Hiring Junior Developers to Build Your Tech Project – Pros and Cons

Hiring Junior Developers to Build Your Tech Project – Pros and Cons

Hiring decisions are never easy - as well as the hiring process as such. Most people-centered companies invest a lot in sourcing their projects with the right talents, considering the level of experience the core decision-making factor. While there is the grain of common sense in this approach, hiring young talents new to the tech industry can also be winning. In this article, we are going to overview the pros and cons of hiring Junior specialists for tech projects development to help you make the right choice with your team staffing.
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Value-Driving Reasons to Hire Junior Developers for Your Project

Below are the main reasons why Junior programmers can become a good choice for tech projects, especially those being developing under the pressure of deadlines and within budget limits. Still, these aren’t the only benefits Junior programmers come with.

Great Talent Pool

The IT industry is trendy, and the entry threshold is relatively low. That’s why it attracts more and more young specialists every year, creating a good supply in response to an increased tech tallents demand. The Junior developers talent pool is actually great – there are 752,000 profiles on LinkedIn only. So, you have a lot of opportunities to choose from, and tailor the programmer’s skills to your project specifics.

More Commitment

The matter is that the competition among Junior developers is pretty tight as well. They know that they are less skilled compared to their Middle and Senior colleagues, and that’s why they have to put more effort to get a job offer and persuade the potential employee they are worth giving them a shot. This is also the reason why they are more grateful and more committed to the project. For the company hiring them, it means a better employee retention rate and more loyalty.

The Opportunity to Raise the Developer from Scratch

This reason is the logical continuation of a previous one. A committed and loyal Junior developer always has a better chance of growing and advancing within your company. Such employees have the most value for the business since they get niche-specific experience and sincerely share the company’s values.

Readiness to Learn

Being at the very beginning of their career, Junior developers are eager to learn and upgrade their skills to increase their competitiveness and bring more value to your project. And one more benefit – they have nothing to unlearn. Being better versed with more innovative technologies, they are ready to innovate in the framework of your project.

Fresh Problem-Solving Look

Another benefit of hiring Junior developers for your project is their fresh problem-solving look. Indeed, they may have not so strong problem-solving skills compared to Senior programmers, but their mind isn’t blurred with the old-school, templated and already used approaches.
For the companies hiring them, it means the opportunity to better satisfy the demand of their users by making the software work in an unexpected yet effective way.
Ready to create a profit-driving application for your business? Consider our web and mobile development services!

Perfect Routine Tasks Performers

While there are a lot of solutions to automate the process of software development, some of the routine tasks still need human control, for example, manual testing. These tasks are perfect to assign to Junior developers, giving them an opportunity to plunge into the process, better understand project specifics, get used to the team and a new workplace, saving your development time and costs at once.

Cost-Effectiveness

And the last reason to consider Junior developers is the opportunity to save development costs because of their affordability. For comparison, the average salary of a Junior developer is ten times lower compared to the wage of a Middle-to-Senior programmer. Indeed, you will have to assign a mentor to your Junior specialist but the cost of a mentor is still reasonable, given the benefits you get in the long run. 

The Pitfalls of Hiring Juniors

Despite the advantages of hiring Juniors we have described above, there are some risks and pitfalls you should be aware of. 

Slower Development Time

Junior developers write the code slower than Middle and Senior ones – this is a matter of practical experience only. So, with a Junior development team, you should set more flexible deadlines. However, you can solve this challenge by:

  • Choosing the right technologies for your project development. Most programming languages and frameworks are initially invented in such a way as to streamline the development process.
  • Assigning a mentor. A mentor will not only teach the Junior specialist but also control the code quality and suggest the best practices to speed up the code writing. 

The Likelihood of a Mistake

Junior specialists are also more likely to make a mistake, and this is also the result of practical experience lack. Still, you can reduce the likelihood of errors by using the tips above, plus following Agile and DevOps approaches. 

 

How to Headhunt for Junior Specialists

So, where to find and how to hire Junior developers for your project? Below are three tactics to consider. 

  • LinkedIn. This is the first and the most intuitive place when it comes to hiring a tech specialist. While LinkedIn hosts more than 750,000 Junior developers from all over the world, you can also shortlist them by country, current job status, skills, and experience. 
  • Universities and courses. Leading companies frequently partner with engineering universities to hire top students right after graduation. A lot of companies also collaborate with programming courses providers to shortlist the best candidates as well. Consider these options to be the first to hire a promising specialist. 
  • Freelance platforms. While the competition between Junior developers is tight, a lot of them are looking for their first jobs and customers at freelance platforms, for example, Upwork. So, getting in touch with freelance developers can also be a winning tactic, and a lot of Juniors will willingly agree to get a full-time job instead of hunting for the customers on their own. 

Conclusion - Getting Your Team Gathered

While there are a lot of benefits to hiring Junior software developers, we, at Eco and Tech, strongly believe that an effective team should consist of programmers with diverse seniority, skill set, knowledge, and competencies. Such a smart balance allows the team to make better decisions, suggest more winning ideas, validate them in advance, recheck after each other, ask for support, and delegate.
Our collaborative software development team is right here to build a web or mobile project for your business, sharing our best practices, life-proven approaches, and experience-driven insights. Contact us now to get in touch with them!