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May Ohiri
Software Development Expert
I’m a medical doctor who also loves to write (yeah, I know what you’re thinking already), but I’ve always been passionate about technology. I believe the key to creating greater technical knowledge is simplifying software development into concepts everyone can understand. When I’m not writing, I’m either playing video games or exploring the world through travel.
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Technical journals and magazines are chock full of headlines proclaiming the golden age of .NET developers and the dark age of hiring managers. It’s no secret that .NET developers are in short supply, given the increasing demand. But is there something else at play?
There are about 33,000 job listings on Indeed for .NET developers and over 27,000 openings on LinkedIn. According to Thomas Handcock, HR practice leader with Gartner, the convergence of demand across the tech industry places huge pressure on an already stressed talent pool. This frustrates hiring managers and makes CIOs want to tear their hair out while looking for qualified candidates.
Hiring offshore is one way organizations are increasingly addressing the shortage of .NET developers. Technology companies can quickly close skill gaps by casting their nets wider and at a lower cost.
But the question is, how do you hire the right offshore .NET developers while weeding out the bad ones? TurnKey has put together this guide to show what matters most in .NET technology and how to hire the best .NET developers quickly and effectively. Ready to get started? Let’s go!
Want to skip the reading and go straight to hiring an offshore .NET developer? We are the experts.
What Are the Qualities of a Talented .NET Expert?
Why Hiring Offshore .NET Developers Is Ideal For Startups
.NET is an open-source framework from Microsoft that comes with a wealth of tools and resources for building websites and mobile apps.
Here is the brief history of .NET.
In 2000, Microsoft released .NET, but it was only compatible with Windows, and developer tools like Visual Studio were prohibitively expensive. Microsoft prioritized their in-house developed software and hardware. All servers used Windows IIS, and all clients ran either winforms, WPF (after 3.0 was released), or the Windows command line.
But a true cross-platform framework, .NET core, was developed by Microsoft a decade later, after the company first began adopting open source techniques and methods from various platforms.
Many tools improved with .NET core, and made it much simpler to work on projects; moreover, the price of development tools and eco-systems dropped dramatically as well. For example, Visual Studio is now free for small teams or solo developers.
Microsoft then released Visual Studio Code, a highly capable code editor for all platforms, and the company’s online documentation also improved significantly and became much more user-friendly. The next release was then Azure DevOps, formerly known as Visual Studio Team Services, which is Microsoft’s hosted continuous integration and continuous delivery service (FYI it has a great user interface).
In summary, though .NET started life on shaky (or at least expensive) ground, the entire Microsoft stack and eco-system became more affordable, easier to use, faster, and more compatible.
The .NET framework refers to a set of interrelated frameworks that can be used to create software programs. Here are the main terms to know:
While it’s easy to make the case that a different language or framework would be preferable in certain circumstances, we’ve found that the combination of Visual Studio and .NET can tackle almost any problem.
If you are looking for a quick and simple explanation of .NET, here’s what you could say to your boss:
But if you need a longer explanation, these are the main pillars of . NET’s popularity:
Since the framework is already quite mature, it undergoes incremental improvements slower than other frameworks, giving your team’s code a longer shelf life.
By contrast, after the release of Python 3.x, users still faced compatibility issues that are rarely encountered in the .NET framework.
Opinionated code styling allows all of your developers to produce consistently formatted code without significantly increasing the time or effort required to do so. Once you have Visual Studio, you can do anything.
When working with other technologies, you may have to navigate several different open-source repositories, which can be a significant time commitment. (Like Maven, npm, pip, etc.)
The documentation provided by Microsoft is well-written and contributed to by experts. In fact, for three years in a row, .NET was ranked as the most popular framework on the Stack Overflow Developer Survey (2019, 2020, and 2021).
Complexity is the biggest issue in software engineering, and .NET is often the solution. Programming tools like an extended class library and language interoperability make it simpler and faster to create software.
