Vervoe

How To Hire a Software Developer

IT & Software

Complete with job descriptions, skill profiles, and interview templates. Use this Software Developer hiring guide to help you make the right decisions, fast.

What does a Software Developer do?

Software Developers will write, reformat and test code that they have written for software applications on a daily basis. Software developers work with various stakeholders, internally and externally, to understand application requirements in order to implement and build.

Day to day tasks of a Software Developer

  • Staying up to date with the latest software languages
  • Analyse users/customers needs and design software to ensure those needs are met
  • Write & reformat code
  • Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to understand user requirements
  • Ensure existing software is maintained and working
Recruitment guide role overview illustration

Software Developers primary responsibilities are to design, program, document and test pieces of software of systems that they make. Often software developers work in teams where they will contribute small components that when all pulled together comprises the final software product. They are responsible for the entire development process.

Role definition illustration

Software Developer Hiring Process

Build the Ideal Candidate Profile​

To find the best person for the role, you need to understand what the role involves. You can complete this with the hiring manager to define the role, its contribution, and the skills needed.

Write A Job Description Based On Skills

Once you understand the requirements for the role, you’ll need to understand the skills for success. You can then write an effective job description to promote your role.

Selecting The Ideal Candidate

See which applicants have the right skills for the role. Send all your applicants a Vervoe skills assessment from the expert library, or customize one for your organization.

Interview Top Performers

Your skills assessment results will identify top performers. Focus your time on interviewing those that have met or exceeded your requirements. Assessment results will also help guide which skill areas to focus on in the interview.

Making An Offer

Once you assess your candidates against these skills, you’re ready to offer the top performer(s). You should base your offer on the value that the candidate would bring to your team and your business as a whole. It is also important to ensure your compensation and benefits packages are competitive in the industry and help you attract and retain the top talent.

Skills needed for a Software Developer

A Software Developer must think about the end user when writing their code in order to ensure user experience is positive. They must be excellent communicators as they are required to collaborate with many teams, and need to be able to look at the bigger picture when creating software and solving problems.

  • Communication
  • Python
  • Java

How to write a Software Developer job description

Once you’ve determined the skills required for the role, you can write the job description to advertise for your position. Here’s what to include in your Software Developer job description:

Job Title
What position are you hiring for?
Summary
What makes your company unique? What would it be like to work for you?
Responsibilities
An overview of the role’s day-to-day activities, and how the position contributes to the organization
Requirements
Skills a candidate must have to perform the job successfully
Benefits
Details of compensation, benefits, and any perks on offer
Use our sample Software Developer job description
Job description checklist illustration

Sample skill tests for a Software Developer

Create a free account today to access the full assessment and more from our library

Question 1

Communication

Question Type: Audio

You are having a meeting with the CEO (who is non-technical) about an upcoming partnership with another platform. They are struggling to understand how our platform will be able to plug into the other without creating a whole new software. Please explain an API to a non-technical person.

Question 2

Python

Question Type: Code

Write some python code to print all the prime numbers between two input variables, we will label them as var1 and var2. Eg: var1 = 4 and var2 = 12.= [5, 7, 11]

Question 3

Java

Question Type: Multiple Choice

What is the purpose of the function 'function.identity()'?

How to interview a Software Developer

Once your Vervoe skills assessment has surfaced the most qualified people for your open role, you can focus on interviewing these candidates. The interview should focus on any skills that require development that were highlighted from the skills assessment.

Now you know that candidates can do the job, the interview becomes more of a relationship building exercise where you can get to know the candidate on a more personal level, understand their motivations, and how they would fit in with the team.

How much does it cost to hire a Software Developer?

The USA average for a Software Developer is $95,004 according to Glassdoor.com whilst the average on Indeed.com is reported as $106,013. As reported by Payscale.com, the lowest ten percent are paid up to $51,000, and whilst ninety percent of software developers earn up to $106,000.

United States

In the USA a software developer gets paid between $51,000 - $106,000 (USD) per year. This number will be heavily influenced by the location of the company, eg: Silicon Valley.

Source: Source: Payscale USA - Software Developer Salaries

United Kingdom

Software Developers in the UK have salaries ranging from £24,000 - £66,000 (GBP). This salary will mostly be based on what industry the organisation operates in.

Source: Source: Glassdoor UK - Software Developer Salaries

Australia

In Australia you can expect the salary for a Software developer to be between $60,000 and $130,000 (AUD). The three main factors of this salary will be, location, seniority and industry of the organisation.

Source: Source: Glassdoor AU - Software Developer Salaries