6 Things to Consider Before Hiring a Remote Software Developer

Remember the days when hiring a software developer meant scouring your local talent pool before putting candidates through a scripted, face-to-face grilling? Where “onboarding” involved showing your employee their new desk and ensuring they knew how to work the coffee machine? 

Well, this is now very much the exception rather than the rule — with a whopping 86% of software developers now fully remote. This is generally a good thing, of course: it gives developers more flexibility and a greater number of roles to apply for, while their employers get access to more talent and needn’t fork out for dedicated office space. Win-win.

But of course, while remote hiring is the norm when it comes to taking on a developer, it isn’t without its challenges — particularly if you’re recruiting someone from another country, who may be in a different time zone or not speak your language fluently.

So, before going ahead and hiring a remote developer, what should you consider? Here, we break down six essential factors.

1. Are they a self-sufficient problem-solver?

Remote work environments are built on trust, but this is a two-way street: employers should assume their employees are working hard unless given a reason not to, while employees must prove that trust is well-placed through results and accountability.

So, when you can’t simply peer over someone’s shoulder or pop over to their desk from time to time, you require a developer who can manage their time and workload efficiently by themselves. 

A remote developer shouldn’t need constant oversight. They should be able to make decisions without supervision, but also know when to trust their own judgement and when to seek help. Ask them for examples of when they’ve used their initiative to solve a problem.

2. Do they have experience of remote work?

As an employer, you can’t take for granted that someone will be completely comfortable working remotely all of the time. What if they’ve come from a bustling, social office environment? It wouldn’t be that surprising for them to find the switch to working from home quite isolating.

For a developer, working remotely can be very different from working in an office. They might have to structure their workday differently, for example, and may not be accustomed to joining meetings via an online meeting tool such as Dialpad, perhaps preferring the spontaneity of in-person discussions.

When assessing their suitability for a remote role, look for signs your prospective developer knows how to manage their own time and collaborate in a virtual environment — if they’ve not worked remotely before, be prepared that it may take a little time for them to adjust.

3. Are they in an overlapping time zone?

One obvious plus of hiring remotely is it widens the available talent pool to, well, the entire world. Because you’re not restricted by proximity to an office, there’s nothing stopping you from hiring in Ukraine, for example (considered one of the best places to hire programmers), or India, where you often recruit developers at much lower rates.

Plus, using a global hiring platform like Rippling (or a Rippling alternative such as Remote), you don’t even have to worry about dealing with complexities like international taxes or compliance.

But of course, there’s a dilemma here: if your developer is on the other side of the world, they may be several hours behind or ahead of you, meaning your working day barely overlaps with theirs.

If you can effectively incorporate asynchronous work best practices, that might not be a huge obstacle. But if you’re expecting your developer to attend in-person meetings or respond to requests in real-time, you may need to hire in a location where the time difference is minimal.

4. Do they have strong ‘digital etiquette’?

In an office setting, it’s easy to head over to a colleague’s desk and say, “Hey! Got a second?” — informal communication can paper over all kinds of cracks.

But remote collaboration can quickly fall down if communication is sloppy or vague — and this comes down to having good digital etiquette. Does your developer provide clear updates on task progress? Do they use professional yet accessible language?

Essentially, they should leave “breadcrumbs” (clear comments, task notes or update messages, for example) that make remote collaboration smooth and don’t create confusion or bottlenecks for other people to deal with

In remote teams, bad documentation = chaos, so ask a prospective developer about how they document their work: how do they ensure smooth handovers to colleagues? Can they explain their programming decisions to both technical and non-technical team members?

5. Can they adapt to new tools and processes?

If you’ve ever worked with software developers, you’ll know that many have their favorite tech stacks — but in an environment where you need to be flexible, you can’t have your developers being too precious about the tools they use.

They need to be adaptable, in many ways. If you ask them why they do something a certain way and they respond with, “That’s just how it’s always been done,” this might indicate a lack of willingness to embrace new ideas or ways of doing things.

Technology is evolving at speed, of course, with AI having a transformative impact on software development, and while developers shouldn’t be afraid to push back on ideas or innovations they don’t support, you want someone who is at least open to different approaches — not someone who demands you change your processes to suit them.

6. Do they fit the ‘microculture’?

Even if you’re fully remote, every company has a culture. But a microculture goes beyond this, describing your team’s specific style — are they laid-back? Dead serious? High-energy?

The last thing you want is to introduce a software developer with a very businesslike manner into a team of young, easygoing types who like to share memes daily and wear wacky hats on Fridays. It just won’t work.

To get the microculture fit right, it’s always a good idea during the interview process to invite your candidate to have a casual chat with their potential teammates — not just the hiring manager. After all, it’s your team members who will be working with them most of the time, so it’s important they get the right “vibe” from the outset.

Looking to hire a remote software developer? Luckily, most developers are accustomed to working remotely nowadays, but you can’t take anything for granted — make sure your potential hire is a self-starter who can adapt, isn’t afraid to learn new tools and processes, and fits your microculture to a tee.