The .NET framework is an extremely dependable and scalable platform because it protects its applications by letting administrators control who can access them. Backward compatibility has also been improved significantly in the .NET framework.
The machine code is obtained more quickly and smoothly with the help of the .NET just-in-time compiler, ensuring fast and smooth code execution.
Does .NET tick all of your boxes for the right framework? Now let us get you the top developers.
As we all likely know, nothing in life is perfect. Some of the specific challenges that .NET programmers face include:
Here are the key benefits of hiring offshore .NET developers from other countries.
Working with an offshore .NET development team saves money due to lower wage and tax rates in non-Western countries. Plus, you don’t have to spend money on things like an office (assuming you are all virtual), workers comp, American-style benefits, and more.
Thus, instead of spending a ton of money on setup and capital expenses, you can put those resources toward simply hiring the best development talent.
Working with an offshore .NET developer puts the product task at hand into their capable hands, which allows you to focus on other crucial software development tasks. Working in tandem with the project manager will ease the burden of managing and standardizing the production of your product while also helping your product organization stay focused on the most important tasks.
Hiring developers on the side is a great option for startups since it will strategically free up your onshore staff’s time and energy to focus on things that must be solved locally.
Companies that provide software development services offshore invest a lot of time and money into learning new technologies and honing their collective software development skills.
Working with a development team in another country provides access to cutting-edge development skills and the most recent software expertise, even for a small startup. You not only get access to experts who may be skilled in niche technology but also to top-notch protocols and best practices.
After settling on hiring an offshore development team, you can pick and choose which programmers, designers, and team leaders you want to work with. Additionally, you can alter the make-up of your offshore group at any time by adding or removing members as new learnings unfold or the business needs evolve or change. You have complete leeway to make the development process clearer and less fraught with difficulties when there is this much flexibility.
Coding quality by an offshore team has the potential to raise eyebrows in the best way. Your project’s quality and popularity have nothing to do with the country in which it is released. It all comes down to the people and the skill (plus your leadership, of course). Your offshore team will partner seamlessly with your in-house team because they are equally focused and driven and bring just as much (if not more!) experience working with various industries.
If you’re working with a dedicated offshore team, you can rest assured that they’ll give your project their undivided attention, ensuring the highest possible quality.
The top characteristics of a highly talented .NET developer include the following:
Below are some compelling arguments that convince many startups to hire .NET software development teams from abroad.
As mentioned previously, hiring local tech specialists in Western countries like the United States can be very costly, especially if you are looking for the best candidates.
When compared to domestic costs, offshoring development to countries like Ukraine and Brazil, where the cost of living is significantly lower than in the United States or Germany, can be extremely cost-effective. And to be sure, being in a different location has no bearing on the competence of the developers. Essentially, you can find the same level of talent—and, frequently, a superior level of niche knowledge—for less money.
Six months or more is a typical timeframe for a U.S-based company’s search for an onshore software development team. By contrast, one month is the average for hiring offshore talent.
You used to be limited by where you lived, but now, thanks to high-quality offshore .NET software development services, you can hire developers to work from anywhere in the world. Since it may be difficult to find qualified programmers in your immediate area, you may want to consider assembling a team of developers in another country.
Hiring a permanent team of onshore developers can be time-consuming, difficult, and costly. But it’s possible to hire offshore developers and stick to a tight schedule and budget.
Offshore development teams can be assembled and put to work in about a month, and – since they are fully dedicated to you – are meant to be the same long-term solution as hiring an onshore team.
Thus, you get all the upsides of hiring locally with no downsides!
Here are the main risks of offshoring .NET software development. It’s important to think about these potential problems before hiring an offshore software development team:
As a result of time zone differences, communication with offshore specialists may be difficult.
You’ll need to plan your communications carefully if you’re working with a team in another time zone. (And look at the bright side…if communication is clear and upfront, your offshore team can work while you sleep, giving you round-the-clock production.)
