Hiring of a Software Team for your startup

Hiring a team for the startup is a challenge

Our dedicated teams are up for the challenge of building a product from scratch. If you have a cool idea, the only way it can become a successful one is if the right team is working on it. That’s why having a great specialists is so crucial for your product future. However, finding and hiring developers for startups can be difficult

In this post, we’ll share our experience to help you get the best talent for your company

Let’s get started!

Challenges while growing startup teams

The need to hire team members in addition means that your company is growing, so these are good news!

However, when it comes to enlarging software development teams, some challenges arise, and you should be ready to work on improvements.

Which are common problems do you typically encounter when working with clients?

• The market is dynamic and putting into challenges

We don’t always have a room for new players, so don’t expect a warm welcome

When you bring your product to the market, you’ll dive into competition with strong guys, and it won’t get any easier. To make it through among hundreds of other startups and companies - pick a “win to win” strategy

• Finding the right persons for a startup is a challenge

This is something every company facing to, and it’s especially difficult to find perfect team members when you’re looking to hire workers for your project. In order to efficiently distribute roles within the team, early-stage startups often rely on temporary or contract employees. As a result, there might be a low competence in specific area and engineers have to pair on a task to get the job done, which affects job cost - two persons are working on a single task at the same time

• When you are lacking resources, you may have to delegate but not multitask

A good example is managing finances. It can be a challenge for anyone, but it’s especially difficult for startups. There are a variety of ways to approach this task, depending on your budget and needs. Many businesses use financial consulting help because that is the best way to get the most out of their money

• There is a number of potential security threats that you should be aware of

Many aspects of business today take place online. The bigger the software project, the more potential security breaches might come up during development. That’s why you really need to think on robust protection of all the sensitive information related to your startup

• Miscommunication between you and Software Team

It’s hard to keep your team focused and not distracted. On the one side you have business goals, but on the other side you have to consider the realities of software engineering. Things may not go as planned as each department has its own plans and goals, so make sure your instructions are crystal clear and can’t be interpreted some other way

• Building a client base is extremely important for a business of any kind

Without a good customer base, a business will not be able to scale or survive. Ultimately, the success of your product depends on whether or not people want to pay for it. You should start working on this well before the real development process begins or be sure you have enough budget

Contacts of the software development team who loves challenges and can resolve them

People - a new gold. How do you overcome challenges above and hire the best engineers?

As you can see, the list is pretty long and there is plenty of things to overcome before harvest you gains. The most important part is people. People do all the jobs and making 1 + 1 to become 3 at the end. So, how can you get the best talents and distinguish from those who are just seem to be proficient?

There are the people who bring your ideas to life, so you have to be very meticulous as you hire for your product development

When hiring developers, it’s important to be aware of certain qualities that make a good fit for the project at hand

Which qualities are you expecting professional software developer to have?

Remember that not all candidates are perfect, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t find a good candidate right away. You might not be able to find the person who has the matching experience, skills and personality type to check all the boxes

To hire the right software developers for your startup, you need to first figure out what is their area of responsibility

• Which technology do you prefer?
  
• What specific skills would you like to learn?
  
• How experienced should a candidate be?
  
• Do you want them to lead or follow?
  
• Do you need someone who is good at handling a variety of tasks or someone who is focused on a specific area of expertise?
  
• What personality fits your existing team?
  

By answering these questions, you can create a profile of the most suitable person for the job - a person who meets your key requirements and is passionate about programming

Can you tell if the person is passionate about coding?

This one is tricky, as it requires some knowledge of grammar. There is no clear indication from a CV whether someone is passionate about the job, so it’s difficult to say for sure. You need to invite them for an interview to learn more about their experiences, interests, some of the coolest projects they have worked on and so on. However, certain things can give you some clues. You will feel when the right answer submitted 😉

What about their history? Was their career successful?

That said, if they start with technical writing and then move on to software development, it could mean they follow their passion. If someone has a lot of experience coding, it’s likely that means - person is passionate about the craft. They might have described their previous positions in a way that makes you believe they were highly skilled in this area. If the titles and dates are all you see, it may be that this person is only interested in money

Any hobbies - great sign!

If a candidate is putting certain efforts to tell something about technologies in “hobbies” section, that’s a sign that there is probably passion about coding. When looking for a developer, this is the approach to take. What if you require above that? If you are at a point where you need to scale your business, hiring for a startup can be more demanding. However, we have resources to help you with that

Recruitment Tips for Scaling Your Startup Team

While not everyone can scale your team for you, we may try to make technical hiring easier for you by sharing some actionable tips. Make sure that everyone on your team is aligned with your company’s goals and values. As the candidates approach the team, they should feel a positive energy and a sense of drive

• Which values guide the culture at your company?

