If you want to develop a native Android app, hiring Android developers will be one of your organization’s primary concerns. Developing custom mobile apps requires a team of app developers, so you will need to hire multiple Android developers to bring your project to life.
What is the best way for organizations to hire Android developers? Is there a cost-effective way to accomplish Android development efficiently? Your organization likely has a lot of questions when it comes to the specifics of Android app development.
This post will explore ways your organization can hire Android developers. We will also explain the pros and cons of each approach to help your business make the best decision for its Android development needs.
Three Ways to Hire Android Developers
If you want to hire Android developers or any type of web or software development talent, you have three primary options:
- Traditional hiring
- Outsourcing
- Team augmentation
Each approach has pros and cons. The key for your organization is to weigh its app development needs versus the effort, costs, and time each approach will require. You won’t be able to make a good decision for your business or Android app development project until you know your organization’s needs and goals in the short and long term.
Traditional Hiring
The traditional hiring model is the most time-consuming and expensive for businesses. The one significant pro of this approach is that all the Android developers you hire are directly managed by your organization and are fully dedicated to your company and project. As a result, the Android developers you hire through this model get an intimate understanding of your company culture and are directly invested in your company’s success.
For many businesses, the traditional hiring model is attractive for this reason. However, hiring Android developers is expensive. Your business will spend much more than just the salary and benefits offered to these developers. Likewise recruiting Android developers is costly because there is a lot of competition for these skilled laborers. In addition, once you have successfully hired an Android developer, your business will need to allocate financial resources for retaining them.
Remember, to complete Android app development you will need to hire more than one Android developer. This represents a significant cost. Plus, hiring each developer will take time. In most cases, it will take at least a few weeks or maybe even a month or more to complete the hiring process. So if you have a tight deadline or want to get your product to market quickly, hiring Android developers through the traditional hiring model might take too long to meet your goals.
Finally, finding talent is another hurdle associated with the traditional hiring process. If your business is located in a less densely populated area, you might struggle to find Android developers in your local area. A lack or shortage of Android developers in your local talent market will only drive the cost of recruiting, hiring, and retaining these employees higher.
Luckily, organizations have alternative options to the traditional hiring model.
Outsourcing
One of the most popular ways to hire app development talent is outsourcing. Instead of hiring a team of internal Android developers, your company hires an organization with an Android development team and hires them to build its project. Many companies choose this approach when they realize how many different people work on app development projects. Besides developers, there are QA testers, UX/UI designers, business analysts, and project managers. Do you have the time or financial resources to hire all of these positions internally?
By outsourcing your Android app development project, your company gets a readymade team of app development professionals who have experience working together as a team and are well-experienced Android app developers too. The hiring process with outsourcing is also simpler. Instead of evaluating each individual on the app development team, your organization only needs to evaluate the outsourcing company and its past results.
In addition, outsourcing is a great option for companies that don’t have internal project management experience. An outsourced team is completely self-managed. Of course, your organization will establish communication guidelines and standards, but your company won’t have to directly oversee day-to-day operations.
It is important to note that not all outsourcing is equal. For example, there is offshore and nearshore outsourcing. For US companies, offshore outsourcing means hiring app development teams based in countries like China, India, or others in the far east. Is this option the cheapest? Yes, but it comes with its own set of problems, namely communication. Offshore teams have completely different operational hours, little to no English skills, and vast cultural differences that will make communication and collaboration difficult.
Nearshore outsourcing refers to teams located in nearby or similar time zones as your organization. For US companies, nearshore outsourcing means hiring app development teams located in Latin America. Nearshore outsourcing makes communicating and collaborating much easier because there is little to no time zone difference, great English proficiency, and shared cultural background.
Outsourcing is the best option for companies that don’t have any internal development talent or the capacity to manage an Android app development project.
Team Augmentation
Team augmentation is a popular hiring choice for companies that want to scale their teams quickly and access the world’s best talent. Team augmentation is similar to outsourcing in that your organization will work with a company, and they will provide the app development talent your project requires. However, when your business chooses team augmentation, it retains project management responsibilities.
Your organization will hire Android app developers to join its internal team. Typically, the developers hired will join your team remotely, but they will be completely under your company’s managerial control. The team augmentation approach is best suited for companies that already have a development team and need to scale up for specific projects.
Through team augmentation, your organization can reduce the time and costs associated with the traditional hiring process. In addition, your company can access world-class app development talent that might not be present in its local job market.
Final Thoughts
There are several ways to hire Android app developers, but generally, it won’t be in your company’s best interest to follow the traditional hiring model. If you want to learn more about hiring Android developers and the benefits of team augmentation and outsourcing, reach out to an experienced app development partner.
