The demand for programmers is strong as their number is growing at a fantastic speed. Statista shows there will be 27.7 million software developers worldwide in 2023. More and more people choose programming studies, complete IT courses, and want to work as a coder. Everyone wants a good, well-paid job that will bring them satisfaction. But what are the best ways to cooperate with companies, and how do you choose the most suitable one?
In this article, we will describe the pros and cons of different types of employment. Read until the end to learn more about how to find a job as a software developer.
Hiring trends in the software development niche
Over the past 4-5 years, some economic and social events have changed the views and approaches to work in IT. Let’s look at the main trends which caused changes in the perception of different types of employment:
- Remote hiring. After the time of the Covid pandemic, most companies adapted their processes online and saw significant benefits in doing so. Many businesses continue to hire specialists for remote positions. Therefore, they gain access to a broader talent pool and save money on renting premises.
- Soft skills over hard skills. Previously, an employee’s knowledge was above all else. Now, with a lot of training and educational programs, hard skills can be developed easier than soft skills. That’s why the essential things for you to consider are: how well you communicate with colleagues or clients, what you would do to resolve a conflict, how you would work in a high-pressure environment, etc.
- Gig economy. As commonly understood, an employee is hired for a long term by signing a contract and agreeing to comply with all the agreements. But the gig economy showed that engaging a worker for a temporary project can bring many benefits to a company. For instance, cost-effectiveness and speed of implementation are the main reasons for choosing this employment type.
- Diversity and inclusion. IT companies have made it clear that it doesn’t matter what age, gender, nationality, or level of disability you are; the door is open for you. Some IT companies particularly hire people with disabilities for work. For example, people with visual impairments may perform accessibility testing.
Types of Employment for a Developer to Consider
A freelance developer
Freelance is the way to work when you get projects from different clients without contracts and receive payment per task or hour. In addition to core duties such as product development, freelancers are also responsible for finding clients for the company, communicating with them, negotiating and closing deals for their employer.
Startups and even enterprises may hire freelance programmers on platforms like Upwork. They believe that this is the quickest method for locating programmers. Such companies post requests, add the requirements for coders, and wait for the answer. They can also scroll the profiles of relevant developers and contact the ones whose skills are the most suitable for the job description.
Among the advantages of freelancing, it’s worth mentioning a few: a flexible schedule, freedom of choice, control of earnings, and professional growth. But you have to understand that the income can be unstable, communication with the clients is potentially time-consuming and challenging, and added overtime hours is possible.
If you have decided to work this way, you can find your first job on freelance software developers’ sites such as Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer.
An in-house employee
In-house means working within the organization by joining and completing the existing team. You work full-time, receive a fixed salary, have vacation time and sick days, and other benefits, such as insurance.
LinkedIn is an excellent example of a company with an in-house team only. Having internal processes makes it simple to have a cohesive corporate culture, align with shared values, and function as a unified team.
The advantage of the internal type of employment is security. Working in a company, you understand that you have a stable salary every month, the possibility of career growth, and other advantages. The disadvantages are a lack of choice on which project to work on and limited options to manage your time independently.
An outsourced development team member
Outsourcing refers to getting developers from third-party companies to perform technical tasks. Generally, online coders for hire from an outsourcing company have knowledge of a specific industry and also offer cheaper rates.
Even large corporations use outsourcing now. For example, Google may sometimes contact outsourcing companies to find computer programmers for hire. They believe that accessing more talent helps them quickly improve their services’ quality.
Some significant advantages of being an outsourced developer is the diversity of tasks and the possibility of working on an international team. But being an outsourced team member does not always mean the availability of projects. Sometimes you have to wait until the company receives its next contract.
A developer in an IT staff augmentation agency
IT staff augmentation helps a company to complete its existing team with new talent. Such programmers cover temporary or hard-to-fill positions to speed up and improve the software development processes.
The world’s most popular organization for educational opportunities, IELTS, has used an IT staff augmentation model to digitalize the English testing system. They chose this path to keep full control over their development team and get better integration with their internal processes. In this way, they freed up their time to run their core business.
The significant benefits of being part of an IT staffing agency are expanding work experience with different projects and gaining new knowledge from various industries and tasks. As a result, you constantly improve, raise your professional level, and perform interesting tasks. But in such companies, you don’t always feel a corporate culture because you mostly work with different clients.
Conclusion
To sum up, there are four main types of employment: freelance, in-house team member, outsourcing, and IT staff augmentation. When choosing a model, consider the importance of schedule flexibility, stable payment, choice of tasks, and your future team. Choose a freelance position if you want to control your time, in-house to be confident in your income stream, outsource model to work with international projects, and IT staff augmentation to gain more experience.
FAQs
1- What is a full-time developer?
A full-time programmer is a specialist who works officially in a company on contract and performs internal duties.
2- What is the advantage of being a freelancer?
Being a freelancer means having total control over your time, choice of project, and an opportunity to adjust your workload.
3- How to find a software developer job?
Depending on the type of employment you choose, websites like Indeed, freelance platforms like UpWork, or social networking apps like LinkedIn are sources for finding a job.