Software developers are in higher demand, and this competition has left startups and long established companies alike scrambling to find the right developer for their development aims. While challenging, it’s not impossible to find the perfect fit for your company. As you begin recruiting new developers to your team, keep these hiring strategies in your arsenal.

Quantity over Quality…to an Extent

You might think hiring a singular star developer trumps a collection of good developers, but very often this is a mistake. Often you’ll find that with a singular developer calling the shots, there is more discord with the entire work team, which could slow down the development process. You’re also left in the lurch should this developer move on after a period of time, as is common with the position and industry in current times.

It is often in the better interest of a company to split the wealth; find a team of good developers that have innovative strategies and can play off of one another, instead of hiring an experienced “all-star” that costs you a lot more. It’s important to strike a balance between experience and youth (often correlated with new ideas), so consider staggering the ages and experience levels of your hires.

Don’t Rush the Process

You have a spot to fill and you want to fill it as quickly as possible, but desperation and rushing can result in a terrible hire. Settling will only see a quick turnover when it turns out the developer doesn’t match your standards or work well with the rest of the team.

Remember that bad work breeds quickly, and should you have a less than satisfactory developer on your team, you may find you attract the same type of employee in the future. Say you do try to rehire; as it is a competitive hiring market, a great new developer that sees the shoddy work of your current, less-than-ideal hire might be less inclined to accept your job offer.

In order to avoid rushing, sit down and lay out all the qualities you’re looking for in a developer, then post your position on community sites like LinkedIn to capitalize on referrals. That will help you streamline the interview process and make your decision much easier.

Expand Your Scope

You might be looking for an in-house developer in favor of outsourcing, but consider the benefits of the latter. You can broaden your search to a worldwide geographical expanse, and ensure yourself a better chance of finding a person perfect for your project. Outsourcing doesn’t have to mean a non-English speaking developer in India; it could mean hiring a respected developer a few states away.

Online channels like UpWork allow companies to connect with qualified job candidates in various parts of the country and world, often at low, competitive prices. With a constant movement towards connectivity, companies like Inflectra offer interfaces where outsourced employees can check in with their work, allowing for you to see the changes and progress being made in real time—monitoring is essential, regardless of whether or not your employees are in office or not.

This allows for a great level of control over the developments in your software and saves you the many costs of hiring an in-house worker with benefits (or paying for the relocation costs for this particular candidate).

Offer a Test Run

Want to know if a developer can walk the walk? Make sure you have tests set up to examine their coding style, their time needs, and how they work under pressure. This will give you great insight into whether their work style matches the pace of your company’s output, and gives them the chance to show off their major skills.

It’s a much better way to assess a candidate than simply perusing their resume and hoping for the best. If you have a pool of several candidates, offer a paid project that takes a bit more time. You’ll be able to compare the different work styles, and the small compensation for their time and effort will be more than worth the payoff of an excellent employee.