With an incredible rise in the popularity of mobile apps, creating multi-platform tech products became an absolute necessity for every business. The programming language Java is perfect for this task, so, naturally, developers who mastered it are in high demand. Hiring one for your future app can be a tricky task, especially for beginners. In this post, we will talk about the basics of this process to help you build a strong development team of Java experts.
Why choose Java
So, if hiring developers with these skills is such a headache, why bother? Thing is, thanks to Java Virtual Machine, or simply JVM, code written in this language can run on any hardware or OS that supports this tech tool. You don’t need to write separate versions for every platform in different programming languages using different tools and frameworks, which makes the development process considerably faster and cost-effective.
There are many other advantages to using Java, such as increased data security, high performance, object-oriented nature, easy syntax, and strong memory management. Thanks to this, more and more people every year decide to learn Java and start their career in tech. According to global research, there are more than 10 million developers using this programming language. Worldwide-known companies Google, Netflix, Meta, and Uber use it for their applications, so probably you will want to too.
Qualities to look for
Before you start looking for viable candidates, you will need to have a detailed vision for the future app. It is not just advice, but an absolute necessity. The thing is, Java apps are categorized by many factors, and only when you know the exact category for your product, can you search for the right type of IT professionals. Besides this, you will need to compose a really thorough job description, with all the details about the team role you need to fill.
Overall, no matter the level of expertise and goals you need to achieve, candidates need to be familiar with the basics of Java architecture, object-oriented programming, testing and debugging tools, DevOps, SQL databases, basics of web design, and API technology. A more particular list of required skills can be found online for every app category and developers’ role.
Hiring options
The most integral part of the search process for Java specialists is choosing an optimal hiring option. Making this choice, you will need to have a good understanding of all options’ pros and cons. The most cost-effective one is freelance. There you can’t really count on finding expert software engineers, but this way is still worth mentioning. Although working with independent remote contractors brings some concerns about the overall quality of code, keeping up with deadlines and work ethic, you can augment your existing team with freelancers for short-term tasks to save some money, without risking the app’s quality too much. And sometimes real experts in Java programming language can do some work on sites like Upwork in their free time or between projects, you never know. Using different hiring channels never hurts your search.
You can build a full-time in-house development team by yourself or use your HR department if you have one, but still, the option is rather expensive. Sure, if you are planning on creating an enormous app with a long list of features, and your salary budget allows it, it makes sense to work with a permanent team of IT professionals. Some people prefer this way because of increased control over the development process and more consistent code quality, but remember that besides salaries you will have to pay for office space, insurance, and other benefits. Of course, you can always implement remote hiring or a hybrid team structure. If you don’t have HR professionals on your payroll, and building a team yourself is too much, you can always hire some recruiting professionals, but of course, this will be even heavier on your app’s budget.
Outsourcing is another popular option for employing Java experts. Working with outsourcing vendors, you will be presented with a great number of options from all around the world and if you are located in North America or Western Europe, almost any country has lower salaries for IT professionals. This happens because of the lower costs of living and different currency exchange rates. With outsourcing, you can bring on board whole teams at once or just hire dedicated Java developers in an individual order. Remember, Java is an extremely popular coding language, and basically in any country on the globe the number of highly skilled developers writing apps with it is enormous.
Interviewing process
After you assembled a short list of viable candidates and established initial contact, you can start arranging interviews. Don’t overwhelm your potential employees with too many stages of this process, remember that qualified Java developers are in high demand and you can miss your opportunity by taking too long. If you have a tech lead, ask them to accompany you during at least one of the interviewing stages for confirming hard skills. If you have written a clear and honest job description, unqualified candidates are unlikely to reach out, but you still will need to test everyone’s tech knowledge. Don’t be afraid to give developers some kind of test task too.
You as a product owner will need to learn more about candidates’ soft skills to ensure good team dynamics and clear communication in the future. Java developers generally need to have great attention to detail, be eager to learn about the language’s new versions and programming tools, be open to feedback, and communicate their needs and expectations clearly. Even if you are using a staffing agency or outsourcing firm, ask to be part of the interviewing process for soft skills confirmation.
Conclusion
There are an enormous number of Java developers all over the world and finding an expert one who will be a perfect fit for your team and project requirements is pretty difficult. But with a great deal of planning beforehand, a clear vision for the app, and knowledge of all hiring options available to you, you will be able to build a great tech product for different platforms and devices.
