How to Hire App Developer: Salaries, Resumes, Market Overview

The modern IT world is dramatically developing, making businesses adapt to its continually emerging trends regarding web solutions, software, and apps. Thus, if you aim to stay up-to-the-minute and be at a competitive position on the market, there is a need to keep up with all the mentioned tendencies. As smartphones are among the most sought-after gadgets nowadays, hiring an app developer for your company is a forward-looking decision.

Although there is a multitude of developers’ resumes online and the immense demand for developers across the globe, when it comes down to the recruitment process, one might face certain challenges with numerous hidden bottlenecks. To help you find a perfect solution in this situation without any loss, Qubit Labs has decided to create an ultimate guide for those needing to hire a mobile app development company, set up offshore development center, in Ukraine, or go with a dedicated development team. It will walk you through the crucial steps and significant aspects on the way to your ideal service provider.

This article will share some secrets of an effective recruitment process, tips for finding an ideal candidate quickly, an overview of reasonable application developer salary, and ways to check whether your candidate possesses the right mixture of skills to fit your project demands.

Where to Hire an App Developer?

The moment the company understands it needs to hire app developers, it starts wondering about many questions. To deliver top-notch services, it has to cooperate with skilled professionals. But, probably, the first issue that comes to mind is where to hire mobile app developers? Although it might seem complicated, a good brainstorm session will help you out because, primarily, you need to define the app developer type and the employment model.

There are several kinds of developers, including a mobile (Android, iOS), Xamarin (hybrid), and web app. To find out which one will be the most suitable, analyze the market, and define your target audience. Besides, keep in mind that an average application developer salary and hourly rates differ based on the technology. Namely, Xamarin developers will expect higher wages than mobile app developers. In these means, you should be aware of the specific professional characteristics your specialist needs to prevent overpaying for unnecessary skills.

Apart from that, make clear that the mobile app developer you have chosen understands the requirements regarding tech needs and working conditions. These might include, say, full-time and in-house employment, remote work, or IT staffing. To get a clearer picture, let’s take a closer look at each approach and define their strengths and shortcomings.

In-house hiring

In case you are confident that you will focus on long-term projects and full-time cooperation, this type of employment will suit you perfectly. You can check out numerous websites to find app developers’ CVs to choose from. Such kind of recruitment will allow you to find the most fitting candidates and negotiate terms of cooperation with them. You will also have the opportunity to work with a local specialist or find one from another city or country. However, in case the second case occurs, be ready to assist in finding accommodation for the employee, and provide the financial coverage of relocation.

This method is perfect for companies that regularly search for new developers by implementing scanning through the web, Xamarin, iOS, or Android developer resume database. In this case, HR managers will always possess relevant information on professional job seekers.

However, this method also has one significant drawback. Namely, the process of hiring mobile app developers becomes time and resource-consuming because you have to go through numerous resumes and databases. Apart from that, websites usually demand payment for vacancy publications, and the interviews will become your responsibility too. The HR department takes care of all the mentioned steps and prevents you from having to deal with them yourself.

Freelance work

Flexibility is one of the main priorities for current job seekers and employers. That’s when freelance comes into play. It combines the advantages of other employment types and adds its own ones. Freelance app developers would charge a lower payment for one’s services compared with an in-house employee. Such a mobile app developer is not limited by one specific location or project and usually stays in touch during more working hours.

However, the problem with freelancing is that such employees are under loose control and can fail deadlines or become unresponsive at the most decisive moments of project work and make your app development cost even higher. With these risks in mind, we recommend hiring freelance app developers only for quick and short-term tasks, such as, for instance, adding some feature to an app. Projects with a duration of several hours up to several days are an ideal option for outsourcing to freelancers. Speaking of lengthier and more responsible tasks requiring full commitment, they are not suitable for the freelance model of cooperation.

