Hiring remote developers is not a daunting task; in fact, in today’s world, you have plenty of options on where to find them.
However, there are a few red and green flags you should look out for before making your decision. We’ve learned to look out for these flags at Ideaware as we’ve been hiring remote developers since 2010.
Skillset and experience are not the only factors to consider; we strongly recommend you look out for these as well:
8 Essential Tips for Successfully Hiring Remote Developers
TimezoneIs the person you are considering close (in time) to you? Consider hiring people with 4 or fewer hours difference from your own time zone; this way, you have a big overlap during both of your workdays. Unless, of course, you purposely need to cover more hours of the day for a business need.
Cultur
How similar is the culture between the place where the person you are hiring is located to your own? Work culture, discipline, and interpersonal relations vary from place to place. Ensuring a similar culture is key to proper remote collaboration. Working with someone from Eastern Europe is very different from working with someone from Latin America.
Work environment
Keep an eye out for the candidate’s work environment. You will likely have more than one interview with the candidate, so be aware of the space behind them. Is it private? Is there a lot of noise or interruptions? Are there people, pets, etc, walking around behind them all the time? It is hard to focus in a busy or loud environment. A private, quiet workplace is key.
Skill validation
This one is a no-brainer, and you probably know how to do it (or someone from your team) - but validate the candidate’s skills early. My preference is to go beyond their resume and code samples, but to ask questions and do a real-time coding test, just don’t overcomplicate, as developers don’t have everything memorized. However, ensure that whatever you ask them to do is highly relevant to your own business solution. What you will find important is how they solve problems and come to the conversation with recommendations and ideas.
References
Please check for references anytime you can. Talk to common relationships you may have and ex-employers, even if just an email. You’ll learn very quickly how he or she is at work, and this can help validate their skills too. Red flags may rise as well; keep those in mind.
Communication skills
The first thing to look out for is language. Do they speak English fluently? Can they have a conversation at a fast pace? But it doesn’t stop there. Working remotely, we must over-communicate, not only verbally but also using Slack or Teams. Since you’re not going to be face-to-face or run across each other in a hallway, opt for people who like to speak and ask a lot of questions. The quiet ones during an interview will be (most of the time, but not always) the quiet and non-available ones on Slack.
Tools
Again, a no-brainer. Are they familiar with the tools you use daily? I’m talking about communication tools, project management, meetings, etc. Familiarity with them will avoid headaches during onboarding and daily work. You don’t want to teach how to use all of your tools from scratch while you are onboarding them to your project as well.
Daily habits
Ask about work and daily habits. What does their daily routine look like? Where do they like to work from? Do they take breaks during the day? Take care of personal things? Learning how someone structures their day will help you understand them more and learn about their availability. Some roles are more goal-driven and thus flexible, but others require immediate availability during working hours.
And there you have it, folks, these are the top things the team at Ideaware looks out for when doing remote interviews. Remember, it is not only about the skills & experience, it is also about how well the person fits into your company culture. We take pride in the success we achieve with our US-based clients in aligning engineering talent. Visit our Clutch profile and see what our clients have said.
This is the way.
Why Ideaware?
Since 2010, we’ve helped US companies scale with top-tier tech talent, not just by filling roles, but by becoming long-term partners in growth.
- We handle sourcing, hiring, onboarding, and retention.
- Start receiving CVs as soon as 48 hours.
- You could meet your new teammate in as little as 8–12 days.
- Our retention rates are 2x the industry average.
Contact us here to discuss your hiring strategy, and we will get in touch with you within 24 hours or less.
