Questions to Ask Before Hiring Freelance Developers

As more and more companies turn to remote working the world over it is only natural that you look into its specifics and wonder if that’s the solution for your own business. If you’re a company trying to expand your tech team, or a startup trying to hire new talent from scratch, you would have already heard much on the benefits of using freelance developers instead of increasing the number of employees on your full time payroll.

Even if you’re an entrepreneur trying to build your own product from scratch, hiring a freelance developer to bring your dreams to reality is probably what you’re intending to do.

From the ability to access a wider talent pool, finding those with skill sets that are more aligned with your requirements, to reducing costs and overheads, the advantages of having a remote freelance workforce is extensive.

But how do you make it happen?

How do you find the right people for your job?

What areas do you test them on?

Where do you have to look to find what you need?

If these are some of the questions you’re facing right now, then you are in the right place looking for your answers.

There are numerous online platforms out there such as Upwork that enable you to hire your freelance developers with ease. However, Upwork has a poor reputation in the market due to the non-vetted and under qualified talent that's present within their platform. If this is your concern you may want to check out our review of the Top 8 Upwork Alternatives to Hire Developers in 2021.

If you’d rather carry on the hiring process yourself, then keep reading.

When making a hire first and foremost, the need to hire a well rounded character should be emphasized. Not only is it important to have those who are well versed in their tech skills, it is essential that they have sufficient communicative and interpersonal skills, they are able to learn and adapt fast, as well as having the ability to work independently and make right decisions.

Especially in the remote work arena, since you won’t be personally interacting with the talent, a comprehensive screening process is a must to prevent future challenges and this can be achieved only if you use a holistic approach to evaluate the developers prior to making a hire.

So, let us break down what exactly you should be looking for in your freelance developers.

1 - Technical Competence

For the freelance developer, their technical know-how is even more crucial than for the average full-time employee. The reason being, they are required to work independently and hit the ground running from the get go, as opposed to the full time employee that generally has an induction period and is provided training to make them more familiar with the organization.

Therefore, when opting for freelance developers it is a must to ensure that they possess the entire set of tech skills required for your project or your organization. It would be best to conduct a live coding aptitude test to check their ability in this department.

2 - Problem-Solving Skills

Unquestionably one of the most important skills required for a developer, this is a skillset that cannot be taught by the books. Problem solving is a very individual self directed process that requires logical thinking capability that enables the talent to make quick analytical decisions through careful observation, in order to solve problems that may arise at any point.

This innate ability that's coupled with an above average IQ level is essential for developers that need to formulate solutions to problems while under time constraints.

3 - Communication Skills

Due to the remote nature of their work, excellent communication skills are critical for a freelance developer. This is a skillset you do not want to take slightly, as poor communication can lead to misunderstandings that can put your entire project and company at risk.

Hence, it is essential for a freelance developer to have the ability to possess strong language skills both written, and verbal in order to communicate and articulate clearly.

4 - Punctuality and Reliability

You need to have trust in your remote team for their ability to meet deadlines and stay accountable for the responsibilities that are assigned to them. Although they are freelancers they cannot show tardiness when it comes to set meetings, and it is vital that they deliver their output in a timely manner.

For this purpose, you may want to look up their references to ensure the talent's punctuality and reliability as this is not an area that you can monitor yourself before making the hire.

If you were to test out your candidate on a short term trial period however, it would be possible to get an idea of the talent’s punctuality and reliability by keeping track of their responsiveness to questions, and delivery of assigned tasks.

5 - Ability to work independently

Another important characteristic required in remote workers is their ability to make independent decisions and face obstacles and challenges on their own.

Without the ability to have face-to-face interactions as they would in regular full-time employment, freelancers are required to possess the internal drive required to stay focused and be proactive. They are expected to manage their time effectively and possess organizational skills required to accomplish tasks on their own with minimal supervision.

How do we Evaluate Developers at CloudDevs?

Over the years, CloudDevs has evaluated over thousands of freelance developers across the European and South American regions admitting only the top 5% of applicant into our platform, and as such we have created a foolproof multi-step screening process to ensure the overall competence of each and every candidate you can access through our online marketplace.

Below, we have listed out our evaluation process to assist you in making the right hire.

Stage 1 - Discovery Stage

The discovery stage at CloudDevs consists of a lengthy interview process that allows us to get an overall preview of what the talent has to offer, and at this stage we test them on two specific areas of expertise.

1) Tech Skills - We will conduct a discussion to understand their technical proficiency and the tech stack they possess and evaluate its use for the requirements of our company.

1) Language Proficiency - Throughout the interview of the ‘Discovery Stage’ we will be analysing the candidates’ language proficiency to ensure they have what it takes to communicate in fluent english and articulate themselves with clarity.

Stage 2 - Coding Challenge

Once they pass the initial stage, the candidate is expected to partake in a timed coding challenge that is catered to their area of expertise as discussed on the discovery stage. During this challenge the talent will be evaluated on the quality of code they produce and the time taken to complete the challenge.

Stage 3 - Problem Solving Challenge

At CloudDevs, it isn’t sufficient to simply have the tech skills to pass the coding challenge. We value a candidate's capacity to utilize their technical experience along with their problem solving capacity as it is a much needed skill in the fast changing field of tech. In order to test this ability, we will be assigning them an algorithmic problem solving challenge.

This allows us to determine how the candidate would perform under pressure when faced with a real life situation requiring their problem solving skills.

Stage 4 - Background Check

This final stage is where we conduct a thorough background check on the candidate to screen them through their past records. From references from past employers to criminal records, all will be monitored to ensure only those with credibility are allowed into our platform.

Only those that successively pass all 4 stages of screening will be admitted into the CloudDevs platform. But it doesn’t stop there.

We make it a point to continuously monitor the performance of all our talent throughout their time with us, no matter the level of their seniority. If we feel that they are not consistent with their work, we take the necessary action.

Conclusion

In the fast paced tech sphere you cannot afford to make bad recruitment choices, as the cost of making bad decisions are extremely high.

Additionally, time is very much of the essence to your business venture as your ‘time is money’ and it would require a great deal of time to individually follow the given format to screen and interview each job application that comes your way.

If high quality freelance developing talent is what you seek, but you do not fancy the thought of testing and screening each applicant yourself, then you may want to sign up with one of these freelance platforms. They relieve you of your burden by conducting the entire hiring process for you.