IT Staffing 

Staffing combines the best of both worlds, being a middle ground between hiring freelancers and in-house developer teams. It is an ideal option for business, which is convenient and flexible, as well as reliable and well-timed. This type of employment allows you to build a great team of developers without renting an office and dealing with administrative hassle related to having a full-time team.

Staffing allows you to hire app developers or remove them from the team at any moment, allowing you to adjust the working process according to the changing projects’ requirements. Qubit Labs, offshore app development company has considerable experience in hiring teams that will suit any demands you may have to help you get the most out of the project.

20 Best App Developer Interview Questions

Usually, as soon as you see the resume of a web, mobile, or Xamarin developer, you immediately have an impression of the candidate based on the mentioned information. Nevertheless, when you hire someone to make an app, only a personal meeting can make things clear. It’s there where you can successfully evaluate the person’s experience and soft skills. Apart from that, you can discuss the candidate’s salary expectations and ask some app developer interview questions to clarify whether the person suits your company.

This recruitment stage is critical because, from first sight, a potential employee might seem ideal for the vacancy. Yet, to be confident in his/her competencies, we offer using application developer interview questions not to lose a qualified mobile app developer. Let’s take a look at the following list:

Questions for mobile developers

• What are your favorite mobile apps?
• What are mobile apps of your creation now available in AppStore or Android stores?
• What are the pros and cons of Android and iOS?
• How would you evaluate the significance of a user-friendly UI in mobile apps, and how do you improve it?
• Do you have cross-platform app development or app migration experience?
• Which information do you need to start coding?
• What is the difference between native mobile app design and responsive web design?

Questions for Xamarin developers

• What made you choose Xamarin as the primary area of your expertise?
• Did you create any Xamarin products available in Android or Apple stores?
• What is the difference between native apps and cross-platform apps?
• What is Xamarin overall?
• What is Xamarin for you? What opportunities do you see in it?
• Which programming languages supporting Xamarin development are you proficient in?
• What are the distinctions between Xamarin Studio and Visual Studio?

Questions for web developers

• How do you see your responsibilities as a web developer in a company?
• What prompted you to choose web development as a profession?
• Do you regard W3C as necessary? Why or why not? How do you incorporate it in your work?
• What are your approaches to managing the web application load time?
• What programming languages do you work in?
• How do you usually balance demanding client requirements?

It would be essential to mention that mobile app development interview questions are generally the same, with some tiny specific differences. In case you have some questions regarding how to hire app developers, contact the Qubit Labs managers for help.

Mistakes during the process of hiring app developers

When coming up with an excellent idea for the future application, deciding on the budget, including the necessary marketing methods, and taking care of all other details, the most important thing left is to hire the right developer. That’s when many businesses face challenges that might negatively affect their future success. For you to avoid them, we have gathered a list of the most frequent mistakes when hiring programmers:

• Making decisions in haste. It’s clear that you would want to start working on the project as soon as possible, yet too reckless decisions might cost you a lot of money and time in the future. It is necessary to devote enough time to review the candidates’ experiences and choose the one that fits the project and your company culture. In such a way, the employee will successfully cooperate with other team members and match the expectations.

• Preferring lower price over expertise. A first-rate application’s cost can’t be lower than average. So, one of the common mistakes here is opting for lower salaries, believing that a skilled specialist really charges $5 per hour. It’s better to choose a good specialist and pay him/her more than dealing with loss after the product is launched.

• Avoiding the interview or a test task. The necessary tech capabilities of the developer play a pivotal role in the way one works on the product and whether he/she will be able to introduce the necessary changes and required features. When deciding to skip the interview with a newbie or not giving a test task to evaluate the skills in practice, you might jeopardize the whole team’s work. In this stage, you can see the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses and define whether one’s expertise will fit the application requirements.

Thus, an app developer summary is to check the programmers’ portfolio, assess one’s skills in practice, and ask for references from previous employers. Besides, you need to agree on the post-launch stage in advance to be sure that the employee won’t leave the company before ensuring the app works smoothly. Also, don’t focus on the price too much because it’s not a guarantee of quality. Yet, consider the average rates when deciding on a candidate.

