How to Hire Developers According To Reddit Users

If you’re looking to build a remote dev team or hire developers as freelancers to work on an upcoming project, you’ll find everything you need to know in this article.

Finding the right kind of talent will not only ensure your project is successful but will also affect the speed at which it can be accomplished. 

1. Why should you consider hiring remote developers?

Hiring remote talent has many benefits for employers. 

For instance,

• You incur a lower cost when hiring remote developers
• You have access to a much larger pool of global talent

• You can minimize overhead costs such as office space, furnishing, and utility bills
• Remote work allows for a better work-life balance which in turn improves workplace efficiency

2. How can you find the best freelance developers for hire?

There are multiple ways to hire developers for your project:

• Talent Recruitment Agencies – Recruitment agencies are the preferred hiring method by large-scale organizations with bigger hiring budgets. They generally work with clients in the long term and are paid a yearly consultancy fee to manage all internal recruitment processes including interviewing, screening, vetting, and onboarding new talents.

• Job Boards – If you’re hiring developers on your own and are willing to go through the laborious process it entails, job boards are one of the best options for sourcing talent without having to pay hefty agency fees to make that hire on your behalf. However, you have to put in many hours in order to find and hire developers that are just right for your requirements.

• Online Talent Marketplaces – Another popular option is to go with an online talent marketplace the likes of CloudDevs that have access to their own pool of pre-vetted, senior developers across a range of specialties. By consulting with a talent marketplace, you can find and hire developers that are perfectly suited to your needs within a matter of hours without having to undergo the burden of screening, interviewing, and handling payrolls of your talent.

3. What are the main challenges of hiring remote developers?

• Screening and vetting candidates – not all talent-hiring platforms offer pre-vetted candidates hence if that’s a requirement you need to ensure the platform you sign up with does a thorough job at vetting their talents.
• Language competence of remote developers – when looking at an international talent market, language barriers are one of the most common problems encountered by those that hire remote talent. 
• Having to create and manage job postings – if you’re hiring on your own, you need to create job posts that illustrate all aspects of the project requirements in order to attract the right talent. And you are also fully responsible for maintaining the posts and conducting the screening to find the best candidates that come through.
• Additionally, when hiring developers yourself, you’re responsible for conducting interviews to determine the personality and cultural fit of the talent within your organization in addition to running background checks to ensure their profiles are authentic and that they’re solid candidates.

In addition to the above, there are a few other components you need to consider before making your dev hire. For instance, based on the severity of the task at hand and the expertise level required in the particular tech stack, you must be able to gauge the seniority level you require from a developer. If you’re not a technical founder, you may require the assistance of a recruiter or a consultant from a talent marketplace in order to hire the right developers for your projects.

4. What are the top non-technical skills to look out for in a developer?

• Communication  – Great communication skills are a winner for any organization in any capacity. Yet especially within software engineering that demands a high level of teamwork and collaboration, effective communication is an absolute requirement. 
• Problem-solving & critical thinking skills – in order to tackle complex issues that arise at a moment’s notice, your dev talent should be apt in his/her critical thinking and problem-solving skills in order to think out of the box and come up with innovative solutions.
• Time management – Effective time management is an essential skill for all developers as they are expected to accomplish tasks within allocated time slots. If there were delays on the part of one developer, it can hold up the entire project. As a result, you pay attention to their ability to manage their time when hiring developers for your team.
• Maturity & accountability – Another essential component of your dev hires is their maturity level to take accountability for their actions. Mistakes are bound to happen within any project, and it is vital to hire a team of developers that are able to hold themselves accountable for their actions.
• Team ethic & collaborative skills – In line with having great communication skills,  developers you hire must have a great team ethic. At the end of the day, development is a collaborative process and you cannot have lone wolves within your team.

5. What are the top Reddit recommendations for websites to hire developers?

Based on available information online and on Reddit as of September 2023, we have compiled a list of the top websites you should look into if you’re trying to hire developers for your business venture.

1. CloudDevs 

CloudDevs is a tech talent platform that offers pre-vetted freelance developers and designers for hire. With its 8000+ talent pool of elite senior developers and designers sourced from Latin America, the company ensures its highly vetted senior talent meets the needs of its clients within 48 hours. They make sure that all of their talents are assigned from the same time zone as the client, allowing for efficient communication and service delivery. To ensure that the chosen talent is the best fit, CloudDevs offers a 7-day no-risk trial period.  

