6 Simple Steps to Hire App Programmers

The increasing popularity of mobile apps has transformed the way businesses function. Today, every smartphone is filled with applications for various purposes ranging from entertainment to shopping, traveling to cooking, learning to social media, and much more. And businesses around the globe are continuously battling to leverage these applications for advertising their products or services to a broader audience. This never-ceasing battle has resulted in a cutthroat competition where you must stay far ahead of any competition. And to win this race, you must offer the most efficient, direct, and customizable ways to deliver information quickly, build a continuous presence, improve recognition, expand the target audience, and increase customer engagement. Creating mobile apps for your business is the most promising approach or way to supply the capabilities mentioned above. Consequently, if you want to stay relevant and ahead of the competition, you must hire app programmers to develop and maintain state-of-the-art solutions for improved customer experience, engagement, and loyalty.

A competent app programmer will assist you in designing, developing, managing, troubleshooting, monitoring updates and possible security threats, and lastly, providing end-user support. However, hiring a programmer to make an app is a strenuous task unless you know where to start. Generally, the hiring process is an expensive and time-consuming task, and you don't want to spend your efforts and resources only to end up with an app programmer who does not fit your team. That's why we have put together a comprehensive list of steps that you should be mindful of when you hire an app programmer.

But before we deep dive into the steps, it is crucial that you first understand the challenges you might face during the hiring process. Comprehending challenges and solutions will indirectly lead you to the right app programmer.

Challenges you might face when hiring app programmers.

As per Statista, by 2025, consumers are expected to spend $85 billion (US) on mobile apps from just Google Play Store. However, when you combine consumer spending from App Store and Google Play, it is projected to reach almost $270 billion (US). This should be your prime reason to break in and leverage the mobile app market since app programmers are now in higher demand than ever. Companies worldwide have expanded their hiring funnel to onboard the best app programmer to be a crucial part of their mobile development team. This fierce competition sometimes leads to challenges that might restrict you from onboarding an adequately skilled and experienced app programmer. The challenges include

Limited pool of competent app programmers

There is a severe shortage of skilled app programmers who can deliver innovative and unique solutions to companies. Geography also impacts this significantly. For instance, if you're a company based in New York, the limited supply of talented app programmers there can make hiring difficult. Which has led to a fierce talent war raging out there where you simply can't afford any mistakes. Lousy hiring can be a costly misstep for you, especially if you are a small or medium enterprise.

Since most great app programmers are either already employed or not looking for a new position, hiring one can be daunting. Another factor you should be aware of is that decent developers receive a dozen job offers every week. However, an upside factor is that most programmers want to know about new job opportunities, even if they're not actively looking (as per Stack Overflow survey). So, if you're going to onboard a competent app programmer, you need to develop innovative recruiting strategies. The traditional and outdated recruiting approach simply won't work. To make sure your brand stands out from the crowd and to hire the brightest and most skilled app programmers, you must effectively differentiate your company from the rest of your competitors.

Hiring a skilled app programmer is expensive

Hiring is not only time-consuming but also an expensive endeavor. Various factors can pile up in your cost expenditure, including advertising costs, in-house recruiter's salaries, third-party recruiter fees, travel expenses, sign-on bonuses, employee referral bonuses, and more. If you're hiring for a high-profile job, then employee relocation is another factor that can cost you heavily. That being said, the decision to hire an app programmer should not be taken lightly significantly since it does not fall lightly on your company's budget. One bad hire can create havoc and can cost you severely.

Competitors with better offers

Each company strives to hire the best app programmer out there to be a part of their development team. Everyone is offering different perks or benefits to attract the best talent. This tight competition in the industry can lead to candidates receiving a better offer letter along with better compensation. So, even if the app programmer has accepted your offer letter, it does not guarantee that they will join your team. In this situation, it doesn't make sense to continuously drain your resources to relentlessly pursue multiple leads for the same position, especially if you're a small or medium enterprise.

Lack of skills to evaluate app programmers

HR teams usually depend on essential keyword matching to look for an app programmer. This results in a poor hire leading to lost opportunity costs. When you hire an IT professional, it is required that your hiring manager possess the essential tech expertise to accurately evaluate the candidate's experience and skills. A lack of it can lead to lowered standards and, in turn, a bad hire.

6 simple steps to follow when you hire an app programmer

Now that you’re clear with the challenges, it’s time to know what you should look for in an app programmer to make the right decision for your application development project.

