Guide to Hiring Offshore Front-end Development Team – Traps, Bottlenecks, and Tips to Succeed

Are you in need of expert developers to code the front end of your business website or application? Hiring front-end experts locally can be pretty daunting due to acute talent shortage. IDC, a top market intelligence firm, estimates that the software industry will experience a shortfall of 4 million developers by the end of 2025. To escape this tricky situation, businesses are turning to offshore front-end development.

But what exactly does this hiring model entail? What are the pros and cons of hiring offshore front-end developers and how can you maneuver the pitfalls to recruit efficiently? Keep reading to find out more in this in-depth guide.

Offshore Front-end Development: Market Overview 2022-2023

Offshore front-end development is an outsourcing hiring model that targets talents in foreign job markets to build business apps and websites using various technologies, such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS programming languages. A front-end offshore developer will optimize the interface of your website using intuitive web designs, graphics, or even videos.

Organizations usually hire frontend developers to gain a competitive edge on the internet, in terms of user experience when it comes to web development. Typically, a business might need to find an offshore front-end developer if it wants to:

• Integrate front-end platform with backend application
• Implement multiple browser and platform compatibility
• Debug a website’s design for an optimized user experience
• Third-party assistance with tech support and administrative roles
• Adopt a relatively cost-effective software development process
• Gain access to qualified, global tech talents
• Focus on customer service and satisfaction as remote teams handle technical responsibilities

Offshore software development is growing in popularity. Experts project the model’s market size to grow at an annual rate of 10.13% and reach $283457.5 million by the turn of 2030. A key factor that will drive this trend is the increasing costs and hiring bottlenecks of working with full-time, in-house software developers.

Pros and Cons of Offshore Front-end Development

Although offshore front-end development programmers are a go-to option for tech-driven companies, working with outsourcing partners can also prove to be challenging in many ways. Here are the pros and cons associated with this hiring model.

Offshore vs. Onshore: What Will Your Project Benefit More With?

Businesses that choose to outsource their front-end needs, have an option of partnering with either an onshore or offshore service provider. Onshore development involves partnering with a local service provider, usually within your home country, while offshoring entails approaching an overseas outsourcing partner. Although picking an onshore partner comes with various business benefits, such as proximity and same time zone to minimize collaboration frictions, this hiring model has two major setbacks:

• The tech talent pool in local hiring locations is smaller when compared to offshoring
• Local developers for hire will most likely charge higher rates than their offshore counterparts

That said, you might want to hire an offshore front-end development team for the following projects:

Launching a New Startup Website

A business that is just starting might need to hire a relatively affordable software development team to save on overall costs. Moreover, it doesn’t make business sense to hire full-time employees for a one-time web development project, especially if it features a minimalistic design. Offshore front-end development specialists usually charge lower rates because they come from countries with moderate standards of living.

Scaling the Digital Presence of your Existing SME

The main advantage of offshore front-end development is that resources can be scaled or downsized quickly to match the evolving needs of your SME website. This hiring model complements a greater level of flexibility that is hard to experience with onshore software developers, thanks to redundant employment obligations. Moreover, investing in new tools and front-end technologies at the company level can be a costly affair.

Implement a Project that Requires Cross-functional Specialists

A typical team of offshore front-end development coders usually includes cross-functional talents to tackle complex software projects. This might include full-stack developers, a business analyst, a dedicated project manager, UI/UX designer, or a QA specialist. Unlike a full-time hiring model, you can pick an established offshore partner to set up a fully-fledged cross-functional team in a matter of weeks, not months.

Long-term Digital Solutions That Need Advanced Developer Skills 

Partnering with an offshore service provider means higher chances of finding and hiring a developer with a particular skill set, such as a front-end engineer. Full-service offshore companies usually scout the whole globe to hire a talent that would otherwise be too expensive to engage with in a long-term contract, such as full-time employment.

Traps and Bottlenecks When Hiring Offshore Front-end Developers

Building web apps or digital solutions with remote teams can be pretty daunting for a business, especially if it’s the first time, or they choose to work with the wrong partner. Some of the traps and bottlenecks associated with offshore development services include:

Hiring Candidates That Don’t Match Your Project Requirements

A remote job candidate might be completely honest about their software development skills, or whether they are able to meet your intricate project requirements. In some cases, what you see in the CV is not what you get when it comes to fulfilling technical responsibilities. This means you might end up hiring the wrong dedicated team altogether if you don’t take a thorough interviewing, screening, and evaluation approach.

Recruitment Might Take Longer Than Necessary

The fact that there is an existing shortage of tech talents across the whole industry means that it can also be challenging to find front-end experts for hire on short notice. This is probably because they are committed to other projects or you simply don’t know where to look. It takes the services of a reputable hiring company to circumvent this pitfall.

Cultural Differences May Hinder Proper Evaluation

A major drawback of hiring offshore front-end development programmers is cultural differences, such as native language disparity. Although the process can get along with a dedicated translator, the cultural gap makes it difficult to evaluate whether the professional in question is the right guy for the job. It might also take time before an employee adjusts to a different mindset and reasoning pattern if they are strongly laid back to their local culture.