All of Cloud’s senior developers and designers carry a minimum of 5 years of experience within their specialized tech stack and as such you ensure expert-level output on your projects. Furthermore, according to feedback left by Reddit users, CloudDevs makes sure that its clients receive the best possible rates with no additional commissions. 

2. UnicornDev

Unicorn.Dev specializes in sourcing vetted senior developers from Asia and Africa and ensures that all clients are provided with a minimum 4-hour time-zone overlap with their remote talent hires. 

Based on Reddit reviews, Unicorn Dev is your one-stop shop for hiring remote tech talent. You are able to source senior tech talent from a global pool of 8000+ pre-vetted developers and designers. Unicorn Dev ensures that its senior talent has at least 5 years of experience. It also employs a stringent vetting process to make sure its clients from around the world receive the best quality of work. 

They handle all of your talent management, payments, and compliance, so you don’t have to worry about anything. Unicorn Dev ensures that talent is assigned within 24 hours via your private Slack workplace. You receive a 7-day free trial and if you aren’t happy with the talent, Unicorn Dev will immediately locate an alternative or refund you right away. Unicorn Dev offers you a customized solution whether your demand is part-time, full-time or you need to outsource. 

3. Toptal

One of the more established players in the market, Toptal has been providing premium vetted talent since 2010. In addition to highly qualified freelance developers and designers, you can expect to find project and product managers as well as financial consultants on Toptal’s talent platform. 

All Toptal talents undergo a rigorous screening method that allows the company to really narrow down whom they hire into their platform. This not only provides them with the best of the global tech talent base but also ensures their clients are provided with A-class developers.  

4. Fiverr

Fiverr is a convenient service when locating remote talent. It is the site that popularised the idea of hiring developers based on orders and the gig economy. It is the ideal platform to provide services for one-time and small-scale projects. 

Despite having a fantastic community, it has its fair share of scammers based on reviews left by Reddit users. Fiverr freelancers come from different parts of the world and it’s a hub for cheap-skilled labor due to the hordes of people available on Fiverr, the site isn’t able to verify the skill level of these freelancers. 

You can search for freelancers based on their profiles and review all the details and ratings before you hire developers through Fiverr. At Fiverr you can expect to find a wide variety of freelancers across a range of skill sets and they generally charge between $5 to $995 depending on the project.   

5. PeroplePerHour

Peopleperhour was founded in 2007 and currently supports around fifteen different categories of freelancers. Some of these options include SEO, translation, marketing, design, social media as well as coding, and product engineering. Its instant messaging feature promotes better communication between the client and freelancer while also increasing client security and privacy. 

Furthermore, these freelancers may post their portfolios so that clients can review their work history and determine if they’re the best fit. According to Reddit users, while you can hire freelance developers for affordable rates through PeoplePerHour, you would still spend quite a chunk of your time interviewing and screening potential candidates prior to making that hiring decision, so that’s worth keeping in mind

6. Upwork

Upwork is one of the largest networks of freelancers available online. As such it is a great place to start your search for talented freelance developers. However, unlike CloudDevs and UnicornDev, Upwork does not offer the option of  “screened and vetted developers” and that is something the client should take upon themselves to screen and vet their potential new hires. 

In order to post a job on Upwork, you must first sign up to the platform and post your job with a well-drawn job description. Candidates that show an interest will then start making bids on your job post.  You may then screen the candidates and conduct an interview if required, prior to starting your project.

With thousands of registered candidates, you have a good chance of discovering good talent. Upwork operates on a bidding system, allowing developers to post their lowest prices and allow employers to bid on them.  According to Reddit users, although there is a vast network of freelancers to choose from at Upwork, there are quite a number of unqualified candidates as well so you must make careful hiring decisions.

7.  We Work Remotely

A job board exclusively for remote job seekers, We Work Remotely is composed primarily of developer work opportunities. They offer a very affordable platform that’s highly frequented by the tech community and is a great alternative for those looking to post their developer-hiring job vacancies online.

Developers can apply for the jobs they are interested in and the clients will follow through with interview processes to narrow down their search until they find the perfect match from within the platform. Reddit users claim it is an excellent platform for talent to find gigs, however, from the client’s end it may take months before they can finalize the right candidate.