How to Hire an App Developer for Your Mobile App Development Project

Different Ways to Enlist a Mobile App Developer

Behind any successful mobile app, there must be the dedication and effort of professional app developers. Depending on the project’s nature (could be the targeted operating systems - such as an iOS or Android app - or the types of mobile apps - native app or cross-platform app development), you will have different ways to approach the recruitment process.

For example, how you interview and assess iOS developers will be much different from how you do so with Android app developers. Or when staffing projects of native apps, you will need to look for developers who are competent with particular programming languages such as Java and Kotlin (for Android) and Swift or Objective-C (for iOS). And it is wholly different for developing cross-platform apps with requirements of coding languages and frameworks like React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin.

Good news! You have more than one resource to find and hire app developers. But the bad news is that each hiring option offers benefits and poses challenges simultaneously. Hence, it falls to you to decide which way to go. A hint is that you should base on your own needs as well as your current progress of the app development process to choose. Certainly, the following info will ease your decision-making.

Full-time Software Developers

This is a traditional method of hiring mobile app developers directly, in which employers onboard permanent staff as members of an in-house team and retain them for the entire project duration and beyond.

Pros

This approach best suits projects that already have defined budgets and a well-structured software development life cycle (SDLC) but need additional manpower and resources. In such a case, you can rest assured that mobile developers are committed to working exclusively for you since they are contractually obligated. Under the same roof, you can keep the entire development process on a short leash and maintain seamless communication with in-house developers.

Cons

Hiring an app developer permanently takes more time and money. More often than not, the hiring process for full-time staff comprises multiple stages, ranging from finding candidates and CV screening to interviewing and onboarding. Also, you should be prepared financially to cover the expenses related to employee benefits like salary, insurance, and other bonuses. And note that experienced app developers are not often affordable. With in-house staff, you are tied to a long-period commitment. Even when the workload gets high or low, you still need to pay the same salary to your employees regardless.

Freelance App Developers

You can have a skilled app developer work on your mobile applications on a temporary basis - known as a freelance app developer. This is an increasingly popular method of working with developers, mainly when you are short on resources and aim for cost efficiency. In this case, employers connect with experienced professionals in a freelance capacity who work on an assignment or project-to-project basis and leave after finishing their job. These professionals can work from anywhere but your office. Working with freelancers brings benefits but poses hidden challenges at the same time.

Pros

The obvious upside of leveraging services from freelancers is that you stand a better chance to connect with a larger pool of experienced professionals otherwise unavailable in your workforce. The non-staff app developers are proficient in the domain you need and require fewer resources compared to permanent employees.

As a result, this approach not only allows you to select only the necessary positions for your project but also keeps tight control over your budget, cuts down on manpower anytime when needed, and lowers operational costs. In brief, they are also ad-hoc workers who can fill in the blanks in your team when required. And if you know how to leverage the different salary ranges around the world, you can hire good app developers at a fraction of the cost.

Cons

Like any method, hiring app developers on an ad-hoc basis has limitations as well. The freelancer market is vast and competitive; therefore, it can pose challenges for you to find mobile app developers with the proper skills and experience. You must dig into more resources to spot the best talent and vet them thoroughly before putting them on duty.

The second problem is that freelance professionals can come on short of commitment and reliability. In other words, the absence of direct supervision could lead to delays in delivery. Thus, it could be more difficult to maintain control over their performance and outcomes when they are not on-site, as it is harder to keep track of their progress.

Thirdly, communication issues may also arise. The gap or latency in communication usually causes bottlenecks in the development process, which would, in turn, cause the project to stagnate, productivity to suffer, and the deliverables to be of sub-par quality. The problem can grow more serious when it comes to remote working if not handled properly from the start.

Lastly, legal problems could be a concern, too, when working with freelance mobile app developers. As you are dealing with non-employees, it is necessary to solidify comprehensive agreements regarding the scope of work, working hours, payment schedule, and other details beforehand. Failing to do so can result in misunderstandings that can possibly lead to disputes, losses for your business at worst, or even cause project failures. As such, you should always draw up a clear-cut contract before any collaboration.

Outsourced App Development Team

The best mobile app developers are available dispersedly worldwide. And you have another way to reach out to them rather than utilizing freelancers; it is outsourcing. Many businesses are partnering with a mobile app development company to provide their project team with additional resources. This hiring method can bring you the best of both ways mentioned above as it suffices to the flexibility of freelancers and the commitment and control of permanent staff.

In fact, you can choose either to contract a dedicated development team of skilled app developers to conduct your project or add individuals to your in-house team – called IT staff augmentation – and work as team members. Either model has the same ultimate goal to staff your project upon your requirements, but they differ in approach:

• Dedicated Teams: This outsourcing model involves outsourcing the whole development process to a local or foreign app development agency. The company sends you a team of experienced professionals that can handle specific tasks within the project and provide you with technical expertise and background throughout the mobile application development lifecycle, from conception to deployment. This type of team will work for you but be managed by a third-party company.
• Staff Augmentation: Almost the same as above, in this model, you will contract with a service vendor to provide you with top app developers. But those specialists will join your in-house team and work alongside your staff. This model enables you to fill the missing skills gaps in your team without hiring permanent staff members while maintaining the same level of productivity. Quite similar to freelancers, but the augmented staff will be managed by service providers. So, you have fewer concerns about their commitment level as you are assured of their outcomes and availability for the project scope.

Pros

Overall, hiring mobile app programmers through an intermediary company offers you the best of both freelancers and full-time staff. It suffices the flexibility of freelance app developers as you can add and remove personnel from the project while ensuring control and commitment from them, like what is offered by an internal team.

Additionally, the app development companies open for you a door to a vast pool of tech talent which is otherwise inaccessible. When hiring a remote app development team, you can benefit from cost efficiency, as the fee model is usually based on an hourly rate or monthly subscription. This lets employers have flexibility in budgeting to pay for only what they need without long-term commitments.

Cons

On the flip side, outsourced mobile app developers can be a risk, too, if you miscalculate your move and partner with inappropriate service providers. In such a situation, there could be some consequences you may encounter, namely, security risks related to data leakage or privacy issues, poor communication, delays in delivery, and low-quality results caused by a lack of expertise. Now that is how the disadvantages of outsourced teams occur.

Fortunately, you can keep the cons of outsourcing at bay with one and only condition - find and choose the right outsourcing partner. You might think it is too obvious, and it is easier said than done. However, it is viable. Make sure you comprehend this guide and stick around its key points to evaluate and decide on the right partner. Despite the location or the outsourcing model you pick, the rules of thumb to spot an excellent outsourcing partner remain the same.