire an agency, you get project management services along with designers, developers, and QA specialists. Agencies have a structure, proper communication methods, quality control, and a well-organised workflow.

These services save you from the hassle of spending more time in managing the project. These companies also have access to solutions, best practices, and different types of approaches which makes the entire app development process more efficient.

Finding Potential IT Vendors

When you have the project’s scope ready, you will know what your goals are. This will also tell you how to hire the required app developers.

The following ways will help you to know – How to Find an App Developer.

Defining the destination

The in-demand outsourcing destinations include North America, the United Kingdom, China, Brazil, Germany, and India.

Based on the research by Evans Data Corporation, by 2024 there will be 28.7 million software developers in the world by 2024. The research also mentions that the highest number of developers are present in North America.

By 2023, India will exceed the US. The number of developers in China, India, and Brazil is growing strongly according to Janel Garvin, CEO of Evans Data Corp.

According to Stack Overflow, in Europe, Germany has 837K, the UK has 814K, and France has 467K developers. These are the top three countries in Europe with the highest number of software developers. In 2018, there were 5.5 million developers in Europe.

These numbers show the talent pool available in these specific countries. You can choose which countries you want to target for finding developers for your project.

Conducting a Thorough Research

Usually from freelance websites, the research for app developers begins. On these portals like Upwork, People Per Hour, and Guru, you can see the profiles of app developers, their references, and completed projects.

This will give you an idea about them. There are many ways apart from freelance websites from where you can research about suitable developers.

• You can check B2B directories like Clutch.co where you will find details of companies based on their location, ratings, and specialization.

• Check Tech Blogs like Wired and TechCrunch. They will teach you the process of app development. This will further enhance your process of looking and hiring app developers.
• Look in design communities like Dribble or Behance where designers share their creative work.

Where to Find App Developers?

Once you have done your research and know the criterion you need to keep in mind before looking for mobile app developers, you can start looking for them.

• Check freelance websites where you have gone through the profiles of candidates. Along with their projects, their cost for a project is also mentioned on these websites. You can even put a job posting and see the responses you get from freelancers.
• Creative or design communities like Dribble or Behance show portfolios of designers and developers. You can see their work and judge if they will fit your requirement.
• B2B directories will help you in finding the right agency for your project. They usually have information about many companies along with their ratings. You can check Clutch.co, B2B Marketing, and Relevance for this purpose.
• You can target colleges and get in touch with their placement team. They will help you in getting in touch with the students who fit your project requirements.
• You can check in your network if anybody knows app developers. It is an old way of finding talent but still useful.
• You can also check on Google for app developers. The results will be vast but you can see if you find anything helpful.

These ways are followed by many companies across the world. They will help you in finding the right app developers for your project.

Analysing and Shortlisting Candidates

After doing the research to look for the right kind of developers for your project, you can make a list of the IT vendors you like the best. This stage is to analyse and shortlist candidates based on many factors which we will describe below.

You should make a list of questions that you can use to your advantage in finding talented and trustworthy developers. These will help you understand their technical capabilities as well.

Client Review About Candidates

B2B directories will help you find client reviews. Along with checking the ratings of the developers/agencies, you can also go through the reviews to understand more about them.

This process will become more productive if you get to read client testimonials as well. This will tell you about the quality of work they deliver, their reliability, responsiveness, and overall behavior. Based on this analysis, you can easily find app developers.

Market Segment They Focus On

Many developers work on a specific domain or would have expertise in a certain domain. In their profile, always check their focus areas. If you cannot find it online, you can ask them through an email or call.

Relevant Experience

If you want to see whether the developers have prior experience in the kind of project you have, you can check in their online profiles and their portfolio.

Agencies might upload case studies about their projects on their websites. If you cannot find this information, you can always request for the same.

Portfolios, previous work, and case studies can help you understand how the developers function, how they build and implement strategy and the design methodology that they follow.

Technologies They Use

The kind of technologies used by the developers you want to hire will be a key factor in making the decision.

You need to check if the technology that they use is the same as what your in-house development team uses.

You should also ask about the programming tools they use and how they come with solutions for regular development issues.

