Native applications are always better than multi-platform ones. They allow using all the benefits of a particular system. On iOS, these benefits are represented by such factors as high levels of security, more profitable (for vendors) app market, exclusive features, and so on.
Also, many applications on the App Store are hidden behind a price or subscription fee. That means the customers are ready to pay extra if the quality of the product suits the price. Therefore, all apps should be perfectly tested to ensure that everything works with no issues at all.
In its order, this means that the developer teams should consist of only the most professional members that have enough expertise to provide the demanded quality. But it’s a pretty challenging task to hire an iOS developer that would fit all the requirements in today’s market conditions. Most specialists receive a lot of job offers and are hired pretty quickly.
To help you out, we created a guide to hiring iOS developers or teams.
Consider Outsourcing
Outsourcing is really popular nowadays, especially considering that almost everyone works from home anyway. It’s a model when a company that wants to release an application hires third-party vendors to participate or fully complete the development process. The vendors are fully responsible for providing the workers and ensuring their performance and overall quality.
There are plenty of iOS development services on the market. Most of them have high standards in all aspects, so you almost never have to worry about the quality of their work. Also, such services often cost lower than the creation and hiring process of your own teams and employees.
And to finish the list of the advantages of outsourcing, the terms of the whole process can be as short as you need. It’s just a matter of assigning more professionals to your project. This allows decreasing the time needed to finish it. Overall, outsourcing is probably the best way to hire an iOS app developer today.
Start with Analysis
If you still want to stick to the traditional model where you have to hire all the programmers yourself, you should start with deep research. Analyze what requirements you have for future workers, what goals your project has, what your company can offer to the job seekers, what environment they’re going to work in (especially if it’s in-house).
Define what particular features are the most important, and what is the main idea behind your software. If you’re not looking to hire an iPhone app developer for a particular project, but for long-term employment that includes a lot of different ones, then state it clearly. But it’s still recommended to have at least a general understanding of what type of projects you’re going to work on.
Come up with a list of priorities. What qualities and skills does your company value the most? All this analysis will help not only to search for candidates more efficiently but will also provide them with a clearer understanding of whether they will fit in your team.
Research the market to find out the average payments. The increased payments will help to hire an iOS programmer in much shorter terms, while lower than average will increase the time needed for that. It’s also important to remember that higher salaries mean higher motivation, satisfaction and usually lead to better performance.
However, it still needs to be “balanced” as paying too much may result in decreased performance due to negligence and an “over-relaxed approach”.
Expertise Levels
It’s crucial to understand what positions the future developers will occupy. Is it a single free spot or a whole department that needs to be filled? You need to know what expertise levels you want the programmers to have, and where to use their experience efficiently.
There are 3 defined levels of expertise:
- Junior iOS Developer – 0-2 years experience
- Middle iOS Developer 2-5 years experience
- Senior iOS Developer – 5-10 years experience
Most of the candidates know to state their experience themselves, and it’s also almost always stated in the list of previously occupied positions of theirs. For example: “Previously worked in EPAM as a Middle Developer”.
Understanding how experienced the developers need to help to allocate resources efficiently. Knowing how many junior, middle, and senior devs you need allows you to save money if done right while still maintaining the highest level of quality and performance.
Universal Skills
Some projects may require different specializations that can be acquired by either learning during the work itself, or hiring extremely proficient devs, which can be very expensive. But no matter the details of the work, all iOS programmers need to have a particular skill set to be competitive on the job-seeking market.
Language Knowledge
It’s crucial for iOS coders to know at least 2 main programming languages – Swift and Objective C. These are the main languages for programming on iOS. Swift is exclusively created for this platform, while Objective-C is the derivative of C. They have their own advantages and disadvantages, but knowing both is the key to being able to work on any project.
Apple Human Interface Guidelines Knowledge
Apple Human Interface Guidelines is a list of instructions for everyone who’s willing to program for iOS. They determine particular aspects, algorithms, and processes. Without knowing them, it’s almost impossible to work with the system. If a developer doesn’t have this knowledge, then it’s not recommended to hire them due to the complete lack of experience.
Xcode IDE Knowledge
Xcode is the Internal Development Environment for all iOS platforms. It allows to code, test, debug and even deploy to the iOS market. Sure, it’s possible to compile your code in other IDE’s, but having experience with the main one is crucial. There are some unique features and details that every programmer must know.
UI/UX Experience
For programmers, there’s no need to be expert interface designers. However, knowing how to interact with it and fit into interface requirements is an essential part of every project. The more experience you have with it, the better, as you’ll be able to fulfill tasks faster and with better quality.
Understanding of API and Integrations
API stands for Application Programming Interface. What it does, is that it allows users and coders to interact with particular systems, software, and other virtual entities. This helps to implement useful integrations, of payment systems, for example, or other countless services that would be a great addition to the app itself.
Core Data Framework Knowledge
Core Data is the native framework of iOS. With the use of it, programmers can interact with and integrate databases. Obviously enough, for some projects, the presence of databases is as crucial as the core part of the code. Some apps simply can’t exist without databases, which in their order can’t exist without Core Data Framework.
So, now you know how to efficiently search and hire iOS programmers for any of your needs. Remember – you need to state the requirements clearly, offer decent wages and conditions to candidates, and be able to ask them the right questions to test and find out whether they really suit the position. Because it’s the practical skills that matter in iOS development, so be ready to provide the potential employees with trials that will determine their experience and skillsets. Good luck!