Struggling to find the ideal front-end developer for your project? Look south! Latin America has a talented pool of front-end developers—you can have fractional hires, full-time additions, and even build your own dedicated front-end development teams.
But here’s the catch: Hiring the right front-end developer for your project across borders can be a daunting task, especially without a presence in the region. Also note that finding the right front-end developers is not just about the skillset but also finding professionals who integrate with your organization, understand your requirements, share your passion for growth and progress, and are easy to communicate with.
Inside the lines below, we’ll try to break down the key steps to finding and hiring the perfect LATAM front-end developer for your project.
How to Find the Right Front-end Developers from Latin America?
It all starts with a plan—and the right plan. Here’s a step-by-step guide to finding the perfect talent for your front-end development needs:
Outline Your Hiring Objectives and Understand Your Needs
Not all front-end developers are alike. Some would have more experience with one group of languages and frameworks than others. Ideally, you should have a detailed map of what you expect the potential hire to do. Then, you can work your way back to creating a hiring description that meets those needs.
If you are looking for specific skills (libraries and frameworks, for example), achievements, or experiences, mention them clearly in the job description. Similarly, if you prefer a specific LATAM country (Argentina, for instance), discuss that as well.
For roles such as front-end developers, it is not uncommon to have a set of tests for the applicants to get a live demonstration of their skill set. For instance, when we hire developers for our clients, we put the shortlisted candidates through a rigorous testing process—and forward the profiles only when they fare better.
Optimizing Candidate Profile
Your very first interaction with your future front-end developer will be the job description. It is essential that this is well-written and it brings to light all of the things that you are looking for in a candidate. Keep in mind that this space is not only for you to showcase what you want but also to show potential employees what’s in it for them and why this is the job posting they should be most concerned about.
As a starting point, we suggest you include:
- A bit about company culture
- Some details about growth and career progression possibilities
- Defined benefits such as salary and leaves as well as any fringe benefits such as investment plans, medical coverage, insurance, etc.
This will set clear expectations with candidates and give them a better understanding of what they can expect.
This is when you need to provide details about what you are looking for to help candidates decide whether they are a good fit or not. In our experience, there is no way to eliminate irrelevant applications completely, but setting clear requirements certainly helps filter the pool.
Some things we highly suggest you highlight in your requirements include:
- A preferred level of education
- Some specific certifications or qualifications
- A specific minimum amount of experience
- Particular things you would like to see in a portfolio
- Technical skills
- Soft skills
- Demonstrated fluency and/or familiarity with specific tools
Explore Your Recruitment Channels for the LATAM Region
With an image of your ideal candidate laid out, it’s time to figure out where such a candidate can be found. The better the positioning of the job vacancy, the easier it is to find the right person.
The LATAM region is a large and diverse place offering a huge pool of candidates. This makes it that much more important to find the right recruitment channels. Some of the options you can explore include:
- Local job boards
- Local recruitment agencies (ideally those that specialize in tech talent recruitment. Hint: DevEngine)
- Job-search groups
- Freelance platforms
- Social platforms (primarily LinkedIn)
All of these channels will give you access to a lot of potential candidates. But note that doing it on your own has its own set of challenges. For example, relying on freelance platforms or LinkedIn means going through hundreds of unfiltered applications—it could take months, many rounds of interviews, and a bit of trial-and-error to get the front-end developer you need.
But with DevEngine? You get access to pre-vetted developers who are also assessed for their cultural integration.
Creating a Magnetic Offer to Attract the Best Talent
Irrespective of the mode of recruitment you choose, note that front-end developers are in high demand. Developers in the LATAM region offer a unique advantage to employers in North America, but to get the best talent, your offering needs to be on par with the competition. This is not necessarily the case with the local competition, but it must be something to entice the best in the league.
The first step to putting together a great compensation plan for your future developer is to look at what other companies are offering for a similar role.
Some of the main things that your job description could include details about:
- The overall compensation package, including salary, perks, and benefits
- The possibility of a long-term engagement, considering the career outlook in your company
- The company’s unique selling points and why an applicant should choose to work there (especially for a long-term position)
- The nature of the employment itself and how convenient it will be for the applicant to render services in this role for the company
Not being specific enough about what’s in it for the employee can limit how many quality applications you receive. You want to be as clear-cut about what you are offering as you are about your requirements for the role. This will help remove any misconceptions and prevent unrealistic expectations on both ends.
Onboarding and Integrating Staff
Onboarding is often overlooked, but it is one of the most important steps of the recruitment process. If not done rightly, even the best candidates may find that they are unable to perform in their role once hired.
It is essential you have a detailed onboarding process that takes the employee through orientation, training, and mentorship. For example, at DevEngine, we have a tailored onboarding process for new hires, which teaches them how to operate in the new environment. Our process includes pre-boarding, personalized introductions, role-specific custom training, performance feedback, and HR support. At the end of the process, the new hire is ready to get started with their work and maintain a workflow that aligns with the rest of the company.
In addition to this, consider having training periodically and one-on-one interactions with all employees, and especially new hires, every month to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Solutions to Common Hiring Challenges
Some of the main challenges that both employers and employees face are related to communication differences, remote work challenges, and cultural differences. This is why we suggest promoting transparency, honesty, and clarity throughout the hiring process.
It’s also a great idea to plan and prepare for these challenges beforehand. The primary benefit of hiring a front-end developer from LATAM is that these common problems can be minimized, and preparing for these problems will help smooth out the process even further.
We suggest clearly stating working hours, highlighting the main communication channels, providing clear SOPs for as many functions as possible, and having a live interview with the candidate to discuss their particular case individually. This is a great way for both parties to familiarize themselves with each other and better understand whether this can grow into a manageable and fruitful relationship.
Conclusion
Finding and hiring a front-end developer in LATAM can be a game-changer for your organization. The key is to methodically approach the task and integrate key tips and tricks highlighted in this article. With these techniques that the pros have tested, your company will be well on its way to making a new hire that will be perfectly in line with company needs and the broader organizational vision.
If you are considering hiring LATAM front-end developers, working with an experienced and reputable recruitment company will be a fantastic solution. Rather than having to figure out the whole process yourself, you can take advantage of a seasoned recruitment service that already has tested processes and systems in place to help you get the best talent for your company. Get in touch with DevEngine today to discuss your options.