Last updated - May 12, 2023
The pandemic that stretched for more than a year with strict regulations has forced the workplaces to close and made the employees work remotely. Well, every change is good. Industry verticals have warmly welcomed these changes. Unexpectedly, remote working picked up the pace and has now become a trend in the IT industry.
In the IT sector, the shift to remote working has reduced IT spending on security and networking. According to the TSIS report, 42% of developers work remotely on a full-time basis and 31% prefer to go ahead with the hybrid option.
According to remote job trends, “The demand for a remote software engineer is increased by 24% with the highest salary range.”
The statistics showcase the better job opportunities for remote developers with improved flexibility, work-life balance, and other perks. However, hiring remote developers that are the best fit for the job matching the project requirements is not a cakewalk. Just a technical round of interviews is not enough to find the desirable candidate for businesses looking to outsource their digital needs.
A comprehensive assessment including technical interviews, soft skills, and others helps in seeking the best talent globally. Here are the 7 traits that you should check while hiring remote developers.
Skills to Look for While Hiring Remote Developers
Technical Proficiency
The first and foremost thing not to forget when you hire remote developers is- to check the technology prowess of the candidate in the niche technology followed by the experience. The expertise in one technology is good, but having knowledge and experience in multiple technologies, industry standards, and the latest trends is important to build a reliable and modern solution.
The offshore developers that you have chosen to hire should have the necessary tools and software in place to ensure seamless information sharing and communication. For the technical skills assessments, you can ask them to show work samples, conduct interviews, display a credible reference, and others.
Adaptability
Hiring remote resources only after assessing the technical skill set is not enough professionally. There are many other factors to consider as well while you are looking out to hire remote developers to work with dedication.
For instance, flexibility in remote developers to easily accommodate the work approach according to project demands such as working hours, schedule, work pattern, and more is necessary. Checking out this adaptability and flexibility is vital before selecting the candidate.
When the developers are flexible enough to change the work approach, they consider themselves a part of the project and take ownership of it. You should hire remote developers who are ready to learn and adapt to the new working pattern willingly.
Solution-oriented Mindset
While it is true that the project never developed on intuition, possible hiccups or developmental challenges are the part and parcel of software development and deployment. That’s where a candidate with a positive attitude and problem-solving capabilities is a valuable asset to the businesses. The problem solver developers with experience and expertise can deal with unexpected bugs or crashes on time and identify the best solution.
Addressing the issues beyond Googling differentiates such remote developers in the crowd. When you outsource the project, evaluate the developers’ skills by asking them for possible roadblocks they faced in previous software development and the solution provided by them. Also, you can ask for resources and communities they consider to get required help or assistance, which sheds light on their resourcefulness level.
Communication Skills
During project outsourcing, with language and cultural differences, it’s essential to know what the specialist across the ocean is trying to say. Strong communication skills are important for decision-making. Good communication skills are thus a must for professionals.
Select the experienced remote developer with good communication skills who is capable of communicating with the team regarding project goals, issues, and possible solutions. The knowledge of communication tools such as Slack, Project Management System, and Skype is equally important to sail the same boat throughout the project at speed.
In addition to communication skills, being vocal when necessary to bring the team’s attention to weak areas that possibly become a nightmare for the project is important. This quality is essential for teamwork and enhances productivity.
Therefore, one must hire dedicated developers working remotely with enough communication skills that can help to convey the details regarding the project to team members.
Professional Experience
Every guide related to how to hire remote developers enlists past working experience at one of the top IT companies as a key factor to look out for during remote developer hiring. Experience is not a skill, but it determines how much the developers’ knowledge is polished in a course of their development career. The experience showcases their technical expertise in various things to get them done without requiring any training.
In addition to expertise, the experience tells how well the developer can deal with trending technology and unexpected problems easily. The specialist backed by rich experience is a boon to the development team.
For example, the demand level for JavaScript language becomes higher and higher year by year. For today, react js developers make a priority best terms of work: remote type, bonuses, and an understandable hierarchy of professional development. If you want to speed up the process and find your ‘perfect match, it will be easier to use the services of companies that can help to find the project of your dream. If you have enough time, it can be suitable to make it by yourself as Lemon.io.’
Innovation in Work
The developmental challenges are common in every project that requires developers to immediately address the issues. The remote developer adept at coding needs to be creative and innovative to come up with a unique solution. The ability to experiment with a passion beyond working hours is important to add value to the project.
Provide situations and ask remote developers who are promising and bring new perspectives and encourage them to brainstorm and provide solutions that bring new and efficient approaches to old problems. Open-mindedness and craving to learn new things for the project on the board are preferable.
Possess Interpersonal Skills for Teamwork
The remote developers’ job is more than a coding task. Instead, tuning well with the team is important to collaboratively work on the project. That’s why interpersonal skill is a must-have due to cultural and behavioral differences. You should test the remote workers’ personalities, preferences, and behavior.
The personality assessment by asking questions verbally or making the developers fill out a questionnaire promptly about their personality traits, values, and beliefs gives a clear idea of whether they are a perfect fit for the project requirements or not.
Key Takeaways
The plenty of benefits that come with a dedicated team model make the businesses hire a team of remote developers that works earnestly on the business project remotely. However, hiring remote developers with specific skill sets and talent is not an easy task. Ensuring the developers should have the required skills is essential for successful project completion.
The enlisted list of tech and soft skills simplifies the hiring process and enables bringing the right talent committed to exceptional results delivery. Start hiring the specialists while keeping the skill sets in mind to plug the technology and other skills gap that the project has.
