How to verify tech skills when hiring offshore software engineers
In a world where businesses face a persistent shortage of skilled tech talent, the challenge isn’t just finding software engineers – it’s finding the right software engineers. The tech talent crush has pushed leaders to look beyond borders, exploring innovative ways to build and integrate software teams away from home.
Whether you’re hiring developers locally or building a team overseas, knowing how to verify tech skills early in the recruitment process is essential. In this guide, we’ll break down the process step by step, starting with how tech leaders are addressing local talent shortages by building, extending, and integrating offshore development teams.
What are the key hiring differences between outsourcing and offshoring?
Though sometimes used interchangeably, outsourcing and offshoring represent two very different approaches to building your team.
Outsourcing involves working with engineers hired through a third-party vendor. While this can speed up recruitment, it comes with its downsides: you’ll have less oversight, limited ability to verify tech skills, and little control over cultural alignment. Outsourcing works best for short-term projects or temporary workload spikes, but it has its trade-offs:
- Engineers split their time and attention across multiple clients and projects.
- They’re often less invested in your company’s mission and long-term success.
Offshoring, on the other hand, offers something more substantial. It allows you to build a dedicated team of engineers who become a true extension of your organisation. These are full-time colleagues fully committed to your company’s goals and values. The benefits?
- Offshored engineers work exclusively for your business, ensuring focus and commitment.
- They integrate into your existing engineering setup, collaborating with your local teams to drive innovation and scale efficiently.
By partnering with the right offshore provider ensure a seamless hiring process, from sourcing overseas tech talent and conducting technical interviews to verifying cultural fit. This approach eliminates issues like poor code quality, collaboration bottlenecks, and miscommunication, as every engineer is carefully vetted and handpicked for your team.
How to verify tech skills of new engineers
When hiring offshore engineering talent, it’s essential to evaluate their technical skills across several key areas to ensure they meet your project requirements.
- Programming languages: Mastery of the specific languages your projects require.
- Problem-solving skills: The ability to tackle complex challenges with a structured and effective approach.
- Data and algorithms: A strong grasp of core computer science principles.
- Integrated Development Environment (IDE): Familiarity with tools essential for software development.
- Databases: Expertise in managing and querying data.
- Source control: Experience with version control systems like Git.
Modern tools like Codility, HackerRack, and DevSkiller make tech skills screening faster and more effective, offering tailored challenges that test both practical and theoretical skills. These platforms allow you to assess candidates efficiently and align evaluations with your specific requirements.
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DOWNLOAD CASE STUDYAnother way to verify tech skills is by diving into candidates’ portfolios and GitHub profiles. Often referred to as the “showroom of code”, GitHub provides valuable insights into their coding style, the complexity of their projects, and how they approach problem-solving. This type of hands-on review can tell you a lot about the capabilities and work ethic of a software developer.
Beyond technical skills: assessing soft skills
Important as they are, technical skills alone won’t give you the team cohesion and productivity you need to compete in a dynamic business landscape. On the contrary, technical expertise must go hand in hand with soft skills such as:
- Teamwork and communication – to collaborate effectively and communicate ideas clearly.
- Time management – to meet deadlines and manage workloads effectively.
- Decision making – for a thoughtful approach to problem solving and strategy.
- Cultural alignment – to resonate with your company’s mission and values.
While outsourced engineers may offer short-term support, the nature of the outsourcing model means they cannot deliver long-term value in the same way in-house teams – including offshore teams – are positioned to do. The measure of engagement, as well as cultural and operational alignment inherent in offshored engineers makes it a more reliable option for organisations seeking long-term partnerships.
How to verify tech skills of an offshore development company
If you’ve decided to go the offshoring route instead of outsourcing, you have two main options. You can set up operations in your chosen offshore location and establish a regional presence on your own; or you can partner with a local expert who understands the legal landscape, talent pool, and cultural nuances. In many cases, your choice of offshoring destination may depend on the strength of your partner’s ability to source, upskill and integrate new engineers into your team.
With the right offshore partner, you won’t need to go to the effort of personally verifying tech skills of each engineer. They’ll take care of the entire recruitment process – from screening for specific skills, conducting technical interviews, to evaluating soft skills. A reliable partner can also handle HR, day-to-day operations, and administrative tasks, leaving you free to focus on strategic goals.
To partner with the right offshoring company, follow these key steps:
- Research the market: compile a shortlist of potential vendors that align with your needs.
- Review websites: check for transparency in their offerings, processes, and areas of expertise.
- Examine case studies: ensure they have relevant experience in your industry or with similar projects to ensure a good fit.
- Evaluate testimonials: read reviews and testimonials from CTOs or tech leaders to gauge their credibility.
- Ask key questions: prepare a list of must-ask questions to address during your discovery calls to ensure they can meet your specific requirements.
Finally, when evaluating an offshore company, don’t be swayed by surface-level theatrics – like flashy websites covered in buzzwords, glossy client logos that don’t quite add up, or obscure awards so exclusive no one’s heard of them. Real expertise lies in proven results, industry respect, and a track record of sourcing top talent.
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LEARN MOREBe cautious of companies that rely on superficial credentials, or are too disconnected from the IT world or your specific industry to understand what exceptional tech talent even looks like. Top engineers gravitate towards organisations with peer recognition, innovative ideas, and a deep understanding of emerging trends, technologies, and best practices.
To further gauge a company’s credibility, look into their involvement in industry events or community discussions, and check if they’ve been featured in reputable publications or business journals. These are strong indicators of a partner with the expertise and connections to deliver real value.
Leverage The Scalers’ seven-step recruitment approach
By partnering with an expert offshore team builder, you gain access to top talent without the hassle of lengthy recruitment processes. You retain full control over final hiring decisions while benefitting from pre-vetted candidates from the very top tier of engineering talent.
With over 10 years of experience in successfully building offshore engineering teams, we’ve honed our hiring process to perfection, ensuring it not only meets but surpasses every standard. Take a look behind the curtain at our seven-step recruitment process we’ve crafted to secure top-tier engineering talent for our partners.
- Talent scouting – The initial search, prescreening, and first contact to identify elite candidates.
- HR Interview – And in-depth screening to gain better insight into candidates’ personalities and soft skills.
- Manager interview – A conversation to determine whether an engineer is the right cultural fit for your business.
- Logical skills test – Rigorous tests to ensure candidates can tackle complex problems easily.
- Technical interview – A one-day, in-office practical evaluation by a technical panel to measure understanding.
- Offline assignment – A three-day project done at home to get a holistic overview of the candidates’ ability to architect a solution.
- Final stage – You perform the final interviews and select your ideal candidates.
Securing the best offshore tech talent: final thoughts
As we wrap up this guide on how to verify tech skills of software engineers, we trust these actionable tips have highlighted the value of partnering with an experienced offshore provider. When selecting your partner, focus on those with a track record of success – case studies, glowing testimonials, and industry-specific expertise are key. Take time to understand their recruitment process to ensure it’s designed to rigorously assess technical skills and foster long-term developer engagement.
If you’re ready to embrace the advantages of building an offshore engineering team and giving your business a competitive edge, feel free to get in touch. One of our senior executives will connect with you promptly to discuss your needs and the way forward.