Factors affecting app developer salary

Since smartphones are successfully invading the gaming world, many business owners wonder “how to hire an app developer?” There is an abundance of games in the App Store and Play Market, so if you want to stand out in the industry, you need to hire someone to make an app for you and come up with a unique product. The talent pool is evolving each year, attracting more and more skilled developers. So, let’s see what factors will influence the budget you will need to allocate to hire app programmer:

• Geographical location. It is clear that global pay rates vary significantly depending on the region because there are different economic levels worldwide. An app programmer for hire from, say, the US will be paid much more than one from Eastern Europe or Asia. However, even within the United States, there is a significant difference in salary levels. In California, Washington, New York, Colorado, and Massachusetts, the wages are usually the highest. Meanwhile, in Alabama, Florida, and Ohio, app programmers for hire have significantly lower salaries. Most often, such variations occur due to the supply-demand ratio.

• Experience. When you decide to hire someone to build an app, you consider its complexity and, based on it, search for a programmer with certain skills and expertise. If you cooperate with entry-level developers, their salary will be multiple times lower compared to the senior-level employees. So, when you hire a programmer to make an app, be ready that the more years he/she has spent working in the industry, the more demanded, hence higher-paid one will be.

• The availability of certifications and degrees. App developers for hire understand that if they have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in the relevant field, they will be more competitive in the job market. Educational requirements often play a decisive role in the selection of candidates, and those with degrees in computer science or software engineering will be the most sought-after. Besides, there is a handful of refresher courses and exams, which give certifications, confirming the developers’ competencies. When looking for app developer, you will often see the following: Microsoft Certified Technology Specialists, Amazon Web Services Certifications, Sun Certified Java Programmers, and Oracle Certified Associates.

• Platform and work specifications. If you need app developer, be aware that iOS and Android programmers are the highest-paid in the industry. It’s no wonder since these technologies are prevalent on the market. Besides, you can hire a mobile app developer specializing in Xamarin cross-platform programming language, yet one’s salary will still be lower than that of the mentioned programmers.

Application Developer Salary by Country (Updated for 2021)

Now we are approaching the most sensitive topic raised as soon as the company decides to hire app developers – a reasonable rate of the application developer salary. The confusion takes place even when cooperating with local engineers. Business owners often wonder about the salary level of developers with different experiences, trying to come to a certain application developer salary.

Speaking of app IT outsourcing, things become even more complicated. In this case, the salary depends not only on the professional’s background but also on the developer’s country of residence. However, all the payment issues are negotiable, and there shouldn’t be any issues when you understand the country’s economic situation.

To resolve the problem regarding mobile application development’s financial side, the table mentioned above will give you an understanding of the salary ranges in different countries. Without going into details, we can state that when comparing iOS and Android developers’ salaries, for some countries, the gap is almost imperceptible, while in others, the numbers differ multiple times.

The highest-paid Android app developers are located in the US, receiving $96,016 per annum. In this regard, Finland has the most attractive programmers’ salaries, $46,901. We should mention that the numbers do not define quality in this case because both American and Finnish employees will deliver top-notch results. The most significant perks of IT outsourcing are presented in this table. You can choose any country based on your financial capabilities and engage global talent in your project’s development.

App Developer Recruitment: The Final Word

Therefore, the moment you have decided to hire a developer, be prepared that it might become a tedious process with many underwater stones. However, it may not be like that if you decide to use the services of a qualified vendor like Qubit Labs. We will streamline the process, make it fast, and find the best suitable talent for your team within a reasonable budget.

A quick note from us: consider Ukraine as a country to host your dedicated development team. The number of app builders for hire is impressive here, and all of them are highly qualified in the latest tech trends, expecting really reasonable payment for their services. No matter how sophisticated your specifications are, we will find the best specialist with an ideal set of hard and soft skills to meet your project’s requirements.

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