Are you looking to hire developers for your startup? You have a lot more competitors than you might think.
Industry analysts expect the replacement rate for tech jobs in the U.S. to average around 7% annually through 2030. That equals nearly 580,000 new vacancies every year on top of those needed due to growth.
What does that mean for you? Simply put, that you’ll likely need all the help you can get to attract, recruit, and retain tech talent. Remember, you’re not competing against other early-stage startups only. Established companies — including tech giants — are always on the lookout for top developers, too.
But there’s more. Up to 70% of tech startups fail within 20 months of their first capital raise. The stakes at the initial stages of your business are extremely high, and having the right team of developers on your side can make all the difference.
To increase your prospects of success, you need to understand the differences between hiring software developers for startups and hiring for a larger company.
Why You Need a Hiring Process Customized for the Needs of Your Startup
When it comes to recruiting, young tech companies and more established businesses have very different needs.
Startups tend to hire through referrals and their existing networks. They also often need full-stack developers or all-rounders. As your business grows, you may require tech talent with more specialized skill sets such as backend or frontend developers or UX/UI experts. To find them and hire at scale, you’ll probably have to look beyond your network.
Here’s where things start to get tricky. Many startups that are scaling up struggle to balance growth with preserving the company culture — but the good news is that a well-thought-out hiring process can ensure that you don’t have to sacrifice growth for authenticity.
The benefits of a good recruiting process include:
- Good first impressions: Making an excellent impression on potential candidates and new hires can help you attract and retain people who are a good fit for your company.
- Employee referrals: You’re much more likely to get referrals from people who’ve had a great experience with your company. Referrals are especially important for early-stage startups that may not be able to source talented developers through other channels.
- Efficiency: An effective hiring process saves valuable time, money, and resources that can go toward growing your business instead.
What to Expect When Hiring Software Developers for Startups
The process and its duration will vary depending on:
- The stage of the company: Do you have a team of three or 20+ people? The smaller your startup, the more diligent you need to be when making those first hires. As you gain experience and momentum, the process should become faster and more efficient.
- Your team structure: Do you have a CTO or other experts who understand the technical side of things and can screen candidates? If you don’t, you may need to outsource the interview process.
- Your existing recruitment process: Are you relying on referrals, or do you have an HR department and specialist tech recruiters? If you have no prior experience in software development or hiring software developer teams, trying to recruit experts on your own may be a bad idea.
How Hiring a Dedicated Team Can Help You Scale Fast
The cost of hiring a software developer team in-house can be prohibitive for many early-stage startups. If your business is still in its early days, you probably want to scale as fast as possible without breaking the bank. In that case, you should seriously consider hiring remote software developers, also known as staff augmentation.
An experienced outsourcing partner can provide you with CTO-level consulting and assemble a remote team with the technical skill set you need — and do so quickly and cost-efficiently. That will enable you to:
- Save on HR, onboarding, and recruitment.
- Make the most of your development budget and limited internal resources, such as office space and physical workstations.
- Develop a thorough business plan, avoid common pitfalls, and build better products faster.
- Tap into a truly international pool of talent, which allows you to minimize red tape and attract highly skilled yet cost-effective engineers.
- Scale up when and as necessary — the needs of startups can change very quickly.
Building Your Remote Development Team with Zartis
At Zartis, we know a thing or two about outsourcing software development for startups. We grew our consultancy business from five to 200+ software engineers in less than five years. Our experts understand scaling and how to do it fast while upholding a company’s culture.
Today, we work with organizations ranging from a handful to thousands of employees. We can set up a tech team of just one to 20+ outsourced software developers. Our international network of developers consists of talented, agile, and flexible team players with excellent communication skills.
Whatever your needs and business goals are, we can help. We’ll ensure that you avoid common software developer hiring challenges and help you turn your business from a startup into an industry leader.
To learn more about our software consulting and staff augmentation services, drop us a line.
