TO FIND ANDROID DEVELOPERS FOR A CYBERPUNK NAVIGATION SYSTEM
Our client was developing an AR navigator for automobiles. This is a technology from the future: a holographic navigation system that creates augmented reality for drivers and passengers. The driver sees all the necessary indicators on the windshield, and it makes driving safer and easier.
The company trusted us with two Android developers positions for its mobile app.
Our client had a high-tech product, and they needed people who were experienced with teamwork on a complex project. But among mobile developers, there are quite a lot of specialists who don’t go deep into the technology and work on a fairly primitive level. Folk like this might meet the formal requirements of the job, but be a lost cause for us in reality.
We had to reject them at the selection stage and choose only those who were really able to work such a technologically cutting-edge application.
DETAILED INTERVIEW AND EXPERTISE EVALUATION
The project was fascinating, and Android developers are popular — so we found over 125 candidates.
To evaluate their skill level, we skyped each of them. You learn more about a specialist in a tete-a-tete rather than just texting. First of all, we were interested in:
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What kind of apps the candidate could develop? We highlighted those who worked with complicated things like e-wallets or job hunting services;
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Where did one work? We were looking for those who were a part of a powerful team. No freelancers — that was our client’s rule.
If a person made it to this point, we were on our way to evaluating their technical expertise:
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Which framework would they use? If candidates only knew a couple of unpopular frameworks, they were off the table. Were you familiar with Dagger, Retrofit, Picasso and a dozen of others? Good job, kid, you made it further
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Which frameworks would one chose for different projects? Why those particular ones? Based on the answer we could understand whether the candidate actually knew the difference and could justify their choice.
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Which architecture approach would one use in the app and why?
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What about C++? How does the backend work?
After that we were onto the soft skills: we simulated hypothetical situations and observed their reactions and solutions. The interviews often took us up to two hours. But what is time compared to a detailed profile of each and every suitable developer?
Based on this scheme, we eliminated 120 people.
TWO OUT OF FIVE — A GOOD NUMBER FOR A BOLD PROJECT
Out of 12 candidates we chose only five, and two out of them got an offer. The final conversion rate was 40%. We found the best of the best and saved our client a lot of time by taking over the initial selection process.
After such a successful first impression, the company gave us the rest of their positions: JavaScript devs, C++ devs, UI/UX designers. We’re still working together searching for great specialists for this client.