Hiring a Software Developer for your company in Kenya

Hiring a Software Developer for your company in Kenya

Lately, our search for new engineers to join our technology team has been quite challenging. Hiring the a software developer espeially the right one for your company in Kenya can be a complex process. We understand that recruitment is a crucial task for any organization. Luckily, we have some valuable tips to share.

1. Look for Someone Smarter Than Yourself

As they say, if you are the smartest person in the room, then it is time to hire someone else. It’s not just a good idea to hire someone smarter than you — it’s actually a recipe to make your company more successful. Nothing attracts talent better than talent itself. If you focus on bringing A-level developers in during the startup phase, you won’t have much problem attracting more talent in growth periods later on down the road.

2. Test Them with a Real-Life Technology Problem That Your Company Encountered

Don’t even think of giving them a code challenge that you saw somewhere on the internet. By asking them to work on a real problem from your company history, you are showing them what type of project they would be working on. Additionally, you’ll be getting a better idea whether the candidate is fit for the type of projects that you have.

3. Be Flexible With Programming Languages and Tools

In this fast-paced world programming languages get stale faster than fashion in Kenya. So, if you’re still asking questions like, “How would you merge two arrays in Java?” in an interview, you immediately need to overhaul the whole interview process. Focus on the algorithm. Focus on how the candidate approaches a problem. It’s relatively easier for a great problem solver to learn a new language compared to learning the problem-solving techniques for a master of a single language.

4. Have at Least One More Person Interview the Candidate

Let’s be honest: We all have biases to some degree. And in a resource-constrained startup environment, it is easy to say that your partners are busy with their responsibilities. I’ve also heard the excuse that at the end of the day, all an engineer needs to do is to code. It actually reminds me of the one-liner joke: An engineer is a person who converts coffee into code. But that’s exactly what it is — a joke. It’s critical to seek a second opinion before pulling the trigger on a hire. I, personally, ask both of my other partners, to meet the candidate before I make the final decision.

5. Don’t Underestimate Communication Skills

I’ve heard time and again that communication skills don’t matter when you’re looking for an engineer. It probably might be true to some extent for big teams. However, when we’re talking about hiring a software developer for a startup, communication for engineers is as important as it is for any other employee.

6. Set Expectations Before Finalizing a Hiring

If both you and the candidate are not on the same page in terms of expectations from each other, get ready for a quick and probably messy breakup. Be upfront about the basics. For example, how important it is for both of you to have the flexibility to work part time or freelance more often. If you need them to be available 24/7, this needs to be established before an offer is extended.

7. Don’t Focus Too Much on the profile resume

I’ve interviewed several candidates who looked great based on their resumes but performed poorly in both the take-home project (which is a slightly more time-consuming project but presumably makes a candidate less nervous) and in the in-person interview. On-paper accolades are nice, but these two other areas of the hiring process can’t be overlooked.

8. Ask About Their Favorite Project/Subject

You want an enthusiastic software engineer. If someone doesn’t perk up when talking about their favorite project or course, you don’t want them on your team. You want someone who codes because they enjoy it. While coding may pay their bills, they should still be passionate about it.

9. Make Sure They Can Produce Well-Written Code

It is usually one of the understated skills when it comes to hiring, but anybody who has worked with someone who writes messy code can tell you that pretty much nobody wants to collaborate with messy code writers or even touch badly written code, no matter how good the functionality/algorithm is.

10. Don’t Get Too Hung Up on Lack of Experience 

If you need your new hire to work on something repetitive, sure, more experience generally would mean more productivity. However, in software engineering, especially in the startup world, your new hire will need to tackle new problems most of the time. In fact, one could argue that more experience often leads to people being stubborn/opinionated when it comes to optimizing a method or process just because they already know one way to write code for it.

Last but not least, just to emphasize that since no two situations are identical, there are no tips that work in every single case. I encourage you to read other people’s experiences but apply them only after customizing them to fit your own business.

Don’t get stuck in the process of hiring a Software Developer for your Company.

At Inceptor, we have the resources to connect you with some of the finest, job-ready software developers in Kenya. Additionally, if you’re looking for freelance developers, you can scout for talent on OnlyZap. We’re here to facilitate your recruitment process and ensure you find the right fit for your team.

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