In the IT world, a mobile developer is among the most sought after and highest paid developers on the market. For businesses in need of a mobile application, its selection cannot be left to chance. This guide brings together best practices from each step of the recruitment process for a good mobile developer, from the analysis preceding the drafting of the job offer to the signing of the contract.
Mobile development and its specificities
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For the uninitiated, mobile developers develop applications intended to run on our smartphones. It is true. The reality of the job is more complex than that, however. The development market for smartphones is in fact split into two hemispheres of the same world. Distinct, they are nevertheless interconnected.
Mobile development has the particularity of being dedicated to an operating system (OS). This is nothing new in the software world. At the smartphone level, however, this means choosing between two platforms that share the market. The first, in terms of a number of users, is Android, the OS from Google, which equips many brands and models of smartphones.
The second is logically the solution from Apple whose mobile operating system is simply called iOS. Fewer users are concerned, however, they spend more on their marketplace: the App Store.
The type of audience reached by a company through mobile applications is of course the first point to consider. The second aspect to know is that the programming languages and tools required for development are different for the two OS.
For an application running on iPhone, you must therefore be able to count on developers who are familiar with Swift or Objective-C, both for the development and maintenance phases. Android enthusiasts have access to applications coded in Kotlin, the official language of Google, or Java.
What is a good mobile developer?
This may sound crazy obvious, but it is not always the case when starting a new recruiting process: a good mobile developer / App Entwicklung Agentur is first and foremost one that matches your business needs.
In addition to advanced technical skills, he must correspond to the human expectations that the management and the technical team have of the new recruit. These may be qualities specific to teamwork, experience with a given technology, or even the sharing of the values conveyed by the brand. As with every professional project, the needs analysis must be the fundamental step of the recruitment process. Each element of this list must contribute to the achievement of predefined objectives.
If your primary goal is to sell an app, focus your short-term efforts on getting the iOS version to market. If, on the contrary, you want to address the general public, starting with an Android application will certainly bring more results.
Also, don’t forget the following steps. If, which is probably the case, in the medium term you are considering a development present on both the App Store and the Google Play Store, do not confine yourself to recruiting a developer who has no idea of the other. technology.
Write the job posting that will attract the right mobile developer
Mobile developers are first and foremost developers. The rise of smartphones is relatively recent in the history of computing, so many of them started with other technologies. Many of them come from the web as well. The issues of the two sectors overlap regularly and, for companies, starting a mobile project is often an opportunity to bring added value that its customers or prospects cannot find on their website. By providing them with more features and a better user experience (UX), they can therefore hope to retain and expand their customer base.
These few elements are enough to quickly understand that there is no shortage of job offers for mobile developers. So yours must stand out and be specific enough to attract the right candidates. So be specific and start by describing your business. The ideal candidate is likely to want to work with you more because of what sets you apart from other employers, not because the first line says they need to be proficient in the Java programming language. That a priori, he knows it even before clicking on your link.
A good mobile developer on a technical level
So start by presenting your company, the working conditions, development possibilities, and responsibilities offered to the candidate. It is only then time to get into the technical part. The skills must be adapted according to your needs, however, keep in mind some generalities to find in the candidate:
Understanding of the complete mobile development cycle, from the architecture of the app to its publication in the relevant market place.
Excellent knowledge of the platform (s) concerned (iOS and/or Android).
Mastery of the programming language (s) planned for the project: Kotlin, Java, Swift, Objective-C, C #.
Familiarity with the ecosystem of technologies used internally. Again be specific about what you use, without limiting yourself. A developer familiar with Oracle will likely get used to their new work environment quickly if your team uses Android Studio.
Experience with a few ecosystem frameworks, libraries, and APIs, ideally the ones you use internally.
Successfully interviewing your future mobile developer
With a detailed and attractive job offer, qualified and motivated candidates should apply. It then remains to finalize the selection through the maintenance phases. We advise you to always be accompanied by an expert in the technology that interests you.
It is never easy to understand the degree of understanding of a skill listed among others on a CV. The presence of an expert will make it possible to analyze these various points in detail and ensure that you are aligned with the candidate in terms of needs and skills. A test is strongly recommended with the last candidate (s) in the running. It will allow seeing what they are capable of in practice, but also to ensure that the integration into the team will be smooth.
By following this guide, you should be able to successfully sign a contract with the mobile developer that will allow your business to achieve new goals.
