Ways and Costs to Hire Software Developers from Ukraine
In 2021, Ukrainian software developers were ranked 5th globally, according to SkillValue. Based on the results of 550+ technical assessments for everything from the back- and frontend to mobile and big data software solutions development. Ukrainians gained a score of 93.17%, having outperformed their American and Israeli counterparts. However, the cost of hiring developers in Ukraine is 3 times less on average, compared to the USA and 2,5 times less than it’s in Israel.
In 2021 there were more than 250000 IT specialists in Ukraine and the growth rate of the software development subsector was 20,4%.
Unfortunately, February 24, 2022, irrevocably changed our lives, the war came to Ukraine as a nightmare. We could hardly believe it’s possible in the 21st century. However, this war awoke Ukrainian people to unity and showed their incredible courage and motivation. Almost 100% of IT companies continue working for the benefit of their country and the victory of Ukraine. And they are ready to work hard, so you can find plenty of web and app developers for hire!
Do you wonder how they manage? — Just read on!
How Ukrainian Programmers Continue Working While Being Bombed?
Naturally, the first weeks were the most difficult for Ukrainian people physically and mentally. More than 2.5 million people from the East and South had to leave their homes. So, lots of developers moved to far away safer cities, particularly in the West of Ukraine. Some people decided to stay, which resulted in great stress due to the necessity to hide in bomb shelters and subways.
However, the IT industry in Ukraine demonstrated unbelievable flexibility and quickly adjusted to the new circumstances. Even in the situation of war, one could hire net developers in Ukraine at any time. So, developer life in Ukraine continued and a lion's share of the income is today donated to the needs of Ukrainian military forces. We do our best to help our soldiers effectively protect Ukraine in the battlefield.
IT army is also active on a digital front. Stfalcon team, for instance, developed the Air Alert app in just one day in cooperation with Ajax Systems and with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
As of today, lots of Ukrainian developers are looking for new job opportunities, and take on projects, including cooperating with companies from abroad. So, Stfalcon does, here you can check some of the testimonials from our clients, received in the wartime already.
According to Jobs.dou.ua, in just a month, 84% of IT specialists in Ukraine came back to working full-time and 7% part-time. So, right now is a perfect time for hiring software developers in Ukraine. By the way, 91% of IT specialists actively help Ukrainian Army financially and volunteer. Their dedication, courage, and willingness to help their country deserve respect.
How to Hire Developers from Ukraine: Freelance, Outstaffing Company, Dedicated Team, Recruiting Agency Services
Little changed, still there are several ways to hire software developers in Ukraine now, that remained unchanged.
Hire a freelancer
In case your project is small, short-term, or you have to realize some part of a project, but lack specialists for the purpose, hiring a freelancer may become your ideal option. Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer are full of talented specialists from Ukraine with quite a decent cost of hiring a software developer. You can easily find there the right talent to meet your project needs.
Flexibility is the key advantage of freelance cooperation. On the one hand, you can close the necessary skill gaps quickly and efficiently, on the other hand, you can quickly relieve a freelancer of their role if the work is not satisfactory. The risk is low because you can always check the feedback, testimonials, and rating of a freelancer, however, it exists. As an independent worker, your freelance developer may fail or disappear in the middle of the project.
It should also be mentioned that a freelancer can carry out only a certain task or set of tasks, while a company or an agency can control your whole project through its lifecycle.
Here we come to the following option of hiring developers from Ukraine through outsourcing or outstaffing companies.
Hire dedicated developers
Project-based outsourcing or dedicated team is a widespread cooperation model for Ukrainian IT companies. As a customer, you get a team of all necessary dedicated specialists working solely on your project, as a rule on an hourly rate basis. The team takes care of everything from the initial discovery phase through brainstorming and project development to technical support.
It’s a wonderful option if you are not a techie because you can delegate all managerial work to your vendor and get a team of a PM, Business Analysts UI/UX specialists, developers, and QA specialists, that work full-time for your benefit.
In case of troubles with some specialist or task, all the problems can be set with the project manager.
Hire developers in Ukraine through outstaffing companies
Outstaffing companies help their clients form an entire development team. So, you can treat it as a team extension that can focus on urgent tasks or a regional office in another country. You hire a dedicated developer team that works full-time under your supervision in a staffing company’s office. The letter provides them with equipment and arranges HR management. This variant works well for long-term cooperation.
In such a way, recruitment is professional and realized according to your specific requirements with the candidate's soft skills and tech stack checking. At the same time, the final interview and hiring decision is on your part.
Unlike outsourcing, where the company taking up your project is responsible for it, outstaffing leaves all responsibility on the contractor hired. At the same time, you get a greater level of control over the project direction and execution. It may become a drawback for those seeking a hand-off approach.
Hire through recruiting agency
It can possibly be considered the least advantageous option for the IT sphere. A recruiting company rarely has a proper developer talent pool. They take up your time-consuming work in sourcing talents according to your specifications and to match your requirements. However, they may lack the expertise to evaluate candidates’ soft skills as precisely as an IT specialist would expect or do it. Besides, onboarding and further HR formalities are still on your part.
It’s reasonable then to look for a development agency in Ukraine that combines multiple models of cooperation: outsourcing, outstaffing, and recruitment services. Such companies meet clients at each point of their need and know for sure how to hire a developer for an app or a web product, for instance, and what the difference is between the two.
