You have considered all aspects of outsourcing an external software engineer, analysing your in-house resources, budget, expertise and experience – What are your next steps?

Determine your Goals

Knowing your end game is vital to being successful. Clearly communicating these goals throughout your company and having buy-in before the external software engineer is onboarded is a basic of any project. Establishing shared, well-defined goals before leads to success.

Research Talent and Recruitment Agencies

Finding the best talent and recruitment agency that specialises in outsourcing software engineers in your specific area of need is crucial. Start by doing a quick google search, adding terms or words that are essential to your company – this will bring up more relevant talent and recruitment agencies due to their SEO. Research these companies, and study their websites, reviews, values and success rates. Go onto their professional social media websites like LinkedIn, find previous client’s placements – ask them about their experience. Finding the right talent and recruitment agency for you and your company’s needs will set you up for success and make the next steps far more streamlined.

Contact Talent and Recruitment Agencies

Reach out to the companies that have been short-listed, making sure to communicate clearly your goals and needs for the project at hand. Begin to ask about their work process, the technology they use, their resources and most importantly any placements that have previously been made that are like yours. It is useful to prepare questions ahead of these conversations, the below may be useful:

• Have you made successful placements like this before?
• What does your team/agency specialise in?
• How many people do you have in your roster with these specific skills I require?
• What are the values of your company?
• What are your price points?
• What is included in your price?
• What happens if I am unsatisfied with the placement?

Make sure you prepare questions relevant to your requirements, this will ensure the conversations are more impactful.

Make note of how the agency responds to your queries, both knowledge, clarity and customer service need to be prevalent. How long did it take for them to respond? Be careful of ‘yes men’ companies, that promise the world without divulging any specific information or knowledge in the area.

Choose your Top Agency

The above steps, although time-consuming, are well worth the effort. The more research you do into an agency the better chance of success you have with your project. Once you have selected your chosen agency make sure you get an agreement written down, ensuring all legal requirements are met. Below are some documents you may want to be included in your business transaction:

• NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) Protect your company’s data, knowledge and project.
• SLA (Service level agreement) Having clear requirements of the project for clarity.
• SRS (Software requirements and specifications) Clearly state the skills needed for your software engineer and project.
• KPI (Key performance indicators) Plan of aims for the project, used to evaluate performance at specific phases of the project.

Once all the legal documentation has been cleared you can start to begin your success journey with your newly outsourced software engineer. Make sure to monitor the project and keep communication to a high level, making sure the talent and recruitment agency is notified of any discrepancies that arise within the project.