Alternative ways to save on hiring developers

As presented below, a manager can save time and resources by simply adopting different and unconventional methods of finding and hiring developers. Some of them might sound unusual or too casual, but they all are worth a try, and all offer less finance spending.

Hire remote developers

Remote jobs are becoming more and more popular by the day. If you offer remote hiring, there is a better chance of finding a good developer that will want to stay for the long term.

You can always choose the preferred geographic locations if you want to, but you should focus on the skills you require instead of the physical location. Remote hiring is one perk for saving resources, but be mindful of the time zones (if you need to overlap the work hours for everyone).

Besides, almost everyone these days prefers remote work over on-site, and if you choose to hire remotely, you will save costs intended for premises and other factors. This pays off immensely, especially if, let’s say, you have a big work engagement that would last a long time or indefinitely.

The biggest way you save money through remote hiring is by hiring people from different backgrounds and origins because there are hidden gem talents everywhere, and at different rates too. If your country’s talent pool is limited or doesn’t fall within the budget, this can be a perfect solution.

You never know where your next great development team is. You might think of services for independent developers as perhaps not meeting your standards, but very often the best software engineers work freelance. Explore which options work best for you, whether freelancers or contractors or even another approach.

Services with independent developers are full of tech experts ready to build their portfolios even more and better. And, it is not always just novices or mid-level developers, but the best experts in their fields too. Who knows, if you receive a lot of replies back, you could form a team and start working immediately without spending insane amounts of resources.

Rely on referral programs

Using referral programs as a hiring method is another very productive way to save on hiring developers while still getting high-quality for your business. The perk of referral programs is that those developers truly have better engagement and retention rates overall.

Basically, a referral program is a way of hiring someone through recommendations you got about them upon inquiry from existing team members. For example, someone that is already working in the company can refer to someone else as a potential new member.

Besides, if a software development company can boast of fantastic culture and treatment of clients and employees, this is self-explanatory. Spreading the word about working in the company will do the advertisement itself.

Benefits of referrals

It is nice to target candidates that are not exposed or active otherwise with referrals. Besides, referrals are like an almost complete guarantee that the developer has good experience since someone was previously satisfied with their work.

Hire vetted professionals approved by expert recruiters

When a manager embarks on challenges like finding and hiring developers without spending all they got, they must evaluate what kind of experts will help them in this process.

For example, a manager will waste a lot of time and money on constant re-hirings, processes alike, and so on if the recruiter does not specialize in searching for the required developer skill.

If the recruiter is not fit for finding developers or inquiring about their technical skills, sadly, you can assume the outcome.

On the other hand, if a manager already works with a talent acquisition specialist with specific expertise in development, this is a win-win situation. A recruiter that knows what they're doing, will find quality developers better and without risks or unexpected costs down the road.

At Proxify, we always dedicate meticulous attention to engaging vetted professionals, thanks to our devoted teams for specific vetting and assessment purposes.

For example, we have dedicated and expert team of talent acquisition specialists that execute the recruiting and vetting process perfectly. They assess the soft skills during the interviews, also the English language proficiency, and inquire about the specifics of the main skill.

In this way, we efficiently reach top developers every time, without an exception.

Look for gems on social media and web

Managers or recruiters should not forget to check their social media and profiles to find a developer.

Usually, posting the job ad with a genuine and transparent job description does the job halfway through. And the best part about this is that the posting itself doesn’t need to be something embellished to just lure applicants for the sake of having applicants. Instead, simple is the trick to phrase it with the key points.

For example, if you need a Python developer for open source projects, say exactly that, or list all the programming languages that would be the job requirements.

A good starting point for finding the answers to development-related questions or entering development communities is visiting platforms where you can advertise, connect between communities, or build branding.

Check out your network

It might not have been your first option to look for a developer within your network of contacts and postings. But, the truth is that this way is efficient and fast, and affordable in the long run.

The perk of network research is that the applicants that the manager finds are all excellent quality and top tier in their respective industry. Take the example of Linkedin. It offers all the professional contacts displayed, and probably most of them already have sure developers among their network of contacts that could be recommended for work engagements.

Team leaders of the company should get involved too

Team leaders within the company have broad and resourceful networks of contacts on their own, not just their internal communications. However, this is often neglected and not utilized to the maximum. So, they need to address their web profiles, networks, and social media, either through job postings, or a more direct approach with specific contacts.

Go to conferences and event meetups

Gatherings for particular industries and vocations genuinely offer the best networking opportunities.

You can find great expert developers for many skills and technologies at networking events. Besides the perk of finding out something new, the broadened network goes a long way for professional advances.

Hackathons can be an excellent idea too

Have you ever considered hackathons as an option to find potential candidates without resource wasting?

A hackathon is an excellent idea because it is a pool of unexplored talent. This is a significant event where many developers gather for various programming challenges and problem-solving activities, app-building, and creating functioning software or hardware, all in a short timeframe of one or two days.

The takeaway

Finding and hiring developers does not need to be too costly, as is commonly believed.

Of course, every hiring process involves certain costs, but all it takes are minor adjustments to the classic methods. For example, some known ways of finding developers might work, but many other options give just as good results for a lower cost.

All it takes for hiring developers in a cost-efficient way is the desire to network, research online through personal and professional profiles, connect to people and utilize the potential of everyone included in the company.