A Hiring guide for employers and freelancers is essential if you are looking for or are a programmer, computer programmer, developer, coder, or software engineer. These workers are involved in computer software in a number of ways. Often these words are interchangeable to the non technical specialist.
In the article we have not been rigorous in interpreting the difference because it is aimed at the following market.
The Non-Developer’s Guide to Hiring Freelance Coders, Developers and Engineers
Hiring a freelance coder, developer or software engineer is not a simple task. The evaluation and assessment of suitable candidates needs to be rigorous and comprehensive. This is the process that Toptal has built its reputation on.
Anyone who’s tried to find a good freelance coder, developer, programmer or software engineer knows that it can be a long, boring, and frustrating process with pretty significant consequences if you make a bad choice. If you end up with the wrong person, your project falls behind, your investors get upset, and your blood pressure doubles.
Thankfully, there are some people who make a living by connecting developers to those looking for developers. Rather than waste a lot of time and energy (and risk a coronary), it’s almost always best to turn to one of these companies.
There are a lot, but we’ve assembled a list of our top four that give some focus to coders, developers and engineers to give you a taste of how helpful they can be in the selection of quality people.
Four Freelance Employment Platforms Reviewed
For a couple of reasons, Toptal is our number one pick at the moment. Here’s the deal: most companies give you the chance to connect to a lot of developers, but they don’t vet them well. Toptal, on the other hand, subjects potential developers to a battery of difficult tests that include timed exercises, English fluency, personality assessments, and a sample project.
They get thousands of applicants from all over the world every month, but only about 3% make it through the vetting process. Those numbers give you pretty good odds of finding a talented developer. Another benefit: while a lot of websites make you search for a developer from among their options, Toptal’s extremely helpful support team will actually hand-match you with one.
If that doesn’t convince you, think about this: Toptal is so confident that they’ll propose the right match that they offer a two week risk-free trial.
2. Upwork
Upwork is a streamlined, sleek website guaranteed to get you a coder quick. Once you send their team some details on your project, they’ll send you some suggestions for you to choose from. Once the job’s done, you can use their secure payment system, but only if you’re satisfied.
Upwork’s no rookie: it’s done work for Pinterest, Panasonic, and NBC. Given that they have access to ten million freelancers, there are good odds you’ll find someone to do the job. The only drawback is that, unlike Toptal, Upwork doesn’t assess their coders abilities as strenuously as Toptal , so you have to rely on their recommendations and customer reviews.
- Crew
Crew’s another great website with its own verification system, though they don’t hand out the details. They do say, though, that they operate on an “invite only system,” so you know that each developer has been given Crew’s personal stamp of approval (we just don’t know what that looks like). Crew also states that they’ll match you with a developer within 48 hours, which definitely beats the weeks it’ll take you without using one of these sites.
If you’re not sure whether you can afford it you can use the “Get an Estimate” feature at the top of their homepage. Crew’s done work for Dropbox, TED, and FourSquare, among other companies, so you know that they come well recommended.
4. Authentic Jobs
Authentic Jobs is similar to Remote Coder, though it’s sleeker and probably better for posting jobs. It’s slightly pricier — the prices of posting jobs vary based on the duration of the job — but you can get a refund if you’re not satisfied within a month of your post’s expiration. If you’re an educational institute or a non-profit,
they’ll also hand you a nice discount. You can also search through their list of more than coders to see if they have one you’d be interested in.
Review Summary
This is by no means an extensive list, but it’s a great place to get started if you’re looking to hire a programmer. Check these sites out and see which one addresses your needs best. As with anything, there are tradeoffs when it comes to the benefits of these companies: some are cheaper, some have better support, some are quicker, and some have access to better programmers. However, look for quality above all else as wrong selections can be costly.