Employee Retention Challenges 

Hiring offshore front-end developers is one thing but retaining them is different altogether. This pitfall can even be more problematic if you choose traditional offshoring engagement models, such as freelancing, where tech talents aren’t acquainted with long-term engagements. Losing developers in the middle of the project can mean a slower development process or quality inconsistencies when many different hands are involved.

More Time Wasted in Setting Up the Team

You might be lucky to hire an offshore front-end web developer in a few weeks if you choose the right partner that perfectly knows how to create distributed team. However, setting up the team to work remotely can consume much of your time if the service provider doesn’t offer turnkey services, such as full financial and legal support in foreign jurisdictions. In that case, resources might be depleted even before the team gets down to serious work.

Tips & Tricks to Hire True Front-end Programmers

Thanks to the spread of technology and self-learning developer tools and courses, the number of professionals in the job market claiming to be front-end programmers has tremendously grown. Finding qualified talents with relevant experience and true skills can therefore be challenging. Here are some tips and tricks that will help you hire offshore front-end developers.

Find Whether the Talent Understands the Architecture of Front-end Development

Offshore software developers for hire should understand the architecture of front-end development if they are going to meet or exceed your expectations. This extends to understanding the back end as well to integrate all the designed visual elements.

With that in mind, evaluate whether the developer can handle basic, as well as advanced web programming languages, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Angular, and React. At the same time, the candidate should be able to optimize your website’s speed for a seamless user experience or improve security to prevent malware attacks.

Which Front-end Developer Do You Want to Hire?

Finding genuine front-end experts starts by defining the type of developers that your company wants to hire. Businesses have the option of working with freelancers, dedicated teams, or traditional outsourcing partners. Choosing a full-service engagement model, such as dedicated teams means an in-depth hiring approach that carefully handpicks value-matched front-end developers to code your website. This is because you’ll have a seasoned hiring expert with a robust technical background to help you find out how much do front end developers make and oversee the whole process.

Evaluate CV Alongside Talent Portfolio

CVs are good when it comes to knowing the candidate better in terms of capabilities and educational background. However, they may not be enough if you want to gauge whether the talent is truly a front-end developer or catch a junior candidate masquerading as a senior developer. Ask the candidates to submit their portfolio as well, where you can examine their past projects to determine if they coincide with your expectations or software development requirements. Even better, you can ask the talents to rate their previous work to assess whether they are open-minded and willing to iterate on their skills for better project outcomes.

Research Client Testimonials and Reviews

Another trick for evaluating the skills of a front-end engineer or how they approach projects is by researching previous client testimonials and reviews on their profile. A majority of tech talents usually advertise their rate cards alongside successfully completed projects, where they invite clients to give their reviews. Positive reviews and testimonials will point you to a true front-end developer, while negative sentiments should be treated as a red flag.

Ask Less-obvious Interview Questions

The average job candidate expects you to ask standard questions during interviews. On the other hand, asking a technical, less-obvious question will reveal their true development side to help you assess whether they are fit for the project. Here are some questions to ask.

• What are the elements of the CSS Box Model in front-end software development?
• What is the difference between MongoDB and MySQL? Which database technology seems suitable for this project?
• Can you explain the disparity between centralized and distributed version control systems?
• Can you explain prevalent Git commands and functions?
• What is the process of displaying a table on an HTML webpage?
• What’s your best framework to build on?

How to Successfully Interview and Hire Front-end Developers in 7 Steps

You already understand the tips and tricks of hiring front-end development specialists, but what’s the process? Here is how to do it in 7 simple steps:

1. Choose a hiring location or platform if you opt for freelancing engagement
2. Advertise the vacant job position with detailed requirements and roles to be fulfilled
3. Shortlist relevant, qualified candidates for the next hiring stage
4. Conduct soft skills interview
5. Conduct hard skills interview
6. Issue a test task
7. Onboard the talent to your dedicated development team

How Can Newxel Assist You in Hiring a Dedicated Front-end Development Team?

Newxel is a full-service company that hires offshore front-end development coders for software projects across all industries. Unlike traditional outsourcing development companies, Newxel services are swift, client-centered, and built upon a strong culture of transparency and collaboration. You can build next-gen digital solutions with our hired teams, resting assured that your project is in safe and capable hands.

We help businesses assemble dedicated development teams in 3 to 5 weeks to save time and get started with their project as soon as possible. With such a swift process, you can also build faster to match the evolving customer needs when it comes to web-based user experiences or digital product consumption. Even better, we can find tech talents with any tech stack combination within this timeframe.

Talents hired through Newxel depict higher retention rates of up to 94% for a long-term commitment. We also offer turnkey services if you hire an offshore front-end development team through Newxel. This approach frees you from the backend office routine as you tackle other important company roles, such as business analysis and enhancing the experience of existing employees.

The Bottom Line

Offshore front-end development is snowballing into all industries, thanks to the model’s cost-effectiveness and the endless business opportunities it presents. However, achieving greater hiring success with this model takes more than just mere interviewing formalities. The type of service provider that you engage matters, and so is the hiring location. Most importantly, your engagement model will likely influence the type of budget that you’ll need for the project.

Contact us today to hire an offshore front-end development team of your dream in any global location.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)