How to Find a Lead Developer for Your Startup Company

Categories: Advice for HR Professionals, Advice for Start-ups and Entrepreneurs, IT Recruitment Advice

How to Find a Lead Developer for Your Startup Company

For startup companies, looking for the perfect lead developer is a challenging ordeal. In fact, 90% of startups fail because developers are only expected to code—no more, no less.

In a startup organization, positions and tasks may overlap for the benefit of all. Once you have your product concept ready, your lead developer will be your frontier and partner to make your product alive and available to the market.

It’s all good until you realize that the right developer is hard to seek and employ. Yes, there are a lot of talents in the field, but the problem lies on how to find and work with the right one. Conducting an IT expert search is a good first step followed by these other searching strategies:

Characteristics of your developer

1. Eager for continuous learning and innovation – Having the openness to learn new things and improve products is always a welcomed trait.

2. Good listener – While expressing own opinions is helpful, the ability to listen willingly is necessary.

3. Trustworthy – Working together requires trust and transparency on you and your developer’s part.

4. Team player – Developers must be able to work with the entire team, not on an individual basis.

5. Insightful – Having technical skills is a must, but sharing work insights is also needed in the long startup run.

6. Problem-solver – Developers must be willing to find different ways to solve problems.

Meeting with your developer

1. Bring your exciting technology at the table. 

Encourage developers by letting them in on your startup’s technology wonders. Let them know what kind of tech, platforms, and products they will be working on when they’re aboard your team. If there’s one thing developers love working with, it’s advanced and exciting technology.

2. Introduce your working culture. 

Startups are known for their innovative and fun working culture. When meeting your prospective developer, present how’s it like to work with your team. Let your developers look forward to work each day.

3. Provide good mentorship and teamwork. 

To grow professionally is a key factor for developers to consider working for your startup. If your startup has a continuous avenue for growth, valuable interest, and expert mentorships, developers will want to work and develop with your startup. Opportunities for learning and network connection can make up for salary limitations with your startup.

 

Where to look for your developer

1. Look at freelancing websites

Along with startups, the gig economy by freelancers is also popular in the industry. At freelancing websites, you can search for freelance developers and study their portfolio and profile. You may start searching at Freelancer.com, Upwork.com, Guru.com and Craigslist.org.

2. Search at social media networking sites

Social media has the entire town talking, so if you’re in need of a developer, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are your friends. Join various groups and communities and be on the lookout for developers looking for opportunities. A simple search and message can go a long way.

3. Join networking events

In corporate and startup setting, business gatherings and events are a great means to network your startup with other businesses, stakeholders, and workers. Have your business card and startup profile speech ready in case you’ve found yourself in a sea of developers and partnership opportunities.

4. Hire a recruitment firm that specializes in finding the right candidates

You’ve searched the entire web and connected with several professionals, but your prospective developer is yet to be found. In such cases, seeking a recruitment firm in Cebu which specializes in matching your startup with the right candidate can do the job well and in no time. Your advantage with a specialized recruitment firm is that they know what they are doing and are the best in it.

5. Look out for forums and job boards

Similar to social media networking sites, job boards and forums are online communities you can rely on. Most forums and job boards have specific industry niches and categories so you can easily discover potential developers. Just be sure to know the legitimacy of the candidate you’re seeking, and you’ll be good to go.

6. Attend university events

Local universities often conduct job search events which invite students and alumni all over. By attending university events, you can tap fresh talents for your startup innovation. You can also re-connect with your former co-interns to see if they’re interested in a development opportunity.

The right developer for your startup

When looking for the right lead developer, you have to keep searching to win. If you know where and how to look, you can employ and work with the right developer for your startup. All it takes is one search to lead to a string of people and opportunities that lead to the developer you need.

In a pool of talents, remember to know the candidate thoroughly job and personality-wise. Technical expertise and skills are among the redeeming factors, but work attitude is also vital especially in startup culture which provides a different business structure and model.


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