Why Is Hiring Offshore Developers So Difficult?

Hiring good offshore developers is so difficult these days, especially for a young startup! But do not fool yourself into thinking that you can’t hire them because of their rising salaries across the world. There are always good developers who are willing to stick with startups for values beyond the money. 

Instead, the one major challenge that young companies face when hiring quality offshore talent is the painstaking process of searching, evaluating, and convincing candidates within a stipulated time period.

What Makes Hiring Offshore Developers Hard?

‘Good’ developers refer to those who are technically proficient and have a fundamental understanding of computer science, including their chosen programming language.

Other crucial requirements that also need to be assessed during the recruitment process include: 

• • • • Ability to write good, clean code
      • Understand the software development process
      • Can communicate effectively and with clarity
      • A team player who can adapt and solve problems as they arise
      • They must fit in with your startup culture

You’d need an elaborate screening and hiring process to ensure you’re in the best position to hire the tech team you need.

However, the average length of the interview process is around 25.4 days in Singapore, with IT roles often taking double that amount of time, due to additional complexities and the competitive labor market.

It is also worth noting that the interview process can only start when you are already done with the necessary background checks. Unfortunately, screening often takes 3~4 days to complete. 

All in all, it can take as much as 2 months to complete the full cycle! 

Hold Up! It can’t be this bad right? 

Well! Let do some simple math, with a few very idealistic assumptions:

There are 10 candidates who all applied to your company for the same role.

1. 1. 1. 1. The Screening process only takes 30 minutes 
         2. The Testing process takes another 30 minutes
         3. The Interviewing process takes another 30 minutes
         4. You also take another 30 minutes to sort out information and communicate with all parties

That means you have to commit 2 hours of your time per candidate.

Let’s say you are lucky and all the candidates are suitable. Meaning you spend 20 hours with them before being able to make 1 offer, or around 5 days (4 hours/day) if you try to fit other tasks in.

Now let’s scale this process up with multiple hires for different roles. According to a recent job survey, slow response and long hiring processes are the two main reasons for candidates to turn down interview opportunities. 

For startups that want to offshoring their tech operations to Vietnam or other “low cost” countries, recruiting good tech talent is even more difficult due to communication, culture and legal challenges.  As a result, the execution of such a complex process could take months. 

How To Hire Offshore Developers Faster

Time is the essence of every business. After all, your team has goals to hit and they need more talents to push through the product roadmap. So, how can we improve the hiring process and hire top-notch offshore developers more quickly?

Implement An Effective Communication System

From reaching out to the candidate, to scheduling interviews with all parties, you need a dedicated process to sort out and update all the data throughout the hiring process. This is critical to facilitate timely correspondence and improving the chances of snatching a good developer ahead of your competitors.

Flexible Interview Arrangement

After the Covid-19 pandemic, online interviews through video conferencing has become the new default in recruitment. Candidates now prefer to video conferencing remotely instead of having to travel to the office physically to be interviewed. 

That’s why many businesses are relying on third-party HR services to keep their hiring processes lean and reduce downtime in recruitment while acting as a bridge to connect them with the offshore tech team. 

For example, startups will be free from the burden of these recruiting steps below: 

• Sourcing and Screening

Based on the hiring JD and other given requirements, a trusted 3rd-party HR service provider will help proceed to source suitable profiles through an assessment for their technical proficiency, as well as soft skills. It consists of several different stages:

• • • • Pre-screening to eliminate candidates who do not meet the basic requirements of the position.
      • Preliminary assessment to screen out those who lack the desired level of skills and competencies for the job.
      • In-depth assessment through a phone call and/or 1-to-1 meeting to select candidates with the highest potential for a successful application.
      • Verifying candidate CVs, include stated employment record and qualifications.

So clients only have to spend their time interviewing curated candidates who are best suited for the job. 

• Technical Test & Interview

Depending on each particular position, tests can be arranged through different methods and timeline with professional meeting rooms for online testing or interviewing. 

Through the HR service provider, candidates’ status and progress is monitored daily, and will be informed directly to the startups by an internal communication system. 

• Offer and Onboard

For remote hiring, using a 3rd party HR service means you do not have to worry about collecting all necessary personal documents and keeping in contact with candidates for onboarding. 

They also handle all ancillary tasks related to hiring, like drawing up contracts, facilitate proper communication, and also ensure best practices are followed throughout the engagement. Thus, increase the success rate of recruiting the best offshore tech talents for startups.

Conclusion – It Is Time To Up Your Hiring Game

There is a global war for talent, and developers will continue to be a challenging area to recruit for. But do not go into it blindly. Instead, if you can optimize the hiring process and rely on professional help to carry the tedious parts, this will position you ahead of the competition.

Uncover how Talent JDI can tackle your hiring difficulties: