Blockchain technology is no longer just a finance toolkit and has found its way into many industries. However, it is still an emerging technology and could lead to a ridiculously expensive and inefficient product if you hire the wrong team of developers.
Blockchain technology is in high demand due to the limitless solutions it offers to businesses. Cybercriminals and hackers are becoming more intrusive, which is why blockchain technologies built around concepts such as decentralization, minimal trust, and exclusion of control from third parties are very appealing to businesses around the world.
The sharp increase in demand for blockchain makes skilled professionals a scarce commodity, especially when it comes to experienced developers. Businesses may find searching for the right partner quite difficult. These top 10 facts to consider when hiring a blockchain development team will set you on the right track.
Fact #1: Blockchain is an in-demand industry where real talent is hard to find
Despite the rapid progress we see in the evolution of blockchain-based solutions and dozens of innovative projects surfacing each year, it can still be quite hard to find experienced developers. If your business is somewhat small, you will be competing head-to-head with large enterprises to find your dream team for the job.
The hiring process becomes even more strenuous if you are planning on putting together a team of your own. Just hiring a small group of developers won’t guarantee you getting your project off the ground in time. In order to set up a fine-tuned development process, you need a qualified team of experts that will handle analysis, planning, project management, delivery, and deployment. It is highly advisable to go with an experienced blockchain development services provider.
Fact #2: Regular job search sites won’t help you in the hiring process
Popular job search websites like Indeed or Glassdoor do not contain a lot of job postings that look for blockchain, thus skilled developers don’t pay attention to these sites. There are specialized job boards like Crypto.jobs, but most of them are relatively new so you can’t rely on them either to find the best blockchain teams.
Take a look at B2B research portals like clutch.co, goodfirms.co, or the Upwork talent search engine where most developers showcase their capabilities or look for projects to take on.
Fact #3: Blockchain development companies are more expensive but handle projects better
Hand-picking professionals can be quite challenging and time-consuming. A blockchain company relieves you of the difficult process of hunting for blockchain talent. They offer teams of experienced developers and deliver high-quality solutions, therefore the rates they demand are often higher.
Hiring a company to provide a blockchain solution comes with added benefits, as they analyze your competition, do research to ensure that the best possible technologies are used and that the solution meets industry standards.
These are the costs that add up to make a company more expensive than pulling your own team together. However, most companies are flexible when it comes to payments and you can always come to a reasonable compromise in terms of the functionality you include in the end product.
Fact #4: Blockchain development companies have the capacity to add members to your team
Your business might want a blockchain solution deployed as fast as possible while maintaining high quality. This is especially true in cases where your solution is being built to outrun the competition. Blockchain companies have a whole array of skilled employees which makes them extremely flexible.
If at any point in your development lifecycle you want to pace things up, or would like to add features that require a special talent, a company could easily put additional hands to work on your product. The right team understands these necessities and will guide you through the entire process while keeping you updated with every milestone that has been reached.
Fact #5: The ideal team must demonstrate rich experience in cryptography, security, and project management
When analyzing a team’s projects or discussing your project with them, you must assess the diversity of their delivered work, their attention to initial requirements, their project management skills, and reporting techniques.
Some other basic indicators you should focus on are:
- Blockchain technology stack and whether the company strives to try out new, cutting-edge tools and follows emerging trends.
- Ability to approach each project differently and carefully research the best possible solution for the client’s problems.
- The number of positive reviews from previous clients and the feedback they provide.
At the end of the day, it is very important to have a clear understanding of your project goals so you can communicate them to the team so they find the right solution for you. Try sending out a small test task to see if they can handle it.
Fact #6: There’s a difference between a DApp developer and blockchain protocol-level developer
It’s important to also pay attention to the project complexity when looking through the company’s portfolio. Different levels of expertise are required when, for example, building a basic cryptocurrency wallet application and for blockchain protocol-level development. A company’s previous experience across different types of projects and the number of projects for each category determines their level of expertise.
Most skilled are the teams that have been involved in the development of complex blockchain platforms, such as Echo, with a variety of integrated services, including wallets, block explorers, decentralized exchanges, tokenization apps, etc. Other development companies are well versed in one or several particular types of blockchain-based applications.
Choose the right team depending on the complexity of your project and your planned budget, but decide in favor of companies involved in high-tier development.
Fact #7: Blockchain startups are not void to scams
Developing blockchain systems is a very profitable business, given its high demand and rapid expansion. However, this creates an incentive to cheat and often leads to scams that have plagued ICO development for several years. This is why you need to take a closer look at the company’s past projects and make sure you use some kind of escrow platform to handle payments. Payment protection is very important, especially in the blockchain industry.
If possible, try to reach out to the companies who have worked with the team that you are planning on hiring, ask them about their project, what their experience with the team was and whether the delivered product is of high standards. This way you can get a better idea of the skills as well as the trustworthiness of the potential team.
Fact #8: Automated interview processes won’t help you much
A very popular and frequently used technique to filter and find the best talent is to use an automated interview process. However, the process of creating your automated interview will not only be difficult but also prove inefficient due to the lack of good resources to base your questions/problems on. Most of the basic questions/problems have already been answered and very well explained.
A finer alternative is to hold hackathon contests, where you invite developers from around the world or just your region/country to participate in a contest that will reflect the key problems to be solved for your project. Once the contest is over, and a winner(s) is chosen, you could offer them the project itself.
Fact #9: Having a basic understanding of the development process is crucial
The development process or software development lifecycle are terms used to describe how your blockchain application evolves from a bunch of ideas and requirements to a feature-rich solution. This process differs from team to team, but with experience comes the ability to fine-tune it to provide products faster with minimal issues.
Understanding the entire process is not necessary, but being familiar with it is. You don’t really need to know how the blockchain technologies address your requirements, but you must have a general idea of why they are being used. Knowing a thing or two about these technologies early-on will definitely pay off in the initial discussion and project planning.
Most blockchain development companies provide prior consulting and further guide you through the development process, so you know what will happen at each stage.
Fact #10: Being part of blockchain development platform communities pays off
Many blockchain development platforms have evolved alongside blockchain itself to the point they have their own communities and web presence. Ethereum, for example, is one of the most popular blockchain development platforms that has one of the biggest communities of developers and enthusiasts. Ethereum has both online communities and holds events and meetups from time to time all over the world.
If your business is new to the blockchain industry, then your best shot is to participate in these community events and groups, make connections, learn and maybe even find developers that can help with making your idea a reality. Ethereum is just one of many such examples, as you could join Reddit forums dedicated entirely to blockchain or find other social media groups.
Conclusion
Blockchain is a rapidly evolving technology, that is why the hype around it, and its demand will undoubtedly increase in the coming years. Many companies are seeking experienced developers for their projects, as blockchains are the answer to many business pain points, such as transparency, privacy & security, and streamlined operations. Choosing an experienced blockchain development team may prove to be difficult, but we hope that this article will point you in the right direction.