Set your development goals

Before you hire app programmers, you need to develop a list of goals. Goals and objectives are the backbones of your application, and you must set them with extensive research at the very beginning before you start hiring app programmers. The list you will create should answer the following -

Be clear and very specific about product concept, design, and functionality?" Find out regarding the revenue model. You need to be sure if you are developing free or paid applications. If paid, what unique feature should be made available to customers paying to use the product? Research and define your target audience to outline your user's needs Make a roadmap or outline for work processes, functionalities, and the final product that you intend to achieve with the application.

When your objectives are clearly defined, you know where you're headed. This way, you'll be prepared to describe the same to app programmers when you hire them.

iOS, Android or cross-platform

You must be clear on the type of app you want to make. If you're looking to target Apple mobile operating systems specifically, you should hire iOS programmers. An iOS developer would supervise and participate in mobile application development for Apple hardware, including iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. If this is your goal, then you should look for iPhone app developers for hire.

However, if you want to delve into the Android market and build applications specifically for Android-driven devices, you should hire Android programmers. An Android developer would be responsible for creating and maintaining mobile apps running on the Android operating system.

On the other hand, if you want a cross-platform app development, then instead of looking particularly for Android/iOS app developers for hire, it would be best to hire cross-platform/hybrid app developers.

You can significantly narrow down the hiring list when you're clear with the type of application you want.

Set your budget

Navigating the cost of recruiting an app programmer is crucial for successful hiring. An approximate estimate will save you from confusion and frustration down the line. You should keep in mind that there can also be additional costs during the app development process. So, it is usually better to have a flexible budget. However, make sure that you're not too flexible; otherwise, the cost will be much higher. It is necessary to maintain a proper balance.

Additionally, you must ensure that the price is not the deciding factor in hiring an app programmer. If so, this may lead to a complete disaster. You don't want to spend on an app programmer who doesn’t communicate properly or meet deadlines. Sometimes, the cheapest app programmers can cost you more money and time in the long run. Similarly, high price doesn't mean high quality. You need to vet the app programmers accurately to hire a skilled professional who is under your budget.

Test the skills

If you want to hire the right app programmer for your brand, you should have a systematic vetting approach in place. To do so, you need to make skill assessment/test an integral part of your hiring process. Skill test allows you to understand an applicants’ level of expertise and knowledge. Tests also ensure that the candidate truly understands the job and what is required. It is the best way to gain more insights on app programmers instead of wasting your valuable time on lengthy interviews or sifting through countless CVs and portfolios.

Your assessment strategy should include technical skills such as programming languages, algorithms, data structures, UI/UX, Agile methodologies, database, cross-platform development skills, and many more. Furthermore, an app programmer should not only be evaluated on technical skills. Developers must collaborate and communicate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to ensure successful development. That's why you must make sure that your assessment strategy includes soft skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, collaborative and communication skills, and many more.

Create an attractive job description

A detailed job description is the first layer of your hiring strategy to help you attract the right talent. It is a window that lets app programmers know about the role, your company vision, key responsibilities, requirements, and qualifications. And a well-written job description can bring a wide range of highly talented app programmers into your pipeline. Some things to keep in mind that you must keep in mind when crafting job descriptions are:

• Do not get the job title wrong
• Always start with a short and engaging overview of the job
• Focus on your expectation from the app programmer
• Mention the project duration (specify short-term or long-term)
• Avoid superlatives or extreme modifiers
• Mention the experience and all specific skills that you're looking for
• Aim on app programmer's growth and development
• Create urgency for the position
• highlight benefits, perks, and workplace bonuses
• Add creative or innovative touches to catch the applicant's eye and interest

Hire an app programmer who is interested in your business and not just the development

You must hire a professional who is invested in the development process and wants your business to succeed. A good app programmer should suggest valuable insight into app development. An experienced app programmer would know what works best and what doesn’t since they have worked with many clients. It only makes sense that they recommend new and unique trends and updates to ensure that the application is up-to-date with the latest technological advancements.

Conclusion

Even though hiring an app programmer is a difficult task, it doesn't need to be a nightmare. If you follow the tips mentioned above, pay close attention to detail, weigh all your options, and look in the right places. You will hire the right app programmer to be a part of your team.

One-of-a-kind platform that can assist you in hiring highly skilled and remote app programmers is Turing.com. Turing allows you to tap the untapped human potential from around the globe. Its AI-driven Intelligent Talent Cloud enables you to source, vet, match, and manage the world's best app programmers with the push of a button.

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