Get[Devs] understands what all development teams need in order to run smoothly, efficiently and quickly towards their current goal. When they do, our co-employees are successful and your job gets done well. This is our shared long-term goal. One of the people your team needs to get you to that goal is a lead developer. It is the job of a lead developer to move the team forward by implementing choices and making decisions.
There are a couple of ways Get[Devs] can help you hire a lead developer for your offshore development team. All of which are based on where you are in building your development team. Get[Devs] will evaluate where you are and make suggestions on which practices you should use to hire your lead developer.
For instance, let’s say you just started building a team of offshore developers with Get[Devs] and you are wondering about a lead developer. If you have already hire some senior developers, you already have a pool of which to choose a lead. Or, if you are currently hiring senior developers, you can pick your candidates from those soon-to-be-hires. Or, if you feel you wish to keep looking for someone with lead developer experience and hire for that job alone, that is an option as well.
If you’ve already got a team running and you want to put in a new Lead Developer for another part of the software project and to take on its responsibilities, you can choose from the developers you have or ask Get[Devs] to start the hiring process for this position on your development team. If you aren’t sure which way to go, Get[Devs] can help you with that process too.
When hiring a senior developer, experience is key. If you have a senior developer in your midst that has been with your for years and the team already looks to him/her as the lead, that kind of experience is immeasurable. That is the person you should hire as the lead and look for another senior developer. Mainly because not only does that senior developer have experience, it is experience with your product. They will be able to take the position of Lead Developer and run with it. Otherwise, look for the person with the most long term experience.
Look for a great communicator. One who is able to communicate with individuals and with whole teams at once. A person who can communicate on paper as well as verbally. You will get an understanding of their communication skills through their interviews. But Get[Devs] also put each person applying for one of your positions through written tests as well. You will want to go over these tests and pick a lead developer out of those who communicate well on paper as well as orally.
It is important when you add a position like the lead developer to an established team that you leave a way to change your mind. Even the candidate who looks perfect for the position may not end up working well with your group of developers. Therefore, think about giving them a trail period of 3 to 6 months. This way you have set your expectations and your new lead developer has the time they need to begin leading the team.
Choosing a lead developer for your offshore development team isn’t easy, but is an important position to fill. It is a person you will need to trust to move your team in the right direction at the right pace. Get[Devs] is here to help you with the process of finding the right person every step of the way.
It is important to not start with hiring a lead developer. You need to start by hiring a team. Looking for the people you need for each part of your project first is the best plan to create your best team. Hiring a Lead Developer first may cause you to hire only people the lead developer knows, which can lead to you losing more than one person at a time if any of your team should become disgruntled. Keeping the team working and developing your project is the priority you want your Lead Developer focused on, not finding their tech friends jobs.
Let us know who you need to add to your development team today!