Many development agencies usually share a document about the technologies and frameworks they use. This will help you understand their technical capabilities.

Signing an NDA

Intellectual Property (IP) protection is vital in the IT industry when vendors are employed from other countries. Many companies prefer hiring IT companies/agencies than freelance app developers keeping the security of the project in mind.

You should always sign a non-disclosure agreement with whom you hire, be it an agency or a freelancer. This will help you protect your idea, code, and product.

Guarantee of Quality

Almost all the best web developers and Android or iOS developers stick to specific standards. This validates that their services are of high-quality.

For these standards, a set of tools, techniques, and methods should be clubbed to attain a well-developed and stable architecture, amazing user experience, and reusable code.

The use of these kinds of practices will ensure that the work you will get will be of premium quality.

Development Process

When you hire remote developers, you need not to worry about the expenses on tech infrastructure as well as to continuously cope up with the changing trends and innovations.

When you hire a team, the agency should have a streamlined development process. Keep in mind the following things when you hire a team of developers:

The agency’s SDLC– In the IT industry, SDLC (Software development life cycle) is a commonly used term. It means that there are certain tasks that are executed at every stage of the software development process.

An established agency should have an SDLC that they tweak according to the client’s needs and always follow. It provides consistency to the app development process.

Project management frameworks– Along with an SDLC, great app development teams also use frameworks and methodologies to get the most out of the development process. You should always ask teams what frameworks and methodologies they use while working on a project.

Communication and clarity– When you hire a team, they should set up a system to communicate with each other without any hassle.

The agency should ideally introduce you to the entire team, share regular presentations about updates, and be available on call.

Many agencies use project management software like Jira or Slack or Trello to manage the work, team, and communication.

 Dealing With High Load

If thousands or more people start to use your app at the same time, it will increase the load on the app. For such scenarios, always ask the shortlisted developers about their strategy to deal with a high load.

The developer should be careful when choosing the tech stack, clone the app server, and carry out manual code optimization during development.

Based on the requirements of your product, you can have particular inquiries with the potential developers.

Questions to Ask While Hiring An App Developer

Earlier we mentioned ways like B2B directories and freelance job websites among others to find a Top App Developer or an agency.

After that, you also went through their portfolios, reviews, relevant experience, and technology usage among other factors to analyse and shortlist potential candidates.

When your list is ready, you need to ask them the following questions. It will help you to know – How to Find an App Developer.

These are the critical questions that you need to ask to hire app developers. The answers to these questions will make decision-making easier for you.

• Can You Provide a List of Current and Previous Clients?
• Can You Show Examples of Your Work?
• What Is Your Preferred Platform for App Development?
• Which Are The Available App Monetization Options?
• What Will Be the Mode of Communication During Development?
• What Additional Features for Apps That You Recommend?
• Which Are the Testing Methods for Apps?
• Will You Submit My App to Play Store/App Store?
• Will You Sign an NDA for App Development?
• What Are Your Charges and Payment Procedure?

You can also document their answers. When it comes to final decision-making, along with comparing their profiles, you can compare these answers.

We suggest making an excel sheet for necessary documentation, it will make the process of selection faster.

Common Mistakes While Hiring An App Developer

Finding and hiring an app developer could be an exhaustive process for a few. It requires effort and time. You try to do everything right but still, there could be a scope of making mistakes, after all, we all are human.

To safeguard you from any misstep, we will take you through the common mistakes people make while hiring an app developer. You can learn from these and try to make your hiring process error-free.

Only Taking Cost Into Account

Cost is not directly proportional to the quality you will get for your project. In most of the cases, going with the cheapest cost has taken people away from the Top App Developer.

Having said that, the most expensive quote will not ensure the highest quality of work. You need to judge correctly. Do not focus on cost as the main decision-making factor.

Hiring Someone Who Knows Little About Your Business

Hire Freelance App Developers that clearly understand your project requirements. Many developers will show interest even if they do not understand every aspect of the app and business. You should always check the developers and agencies who have some experience in creating an app like yours.

