Why should you start hiring freelance developers NOW?

Everybody seems to be talking about freelance developers nowadays. What is the hype all about? If you have ever been wondering what freelancers are, how they differ from other types of workforce, and how they can be beneficial for your organisation, we will provide you with all the answers in this article. Read, learn, and start hiring freelance developers now!

Many companies might not feel that comfortable about hiring people for short-term gigs. Instead, hiring project-based workforce is often seen as a way of losing invested resources. At the same time, the world is constantly changing and new ways of working evolve rapidly. Hence, companies should understand that if they wish to find top talents also in the future, it is crucial to adapt to new ways of hiring. Especially in the field of technology, where an increasing number of developers are choosing freelancing over traditional employment.

Freelancers are independent contractors who are usually hired for specific project needs in client companies. A traditional background for a freelance software developer is within consulting. The trend is clear: after having worked several years in consulting houses, many developers start looking for new challenges from entrepreneurship. With years of relevant industry experience already in their CVs, freelance developers tend to be highly skilled experts. Taking into account the risks of entrepreneurship, this is quite self-explanatory. One has to have the skills and knowledge to succeed as an entrepreneur and to ensure that you get hired for development roles also in the future.

Hiring Freelance Developers Allows Flexibility and Knowledge Retention

Many businesses often wait for success stories from other players on the market before having the guts to do something different themselves. Hiring freelancer developers can scare some employers because it is something that has never been done in their organisations before. Others might associate freelancers with starving artists. Some might have heard rumours that hiring freelancers is worse than hiring someone in-house. Most of the fears and doubts, however, are completely unnecessary and based on myths and rumours. There are clear benefits that freelance developers can bring to one’s business.

Let’s imagine a scenario. You have an important project coming up for which you need an extra pair of hands with development expertise in areas X and Y. Well, how do you find this talent? If you decide to hire a full-time developer to handle the gig, you also need to find additional tasks to this tech talent after the particular project has ended. One option is to outsource the whole project to a sotware consulting company. After the work is done, these consultants will wrap things up and leave for good with all the information they have gained during the project.

On the contrary, freelance developers won’t be sitting on the bench after a finalised project, waiting for you to come up with new tasks to work on. The other great aspect of hiring freelance developers is that you can always easily ask for additional help from them after a finalised project. This means that knowledge is retained much more effectively within your organisation when using freelance developers than when using software consulting companies.

Hiring Freelance Developers Let's You Discover New Perspectives

Since freelance developers work on a project-basis, you can probably guess that they see and experience a lot in short periods. Working in multiple diverse working environments and different kinds of teams is normal for freelance developers. One has to adapt easily and learn quickly. It is no secret that the more a person is exposed to new situations, the easier it is for him or her to adjust to new challenges.

Changes in surrounding people and environments allow the brain to think differently. No wonder freelancers who face regular changes in their work life are often masters in thinking outside the box. Thus, hiring freelance developers is not only a great option due to them being flexible and good in terms of knowledge retention. An additional benefit is their fresh external perspective on your business.

With their multifaceted backgrounds, freelance developers can assist you in observing the organisation from an outside point of view and consequently bring fresh ideas to the table. If things have always been done in a specific way, a freelance developer might suggest an alternative way of approaching the issue rather than taking everything for granted. Hiring freelance developers can therefore help your organisation not only to finalise the project, but also to develop systems and practices. Also, regular employees can learn a great deal from working with experienced freelancers, enabling internal growth.

So the next time you are about to launch a new development project, why not hire a freelance developer? An experienced expert who has the skills and enthusiasm needed to excel in the engagement. Hiring freelance developers for the first time sure feels new and unfamiliar. Yet, sooner or later the step needs to be taken if your business aims to remain competitive and agile. So get out of your comfort zone and start working with freelance software professionals. You won’t regret it.

Interested in hiring the very best freelance developers out there? We at Thriv are happy to help you. Our carefully curated freelance community consists of over 500 industry experts.