Hiring Junior Developers

There’s a time to hire junior developers, and it’s not when you’re trying to get your product off the ground.

The early development team has to be 100% autonomous and not need time-consuming technical oversight. You’ll be struggling with lots of issues related to the business itself, and the last thing you need is to create unnecessary drag.

So when is the right time to hire that first more junior team member? Here’s some quick questions to ask yourselves as a team:

• Can we afford to move more slowly while the new person learns via on-the-job training?
• Do we have someone who is willing to be a mentor and coach to bring the new person along?
• Do we believe this new person can be special if we invest the time today, and if so why?

If you answer all three of these questions with a firm “Yes!” then go ahead with the hire.

Don’t be fooled by the less expensive price tag for a junior developer. You will pay a premium with your company’s time to bring them along. They may well be worth it long term, but the time has to be right.