Cultural diversity is another important issue. Your offshore workers may have trouble communicating effectively due to language barriers and cultural context, or they may have a work style that doesn’t instantly vibe with how your in-house team works.
Different cultures may have unique standards and norms for communicating and collaborating effectively.
Want to get top .Net talent without any of these drawbacks? This is TurnKey’s specialty.
The location, rates, culture fit, and time zone differences are typical considerations for startups and high-growth companies when deciding where to offshore their software development efforts.
Because of these and other various factors, companies frequently hire .NET developers in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. However, it is up to the tech leader inside the company to decide the best channel to pursue, including:
Offshore partners help guide you through the process of building an offshore software development team and promise to steer you away from any potential pitfalls that crop up if you try to do this yourself.
But who you choose as a strategic partner is important; as a result, you should seriously consider the ratings, references, success stories, and video testimonials of any offshore company you’re considering working with. This data is available on their respective websites, LinkedIn profiles, and various rating services (such as Good firms, Manifest, Clutch, etc.).
Look for a company with a solid reputation like TurnKey—or just go ahead and hire us! We are well known for nurturing talented development teams that deliver high-quality software and for having the highest developer retention rate in the industry.
Another way to hire offshore .NET developers is to use local job boards like Indeed, Glassdoor, Careerbuilder, etc.
But finding the exact kind of developer you need through this methodology is challenging because top developers rarely seek employment or peruse random job boards.
They typically already have jobs with reputable companies where they contribute to important initiatives.
You can try to find a developer who will look at the carrot you’re dangling, but honestly, it’s just easier to work with a partner like TurnKey since we can much more easily and quickly get you the global talent you need.
Freelance marketplaces such as Fiverr and Upwork allow hiring .NET developers, independent contractors, and even outsourced programmers. Freelancing platforms use complex algorithms to find candidates who best match a client’s needs.
Each agency’s page includes a detailed profile of the company, client reviews, a portfolio of work, and a discussion of the agency’s expertise. Customers can rest easy knowing they are getting their money’s worth thanks to the platform’s ability to randomly take screenshots of the developer’s screen and track the number of times keys were pressed.
But this channel suffers from the same potholes as the local job boards above. Most developers worth a salt hate freelancing and thus aren’t on these platforms, to begin with. Great developers want to immerse themselves full-time in building a high-quality product and being part of a strong team, not randomly moving from one small project to another.
You’ve come to the absolute right place if you’re looking for a top-tier offshore .NET development team.
TurnKey’s time-tested process was developed and refined over many years of operation. We call it Yourshouring, and it’s way cooler than just offshoring. With TurnKey, you retain total control of your development team, and you have input into every step of the process.
We find, interview, and screen qualified .NET developers for your project using our extensive resources and industry expertise. And then we only choose those that are the best cultural fit for you too.
We also keep pricing transparent while carefully selecting your dedicated .NET software development team so you know exactly where your money goes. Working with TurnKey takes the stress out of building an offshore development team so you can just solely focus on building great software.
Ready to hire an All-Star .NET development team? We’ve got you covered.
Before hiring an offshore .NET development team, many factors are important to consider–hopefully, this guide helped highlight the most critical ones.
But your biggest takeaway should be that finding top .NET developers is almost impossible without going offshore; thus, you might as well do it most efficiently and effectively as possible.
The role of .NET developers is to write programs in .NET languages like C# or VB.NET. They work on improving, tweaking, and fixing pre-existing software. In addition to creating and maintaining software for the web, desktop, and mobile platforms, a .NET developer also offers technical support for those platforms.
Yes! .NET programmers are among the most in-demand of any job in software. This is the result of an incessant appetite for this skill set amongst software companies combined with a relative lack of new .NET developers.
Here are some of the most fundamental abilities a .NET developer should have before being considered for a position:
TurnKey Staffing provides information for general guidance only and does not offer legal, tax, or accounting advice. We encourage you to consult with professional advisors before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business or legal rights.
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