How to Hire a Software Developer Team: Steps to Follow
Select a vendor with project-specific expertise
Don’t take tens of companies at once, make your choice of 3 to 5 companies. Find the ones experienced with the projects in the same or related niches. Their expertise will help you avoid costly pitfalls and follow the life-proven development path.
Ask your friends for advice, look through trusted sources on the web, like Clutch.co or Good Firms, check the vendor’s rating there, and read the clients’ feedback and reviews. It’s also reasonable to check the feedback from the former employees, they sometimes can give valuable details.
Find out as many details as it’s possible
Learn all the possible key issues, research the online reputation of the companies on your shortlist, and look their social media profiles through. Find out how many years in the market, how the candidates are selected and tested, and whether the English level is checked. Ask about the rates and pricing. Then compare the results from all vendors you consider.
Prepare a detailed job and project description
The more detailed description you prepare, the less time it will take to find the developers fitting your requirements best. So, you won’t waste your time and resources on a long search.
Set up a dedicated team structure
You can first hire a developer in Ukraine that works alone and then expand the team structure. However, it’s reasonable to discover the basic team structure. The usual team roles are a business analyst, a project manager, a UI/UX designer, front- and back-end developers, QA specialists, and testers.
Mind, please, that your project will require some unique team structure and the vendor can suggest an optimal variant to help you implement your project and achieve your business goals most effectively.
Ask for a consultation and project estimation
Get in touch with the companies you have selected and ask for a consultation. As a rule, it’s free, but valuable in terms of getting acquainted with the company, its culture and values as well as expertise. It’s a good opportunity to ask questions and discuss the engagement model you prefer and the core tech stack to use. Find out the approximate cost of your project development and compare the received results.
A helpful hint – ask to sign an NDA even before the first meeting. Foremost, it will help you protect your business idea, and indirectly it will demonstrate the potential reliability of the vendor. Refusal to sign an NDA should become a red flag for you.
Finally, you should choose the company you are on the same page with in the majority of aspects.
Interview candidates
Take advantage of interviewing the candidates directly. It’s up to you to decide how many technical and non-technical stages the process will have and if you need the potential developers to complete certain test tasks, or else. It will help you verify the core competencies, expertise, experience, set of mind, and suitability of every applicant. More than that, it will ensure your smooth cooperation during the project work.
Hire the suitable specialists
In case a candidate meets your requirements, do not think too long before making the final hiring decision. Ukrainian developers are rather popular and other employers are up-and-doing. They may hire a developer in Ukraine and leave you in the dust.
Start working
When all the hiring formalities are finished, proceed to onboarding: introduce team members to one another, explain their responsibilities, their working toolkit, and the key principles they should follow.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Developer Full-time in Ukraine
The cost of hiring an app developer in Ukraine may vary depending on the level and type of specialist. The salaries of juniors may start from a few hundred dollars and reach up to $6000+ for senior system architects. The rates and, consequently, salaries depend on the tech stack of a specialist, his experience, and to some extent location. The average salary level has remained the same or even higher after the war begin.
To cut a long story short, just look through the tables below, it will help you figure out the cost of hiring a web developer or mobile developer for your project, based on its complexity and duration.
How Stfalcon Can Help You
Operating in the market of software development for over 12 years, our company has extensive experience in diverse development types and variable cooperating modes and knows how to hire app developers firsthand. Modern life requires flexibility, and we are ready to take on variable challenges.
Outstaffing
Having a crucial understanding of many specific processes, we now work as an outstaffing company and form dedicated teams on our client’s requests.
So if you need to extend your team and don’t know how to hire an app developer—turn to us, and we’ll advise a skilled specialist for you.
In case you need a team to strengthen your in-house one or want to set up an independent development team offshore, tell us your vision, requirements, and desired technology stack, and we’ll provide you with the CVs of the best matching candidates so that you can interview them in -person.
Later on, we will also take the formalities with agreement issues and the working process set up for the approved candidates.
Dedicated development team formation
We have carried on tens of projects for our clients, forming dedicated teams of our talented specialists for customer-specific needs and projects.
We always analyze the project and the most up-to-date technologies to deliver high-quality solutions to our customers from all over the world.
Not only that, but we always try to match strict project needs/requirements 100% and achieve the set business goals most efficiently.
We check our client’s vision, needs, requirements, and tech stack and take care of the recruiting procedures further on. We constantly improve our hiring mechanisms, asking ourselves how to hire a web developer most effectively. So, you may be sure to get really top-notch developers and IT talents. As soon as the team is formed we provide it with an office, workspace, and equipment, and take care of the onboarding.
You will just have to enjoy the result.
Final Thoughts
Now is the best time to hire web developers in Ukraine, because it allows you not only to get the perfect match of cheaper rates, yet high-quality software creation, but support the people and the country who are now requiring it most.
More than that, you have plenty of options of the cooperating mode to choose from and avoid any recruitment-related headaches.
Being a credible software developer with a commitment to quality, Stfalcon is ready to become your qualified tech partner. We can guarantee the best-in-class talents to carry out your project according to the timeline and highest standards, proven by our clients' feedback. Just contact us and we’ll do it.
To find out why Ukraine remains a perfect destination to find plenty of web and app developers for hire, download Stfalcon’s latest whitepaper “How to Hire a Developer or a Development Team in Ukraine”.
