Android applications are ruling the world. With 88% of the total smartphone market share, it is expected to generate up to $950bn by 2023. With such a vast market, there is always a need for Android developers. Many businesses and startups are looking to hire Android Developers to develop their apps and features. If you are one of them and don’t know where to start, you have come to the right place.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can hire an Android Developerall by yourself in only 48 hours.
Why is there a need for Android Developers
While the growing market does entice us with its prestige, it also brings challenges. There are too many apps in the market already, and with many different apps still coming, it is tough to survive. Only 1 out of 10,000 apps achieve some limelight. It is far more difficult now for businesses and startups to reach their customers or promote their brands.
Hiring a top android developer means he will build you a scalable market-centric app according to the desired requirements that will not only be successful but would also generate good revenue. But with the number of skills it requires, Android app development has become one of the most challenging jobs today, making it hard to find any developer.
Why is it so hard to find Android app developers
Hiring android developers is hard. You want to hire a skilled developer who is dedicated, can understand your vision, and doesn’t squander the budget. Hiring process can even get long, taking weeks to find the right person for the job, gets expensive, demands patience and is bad considering you’ll be needing developers every now and then.
There is a huge demand for skilled professionals and any employer with a good offer can quickly hire them. And if you don’t come from a technical background, you might find it harder to know if they are real or scams, if they have the right skills or qualifications, etc.
Hiring an ideal developer is a hefty job. But don’t worry, here is a quick guide which will help you find your ideal developer
. Determine Your Requirements
Employers often don’t have a clear roadmap of what they want. If you are not clear in your objective, you will find it hard to get the right person with the necessary expertise. So list down everything you deem necessary before starting the hiring process.
Things you should focus on-
1. Business Requirements –
It is the vision. Your goals in the market and how you plan to achieve them. Your business and monetization model. And how the developer helps you through it.
2. Market Needs-
As I previously said- there is already tough competition in the market. Why should a user choose your app over others? What problem is it solving? How is it better? You have to find these answers by studying the market and the competition.
3. Purpose of your app-
You have to be specific here. There are many jobs associated with an app and a company. You have to state the exact reason for hiring an android developer. Reasons could be: to build your whole app, to develop a particular programming language, for marketing aspects, testing, back end, or front end, etc. Be specific.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEVELOPER:
The next step is to find the right person. Developing apps require a certain level of skills and expertise. The app developer should be able to understand the scope of your business and be skilled enough to fulfill those requirements.
FINDING THE NECESSARY SKILL:
Android App development can be divided into different segments such as App design, App development, App testing, maintenance, etc. Each of them requires a unique set of skills. As an employer, you have to be very clear about the project you need to hire the android developer for. And then look out for the skills required for them.
It is a no-brainer that the developer should have both the hard skills and the soft skills to work in a professional environment. Let’s get a quick understanding of them so you can easily identify the qualities you require and the kinds of questions you should ask in the interview.
Hard Skills Required: It comprises the technical skills and knowledge related to programming and app development. Below are some hard skills required in a developer:
· Proficient in Java, Kotlin and C++
· Practical knowledge of Android SDK, Android Studio, Android Framework.
· Familiarity with open source Android libraries, tools like Git and related systems.
· Experience with APIs such as XML, JSON, etc.
· Understanding of UI and UX design, SQL.
Other than that, should be able to fix bugs, update apps in google play, and can give back-end support.
Soft Skills Required: These are the skills that differentiate a good team worker with a bad one. A developer, even if working remotely, should be able to communicate with clients, designers, and other engineers.
Some important soft skills needed are-
· Should have good communication skills.
· Should be a team player and is able to collaborate in projects.
· Can manage stress.
· Should be up to date with new technologies and frameworks.
· Should have good time management skills.
WAYS OF COLLABORATION-
Now before starting the hiring process, one more thing you need to plan for is the type of collaboration. It includes remote based developers, freelancers, in house developers, or app development services providers.
In house developers are the best. They can handle multiple projects and will always be available for any urgent task. Though their price is highest among others and would require some hardware and infrastructure from you.
Outsourcing a team is a better idea if you are working on a large scale project. You are delegating to a third party who might not need any extra hardware or infrastructure, and can be selected on the basis of expertise and cost. Another benefit is that there is no restriction of region while outsourcing and you can easily hire professionals from around the world as per your needs.
Hiring freelancers is another option if you are on a budget. They can do anything from fixing bugs to writing programs.
HOW TO HIRE THEM
After finalizing your needs and requirements, now the last step is how to hire the android developer.
- Look through websites: There are many sites such as optymize, turing, relevant, upwork, etc where you can hire android developers. You can check client reviews to identify the best deal.
- Create a job description: Write a compelling and clear description with enough details for the android developer to know if they suit the role. It should contain the scope of project, budget model, preferences, collaboration type.
- Go through the cover letters and resume- Resumes will give you a clear idea of the candidate’s background and work experience. A good cover letter can easily say how good the candidate is in communication.
- Interview and Tests- Based on the requirements of the company, prepare interview questions beforehand. Ask questions based on both the technical and soft skills to get a better understanding of their merits, especially when hiring freshers. Organize some coding challenges, tricky problems, aptitude, and reasoning tests to assess their prowess.
- Onboarding- After selecting your best suited candidate, now finalize the agreement. Show them the project they would be working on, negotiate the terms, timelines, and other necessary things and close the deal.
CONCLUSION-
Hiring a great android developer will save you a lot of cost and energy. Hire freelance developers from Optymize platform with top quality pre-vetted Android developers. Optymize’s developers are better known for their working flexibility, output and a cost effective pricings.
It is known that finding and hiring android developers is a challenging task and can get stressful but following this step-by-step process will ease the burden for you, and you will be able to hire an android developer more swiftly.