The popularity of freelance developers has skyrocketed in recent years. Many websites allow freelancers to join and begin their journey of freelancing. Around 73% of professionals choose to freelance. So the market is huge and sometimes it is a little bit hard to find the exact freelancer as per your need. For many recruiters, it has become a tedious job to find skilled and experienced developers that can fulfill their needs. This has led some companies to face a situation where they hired a freelancer but the project is still incomplete.
You should research the top-quality platforms that provide the best developers, the processes of hiring, tips and some FAQs that a company should consider before hiring them. You should also be aware of some technical knowledge (it helps throughout the hiring process!). This article will discuss and clarify key areas about how to hire freelance developers in 2022.
What is a Freelance Developer
A freelancer can be defined as a skilled person offering his significant expertise in a particular area for a company based on a short-term agreement.
A freelancer who offers his expertise in the field of software development can be called a freelance developer.
When a freelancer stops working in traditional office space and offers services remotely can be called a remote freelance developer.
They work from their comfort place. This enables them to enjoy flexible work hours and peace of mind.
Why You Should Hire Freelance Developers
Advantages and disadvantages go hand in hand even in the case of hiring freelance developers. After recent surveys, some facts suggest that remote product development is beneficial in many ways as compared to the in-house workforce. In 2022, hiring remote freelancers has become a persistent reality that we have to accept.
Of course, the cost of hiring a freelancer is far less. But let us bring more clarification to this topic on why you should hire remote freelance developers.
- 1. Focused Development
- Many reports are suggesting how remote work increased focus and productivity. They work round the clock belonging to different time zones, which comes with lesser distractions and minimal breaks. Remote work is a sign of the growth of product development for a company. Due to this fact companies are eager to hire freelance developers.
2. Flawless Engagement
- The studies conducted by many organisations have proved that freelance developers are more engaging than in-house teams. Some tools make the remote engagement pleasing. Tools like Skype, Google Meet, and Zoom come with advanced video conferencing technologies that make real-time meetings more fun. Trello, MS Office Suite, Google Drive, and OneDrive, are some of the content strategy and management tools just clicks away.
3. Quick In-Depth Development Capability
- With freelance developers, a company can expand its development team with optimal cost and quickly increase the development capabilities. Compared to the in-house teams, a remote team is more focused. In the IT sector, this is the better perspective to find the best possible solution for your project needs.
4. Cost-Effective Approach
- The cost of hiring an in-house team is much greater compared to remote hiring. You can hire three freelance developers for the cost of one in-house developer. You might be wondering how? Well, we can convince you by following three major points.
- i) Companies waste a lot of money on keeping their offices up and running. Over time they have to renovate their offices which costs hefty money. Other things which are required in the office such as furniture, electronic devices and of course their electricity bill takes a huge chunk of money. Remote work can eliminate all of these expenses. Period.
- ii) Another major point is research conducted by Stanford University shows that remote jobs allowed companies to save up to $2000 per employee.
- iii) Another additional advantage is that companies will spend less on bad hiring because remote hiring is one of the best ways to hire the perfect freelancer.
5. Easy Access to Global Talent
- Freelance developers are spread across the globe. The world is full of talented developers and creative minds who can provide interactive and more efficient software solutions within a given deadline.
6. Increased Productivity
- It is good to feel the dread if the remote workforce will be effective for the company or not. According to research data, the companies hiring remote freelance developers are more likely to increase their productivity. The reason is – remote work offers a peaceful and healthy environment, unlike noisy traditional offices. Hence the remote workforce tends to be highly focused which increases productivity.
7. Flexible work Hours
- To achieve high productivity, they follow an effective work schedule which means the company can work on core issues rather than worrying about projects and deadlines. This is a total win-win situation for both the developers and employers.
8. Market Reach
- When a company hire developers remotely in the different geological regions, its market reach expands as these developers can promote the company by acting as a brand ambassadors.
Consider These Factors Before Hiring Freelance Developers
Do you know what kind of remote developers are you looking for? The technology, salary, time of working, time zone issues, and many factors jump on board with remote hiring. There’s no doubt remote hiring benefits an organization. To achieve such benefits analyzing the business requirements is a must-have process. Analyzing your requirements can help calibrate your goal with freelance developers’ capabilities.
Before you hire software developers or any other developers do consider the following points.
1. Clarify and Describe Your Project Requirements
Before you hire freelance developers you must identify your development needs. It will help you decide the categories to look for in them. You can either hire a whole remote team or you can opt for a single developer based on your project requirements.
2. Thorough Screening Process
Hiring freelance developers isn’t an easy task, you should understand the important abilities of a remote developer. To evaluate the in-depth skills and expertise of a developer, introduce a method of the thorough screening process with technical tests and interview sessions.
3. Streamlined Communication Medium
Communication is a prominent problem in remote work. With the language barrier, different time zones, and distinct work schedules collaborating with remote teams can be tedious tasks. Understanding these issues will help you build an effective remote team.
How Much do Freelance Developers Charge Per Hour?
Before you get back to the process of hiring, look at the graph below to clarify the salary a developer charges.
This graph shows the diverse hourly rate of developers according to geographical locations. For a company, the United States is the most expensive place to hire a freelancer. The hourly rate of freelance developers in the US is $70 per hour. The cheapest developers are found in Northern Africa because there the freelance developer hourly rate is only $41 per hour.
This graph will let you decide the destination to target while hiring developers. You will also be able to manage budget and project requirements.
