First time hiring a dedicated developer — what should I watch out for?
I've been putting this off for a few months now, but my small team is finally at the point where we can't keep juggling everything ourselves. We need someone who can actually own a chunk of the product instead of just picking up random tickets whenever a freelancer has spare time. So I've started looking into what it actually takes to bring on a dedicated developer and figured I'd share what I've learned so far in case anyone else is in the same spot.
What actually counts as "dedicated"?
This tripped me up at first. A dedicated developer isn't the same as a freelancer you keep going back to. The whole point is they're working exclusively on your project, full-time, not splitting attention across five other clients. Most companies that let you hire dedicated developers handle the vetting and contracts on their end, so you're not doing background checks or coding tests yourself, which honestly was a relief once I understood it.
Things I've learned to check before committing
A few things kept coming up when I asked around in other founder groups:
- Ask exactly how developers get vetted. "We only work with top talent" means nothing without specifics like real technical interviews, coding tests, and actual project history.
- Don't skip the trial period if one's offered. A couple weeks of paid work tells you way more than a portfolio ever will.
- Get IP ownership and NDA terms in writing before anyone touches your codebase. I almost skipped this, thinking it was a formality, glad I didn't.
- Communication style matters more than I expected. If someone can't explain a technical decision clearly during the interview, that doesn't magically improve later.
Where I'm still unsure
Still trying to figure out whether to go full-time or part-time to start. Everyone says start smaller than you think you need and scale up, but it's hard to know what "smaller" actually looks like until you're a few weeks in.
Has anyone here gone through this recently? Curious what surprised you, good or bad, especially around onboarding time and how long it actually took before the developer felt like part of the team rather than an outside hire.