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Hiring software developers isn’t necessarily a difficult task. Hiring a good software engineer, though, can be a challenge because you must search through multiple candidates to find the right professional, one who balances expertise, seniority, and soft skills such as problem-solving and communication.

Though there isn’t a flawless recipe to find that perfect candidate, there are certain things you can do to ensure your chances of getting them are highly increased. Those things include the following:

• Have a detailed understanding of your project (scope, estimated timeline, available resources, necessary technologies).
• Create a clear and straightforward job posting and spread it through multiple channels.
• Define a strict interview process that contemplates tough questions and innovative talent challenges. Go beyond the typical resumé-based interview.
• Explore their past work but don’t settle for the examples the candidates provide you.

Besides knowing the necessary steps to hire a good software developer (see answer above), there are a couple of things you need to be clear about before starting the candidate hunt. Those include:

• Have a clear understanding of the goal you’re trying to achieve and the problem you’re trying to solve through the digital project the developer will be working on.
• Learn about the different development options available. You can always hire a freelance software engineer or use one of the many software development companies available through the 3 outsourcing models: onshore, offshore, and nearshore. Each has its own pros and cons, so be sure to know everything before going on your search.
• Remember to balance costs with quality. Though you might be tempted to choose the cheapest engineer you can find, you should always consider how that option might impact the quality of the job. You don’t have to go with the most expensive option, either – it’s all about striking the right balance between skills and affordability.
• The best developers bring more than just technical expertise and experience. Soft skills are just as important as tech skills, as they are essential for teamwork and value creation. Focus on finding candidates that have solid communication skills, team working abilities, and problem-solving capabilities.

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Looking for the developers implies going beyond their expertise and experience, even when those aspects are essential for the role. You’ll also need to look for soft skills that can boost the developers’ work and enhance the development team. That’s not all. To find the right match for your projects, you need developers that are aligned with your core values, that have experience working in your industry (or, at least, on similar projects), and that can add a fresh perspective to your team.

In short, these are the traits you should be looking for in a developer:

• Technical expertise, especially with technologies that fall within the scope of your digital projects.
• Soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, and teamwork.
• Development experience, especially in your industry or in projects similar to the ones you tackle regularly.
• A diverse background that ensures new perspectives.
• Shared core values with your company.

There are certain things we all have come to expect from software developers that are now considered essential for the job. Those include:

• Technical skills, expertise, and industry-related experience
• Leadership, motivation, and innovation
• Dedication
• Team working skills.

On top of that, there are other factors that are becoming increasingly important for developers that separate the really good software engineers from the rest. Some of them include:

• Sound knowledge of cloud computing, platforms, and technologies.
• Comprehensive understanding of big data, especially of data handling and analysis.
• Dominion of different coding languages, especially of popular options like Python and C#.
• Solid experience with open-source projects and the latest trends (especially containers)
• A diverse portfolio that covers multiple types of applications and projects.

Following an established process like the one described here will get you closer to hiring the best software engineers for your projects. Yet, that doesn’t mean that you can’t do other things to improve your chances of success. Some tips for that include the following:

• Make sure you ask relevant questions while avoiding technical trivialities. Assessing technical knowledge is important, but don’t focus too much on minutia or obscure features. You want a developer who can tackle your everyday tasks and challenges. Obsessing over a developer who has deep technical knowledge with virtually no practical application can only harm your search.
• Try to arrange a trial period. Some companies (and some developers as well) don’t like trial periods because they see them as a waste of time/money. But they can be mutually beneficial. You can check whether the candidate that looks good on paper is actually a good fit in practice. For the developer, it’s a good moment to see how the team works and if they are comfortable with the company at a general level.
• Explore as many options as possible. Maybe you have good references for a particular platform or company before you decide to focus your hiring efforts on them. That’s all fine but maybe, by pursuing limited options, you miss out on really good alternatives you haven’t heard of. For instance, depending solely on freelance platforms might have you neglect software development outsourcing that could provide equally good talent with added benefits. So, unless you have a lot of experience hiring software developers and know where to go, don’t limit your options.