A Step by Step Process on How to Hire Freelance Developers
1. Write Appropriate Job Description
Writing a job description is necessary because it keeps transparency on job responsibilities, skill requirements, expertise as well as experiences.
Identify the ideal candidate for your project while writing a job description. What skills and proficiencies do you want the candidate to have? Clearly describe roles and responsibilities and mention the suitable position of the candidates like freelance software developer, freelance web developer, freelance full stack developer, etc. Describe the technical skills you want the candidate to have. Also, do not forget to mention that applicants will be working remotely.
2. Reach Out to Remote Job Portals
After making a comprehensive analysis of your project requirements and ideal candidate’s skills, start advertising on remote job portals. Your ad must include key points clearly describing your requirements. You can go through every remote job portal to get insights into how their system works, and how they provide candidates. Also, you can check out freelance developers based on their profiles.
Accordingly, choose a remote job platform, sign in to it and post your job advertisement on it. Once you post the job that respective platform will look into its database to find the perfect match for your project requirement. Some of these platforms will assist you to help you out with finding a perfect remote worker.
3. Screen Developers Skills
Once you have a list of candidates matching your project’s requirements, you can assess their remote developer skills. It is important to check if your candidate’s profile and skills align with your requirements. Check their technical, communication and interpersonal skills before you interview them. Following are some points that you should check in a candidate’s profile.
- How good is he in terms of digital communication and which platform does he prefer?
- Can he be comfortable with the platform you will suggest?
- How comfortable is the candidate while using remote tools?
- Do they feel comfortable working in shifts?
Conduct Video Interviews
After analyzing the candidate’s compatibility with the above questionnaires, move on to the major part of recruitment which is the face-to-face video interview. While you conduct interviews, do ask candidates certain questions related to remote work such as-
- Do you have any previous experience with remote work? If yes, of how many years?
- What platforms do they prefer for video conferencing? How do they plan to communicate with managers and HR?
- What team-building platforms are they comfortable with? Any suggestions regarding other platforms?
- What challenges have they faced with remote work?
- How do they overcome those remote work challenges?
Other than these questions, you can ask the technical question based on the position offered to the candidate such as freelance software developer questionnaires which usually involve questions related to –
- Databases.
- Data structure.
- Computer Networking.
- Tools and Programming Languages.
or freelance web developer questionnaires which involve questions regarding
- Frontend and Backend Technologies.
- Tools and Programming Languages.
Some Common Freelance Developers Jobs
Developers around the world are willing to calibrate their aims towards freelance work as it provides greater flexibility. At the same time, they are bundled with questions like what are the best freelance development jobs that offer peace of mind and high wages. So to answer this bundling question, below are some of the best freelance developers jobs that you can opt for
- Freelance Web Developer.
- Freelance Software Developer.
- Freelance Blockchain Developer.
- Freelance Data Engineer.
- Freelance Java Developer.
- Freelance Full-stack developer.
Best Freelance Websites to Hire Remote Freelance Developers
1. Optymize
You can rest assured because when it comes to remote hiring Optymize does all the heavy lifting, and our team will help you find the best-suited developer for your project within 48 hours. We will work with you through the entire recruitment process.
At Optymize, we follow 3 simple steps to find and onboard a new developer as per your requirements.
A Quick Call- To know your project requirement and find the best-suited developer accordingly.
Within 48-Hour Guaranteed Matching- We at Optymize, value your time and efforts that’s why our team works with the flexibility to provide you with the suited candidate within 48 hours.
Review and Onboard- After we provide a list of shortlisted candidates you can conduct interviews and onboard them as per your schedule.
Optymize provides skilled and thoroughly vetted experts on the following technologies
- Blockchain.
- Cybersecurity.
- Data science.
- Defi.
- IoT.
- Machine Learning.
- Metaverse.
- NFT.
2. LinkedIn
Linked is the most popular and largest professional network worldwide. It offers both location-based jobs and remote freelance jobs, hence it’s a perfect destination for a company that is eager to hire the top-most candidates as. But the only problem with Linkedin is that it doesn’t take part in assisting you in the recruitment process. Also, it doesn’t provide support to companies that are looking to hire freelance developers. If your company hires location-based jobs then LinkedIn might turn out the best platform for you.
Freelance Developers Salary
With the surging demand to hire freelance developers remotely, the salaries have also surged which can play an important role to drive developers to switch to remote work.
In The USA
In the USA the average median freelance web developer salary is $112,125 per year. However entry-level positions earn $70,000 per year, while most experienced workers earn $156,000 per year.
In The UK
Up until now, the highest freelance web developer salary in the UK is $75,943 per year. However entry-level positions earn $46,000 per year, while most experienced workers earn $56,000 per year.
In India
In India, the average median freelance software developer salary is $10,000 per year. The entry-level positions earn $4,000 per year, while most experienced developers earn $26,000 per year.
Conclusion
Freelance development is a never-ending industry and no wonder companies worldwide are recognizing remote freelance developers’ talent as they provide robust software solutions within deadlines. As IT giants have faced great developer resignation they have a keen interest in hiring them to fill their resource gap and elevate their business to the next level. Also, many developers worldwide have started to realize the benefits of freelance development as it provides greater flexibility and peace of mind with lesser distractions and high wages. Remote freelance development is the future of the IT industry which is likely to introduce millions of jobs by the end of 2030 offering job seekers a better work-life balance.
