Freelance Management 101: How to Hire a Freelance Developer

Stuck trying to find a high-quality developer for your project? We’ll give you five tips on how to find the right one!

If you want to know how to hire a freelance developer, you need to have an organized strategy at first. And while you will go through an extensive interview process, you’ll be satisfied when you have a dedicated coder on your team. Here are the five steps in finding the best freelancer developer for your project.

Have a Project Scope

No developer wants to work an undefined project. That’s why you have to make your project scope clear and easy for them to understand. Here are some things to consider:

  • Budget
  • Project Payments
  • Project Description
  • Development Methodology
  • Project Duration

Once you’ve created details for each aspect of the project, you can now make a project description!

Create a Targeted Project Description

With a clear project scope at hand, now you can turn it into project descriptions. Freelance developers are a hot commodity, meaning that they have multiple options and can afford to be picky about the type of projects they’re working on.

Whether you need a .NET developer or a Python developer, they tend to gravitate towards job descriptions that are approachable and easy to work with. Developers like projects with clear deliverables and timelines. Make sure you’re detailed enough to communicate to your potential developers what you’re trying to accomplish.

Look For Submissions That Demonstrate Real Programming Skills

So you’ve taken the time to craft an awesome project description for the niche developer you’re looking for. Now that you have a handfull of proposals in your inbox, you have to sift through it to find the cream of the crop. How can you make a shortlist so you can bring the right developers in for an interview?

  • Basic Coding Tests: Simple tests such as Conway’s Game, “Hello World” are a great pre-screen for developers. Try to include it in your job post to see if the future developer is qualified for the job.
  • Portfolio: What’s the best method of finding programming talent? Evaluate the projects they’ve previously worked on. Sometimes these portfolios will exist as a website, but you can also check their job history to find previous clients.
  • Web Presence: Speaking of a portfolio, you can learn everything about a developer based on the bread crumbs they’ve left behind on the Internet. A quick Google search can display their blog, answered questions on Stack Overflow, or open source projects on GitHub.

Interview

Now that you’ve created a shortlist, you can interview initial prospects to see if they’re qualified. Ask the developer about the previous projects they’ve worked on. Coding skills aren’t the only things to search for, and you need to have a developer that can adapt to your project and work well with a team.

Test Projects

Give them a small project that can be completed in 1-2 weeks. A great example would be to give them a task from the Scrum Board that you were planning on giving to your employees. Make the project a short competition between employees, possibly pay them at a lower rate, and then let the finalists on your shortlist know the project’s terms of completion.

Conclusion

After they’ve completed the test project process, you’ll be able to find which developers are perfect for your team. By communicating with them effectively, you’ll find it easier to motivate them to complete your projects.

What tips do you have for hiring new developers?

Tell us in the comments below.

Sources:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-hire-a-freelance-developer

https://www.codementor.io/blog/ultimate-guide-for-hiring-freelance-developers-1o92072302

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