Not Drafting a Rough Budget for Your App

To make sure that you are not spending more than it is required, always ask for quotes for the app. This will help you set a benchmark for cost vs services. Eventually, it will also help you to find the Best App Developers in the World.

Hiring a Developer Who Just Focuses on Coding

If you are starting a project on React, hire ReactJS developers who understand the nature of the business, app’s wireframe, and technical specifications among other important factors. If they are rushing into coding, you should always check if something is not right.

Opting for the Cheapest Option

Like we mentioned earlier, the cost cannot be the sole factor to drive this app. You need to find a balance between quality and costing.

Not Giving Emphasis on User-Experience

Even if the developers you are looking at are great with their programming skills, their user-experience-creation skills are also equally important.

These are some common mistakes which everyone is capable of making without knowing. This is why you should make a conscious effort to not commit these and always stay alert during the hiring process.

Hiring the Best Mobile App Developer

When you start looking for a developer, you have the scope of your project ready. Based on the budget and project size, you can decide if you need a single developer or a team of developers.

Here we will explain about hiring the best talent for your project within your budget. This will help you in defining your hiring process.

Four Ways to Hire an App Developer

These ways will guide you in the right direction in finding the best mobile app developer for your app development project. Depending on the size of your project, you can follow these tips.

a) Hiring an App Developer for Big Projects

Many companies have started to outsource mobile app development projects. In this process, you get in touch with an enterprise mobile app development company that offers you a team of experts. You hire these external teams to complete your project.

b) Hiring an App Developer for Small Projects

If you are a small company or startup that is looking to hire app developers for small projects then outsourcing or outstaffing might not be the feasible option for you.

From the budget and business outlook, hiring an independent freelancer would be a more suitable choice. Here is how you can find them:

Freelance websites– These are one of the best options for mid-term and short-term projects. By using platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or Guru, you can find freelancers who have expertise in different kinds of technology and languages.

You can check their rating and reviews to judge them better.  This option is not suggested for long-term projects as freelancers here are usually working on multiple projects at the same time. You might face reliability and commitment issues.

Job search websites– You might find freelancers who are ready to take up work on projects’ bases here. You can check with them about their long-term and short-term availability. Based on your projects’ requirements, you might find good talent from here as well.

c) Hiring an App Developer for In-house Team

This is one of the most pricey ways to hire an app developer but it comes with its own benefits. You get commitment and high trustworthiness from them.

They are always available to solve a problem, and face-to-face interaction with them is easier and quicker. They have a better knowledge of your business so their solutions might be quicker and more apt.

You will have to invest more in monthly salaries, office and equipment space, and their overall wellbeing. You will spend more time in the hiring process as well.

Your location will create a physical constraint in the hiring process. These are some major issues in hiring an in-house team, but if you have the budget and time on hand, you can go for this option.

d) Hiring an App Developer for Niche Skills

If you are planning to hire just one member in your in-house team, somebody with particular niche skills, out staffing or to Hire Freelance App Developers would be a great option for you.

With this hiring service, you can easily find an app developer with the needed skills. This person will soon become a part of your team and will be working to keep the project on track.

Suppose you are planning to use a specific technology to your present product and none of your team members have the knowledge in that technology, then you can take help from outstaffing agencies to look and employ the right app developer for you.

When there are members who have different kinds of knowledge, automatically knowledge sharing takes place between members. This will your employees not only become more knowledgeable but also grow stronger as a team.

An economic option to hire developers with niche skills, without outstaffing, you can also increase the developer’s tenure with your project.

Top Places To Find App Developers

With the help of the internet, finding freelancers or a team of app developers has become easy. You can go through the following top places to find app developers for your project.

• Freelance websites like Toptal, X-team, Upwork and Fiverr Pro for freelance app developers
• Clutch and AgencySpotter for app development agencies
• Dribble and Behance for creative designers
• Networking will also help you find developers
• io and Hired to add more members to your team

Conclusion

These detailed steps should be followed every time when you are going to hire a freelance app developer or outsourcing agency or developers in your in-house team.

Many options are available in the market and they can be confusing hence this process should be followed to avoid mistakes while looking and hiring app developers.