Namely, if you describe your team as “open”, you need to clarify what that means. Is it possible to criticize it? Open to change? You understand what I’m saying

• It is important to get the basics right in order to employ effectively

For example, many startups make the mistake of implementing too many career-in-company growth programs that don’t actually help employees. As a result resources just wasted

A good rule of thumb is to make sure that the basics are working well – employee referral, onboarding, and feedback process. If you get these correct, the rest will fall into place

By developing growth opportunities for your team, you’ll help them stay engaged and motivated, which will help you keep them around longer

That’s why it’s important to empower your team for growth and development. Make sure to provide opportunities for personal and professional development to show your people that you appreciate their efforts and take their job satisfaction seriously

• Remember which decisions candidates have made during your meeting

When you’re looking for a great employee, show them why they should choose you over any other company

1. Which are the areas in which you think your product or team is exceptional?
   
2. Which areas do you think make your organization stand out from other businesses?
   
3. What are the benefits your employees receive that make them loyal and satisfied?
   

• Your candidate should feel appreciated

If you’re sure that this person is the right person for your team, take care on they feel appreciated and wanted in your company. Your goal at this stage is to maintain connections with them and create as many touchpoints as possible

• Set diversity as a priority

To bring in a more diverse applicant pool, create an appealing workplace for the types of people you’re interested in. To create the sound you desire, you will need to know the diversity target you are aiming for. This could be age, gender, professional experience, or any other metric

• Which recruitment firms would be suitable for your needs?

Just make sure you’re partnering with the right company — the right one for your startup. You want to work with organizations that share your values, understand your goals, and can communicate your message in a way that is best suited for the candidates

To increase your success chances in the tech industry, watch this video for tips from top Silicon Valley startups

• How to hire senior developers when you have nothing to offer

When it comes to hiring startup employees, the challenge is real. When resources are scarce, things can get even more challenging. Some of the best software developers may not want to work for a startup if the startup doesn’t offer great benefits

On top of that, outsourcing can often be quite expensive. If this is the case for you, here’s a great suggestion: using a software vendor

When working with foreign developers, you have nothing to worry about as all perks are covered by the software development company. Besides, you’ll be getting Senior Software Developers for much lower rates than local ones

Benefits of Hiring Offshore Software Developers

The following are the main benefits of outsourcing for early stage startups:

The cost-effectiveness of a given course of action can be measured in terms of its impact on overall costs and benefits

As the cost of living in Eastern Europe is lower, developers from that region are able to provide the same high quality service at a lower price. Additionally, Eastern Europe has lower taxes, making it an attractive location for businesses.

Fresh ideas

That’s exactly what a startup needs - new ideas. There are many talented developers available locally, but outsourcing can be helpful in countries like Ukraine, which are known for their tech expertise. By outsourcing product development, you can speed up the time it takes to market your product. The tech aspect of your startup will be in good hands with an experienced team

When you select a team with a proven record of quality product development, you can be sure of the quality of the end result. It’s all about the people

Ukrainian engineers well known for their expertise. Contact Ukraine Software Team

Our process

Step 1. Getting to know your requirements

First, we collect the requirements for your project. We are looking for information about specific project requirements, including job descriptions, team size, and preferred workflow for finding the best-suited experts

Step 2. Preparing a team

In order to get the project started as soon as possible, we’ll need to hire some additional help up to a month from now. For urgent cases, we have access to a talent pool of our partners who can set up a team in under a week

Step 3. Selecting the best of the best engineers

Relevant Software will help you find the right talents for your project. Our HR will evaluate candidates and select the best of the best for a final interview with you

Step 4. Integration

We will make sure that the new team members integrated into your project team smoothly. It’s up to you to decide what tools and management approach to use

Step 5. Results

At the end of the recruitment process, you get the people or group of people who will help you meet your goals. There is no difference between them and us - we handle all the management and administration. We are passionate about the success of our clients’ products. Below are the projects we provided to our engineers:

Yaza: Java Backend engineers, iOS engineer, Data Science/Solution architect, Business Analyst/PM
Rivalz: Java Backend engineers, iOS engineer, Business Analyst/PM
Cyanoguard: Node.JS Backend Engineer, Android engineer, Business Analyst/PM, Cloud Architect
Ewhenter: Android engineer, Business Analyst/PM, Cloud Architect, Designer

Summary

There is a number of ways how you can hire a team to satisfy your development needs. Just make sure you have correctly identified exact purpose, project vision and have enough resources to allocate

CloudFlex is happy to support your software development, reach us out to get more!