Hire Django developers: Freelancers vs agencies

14 May 2019

If you’re a business owner looking to hire Django developers remotely and aren’t sure which to choose — freelancers or a software development company — you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll discuss how to find and hire Django developers and how to differentiate a great developer from the rest. We’ll also outline the benefits and risks of working with freelancers and dedicated teams and conclude with some tips on how to outsource staffing.

Top sites to find and hire Django developers

Of course, you may be familiar with your local development companies, but the Python/Django community is spread across more than 150 countries. So how can you access this vast talent pool? That is possible with freelance marketplaces for Django development agencies and individual freelance Django developers. These platforms let you create a job listing or walk you through a questionnaire in order to match you with available Django developers. Some sites may require you to create an account; others may need your contact information so they can get in touch for more details.

We browsed the best places to find and hire remote Django developers and singled out the 10 most interesting.

Clutch

B2B businesses don’t usually choose a vendor without first validating that choice through a trusted third-party resource. For most businesses, Clutch is that trusted resource.

Clutch is a rating and reviews website that helps companies find the right software development provider. What sets it apart from other rating sites is its unique research methodology which takes into account client reviews, market presence, and ability to deliver. Clutch then ranks service providers and maps them on a Leaders Matrix based on these benchmarks.

Toptal

Toptal is a freelancing platform that connects businesses with financials, designers, and software developers. Before freelancers get accepted on Toptal, they go through the vetting process. The platform tests candidates for English proficiency, hard skills, and personality.

What’s interesting is that Toptal freelancers can’t apply for a project, they can only be assigned to it. Toptal’s staff finds a candidate with the right skills to complete the gig.

Django Jobs

Django Jobs is a Django job board for the US and EU markets. The platform is an effective means to find Django freelancers as well as part-time and full-time Django developers.

There are two plans you can go with to post jobs on Django Jobs: basic and premium. The basic plan allows you to publish listings for 45 days. The premium plan is great for those looking to reach more Django programmers. This plan allows you to publish listings for 90 days, get featured on djangoforum.com djangolinks.com, and freedjangohosting.com, and directly email job seekers who’ve joined the Django Jobs mailing list.

Upwork

Upwork, formerly known as Elance-oDesk, is an American freelancing marketplace connecting businesses with software development agencies and freelancers. To find a Django developer, you should post a job. Upwork then analyzes your needs and shortlists candidates. You review matches, evaluate bids, and interview your top picks to understand who’s the right fit. Once you’ve hired a freelancer or agency, you can exchange files and communicate via text, chat, and video ― all right on Upwork.

Scalable Path

Scalable Path is a US freelance marketplace with more than 6,000 software providers. Working with Scalable Path looks like the following:

You have a call with a Scalable Path consultant to discuss your exact needs and translate these needs into an effective job description.
Scalable Path staff screens and interviews candidates and sends you a shortlist of the best picks.
You select the best candidates and interview them to find the right fit.

PeoplePerHour

Founded in 2007, PeoplePerHour has already connected more than 1 million businesses with service providers. PeoplePerHour is an online community of freelancers that helps mainly small businesses find affordable talent to work on specific projects as well as perform small tasks. Keep in mind that you contact, vet, and interview candidates yourself when you hire on PeoplePerHour.

Gun.io

Whether you need a Django developer for a three-hour task or a dedicated Django team, Gun.io is a great place to go. To start hiring, you have to create an account and craft your company profile and job post. When candidates apply, you get notified. You then review applicant profiles and narrow down the number of candidates. Once you’ve chosen the best candidates, you move to interviews.

Gun.io charges businesses only when they book time with a freelancer.

CyberCoders

With CyberCoders, a recruiting website, you get access to over 40 million candidates across different industries like software development, engineering, finance and accounting, and healthcare. The platform doesn’t charge you until you hire a candidate.

To hire a Django programmer on CyberCoders, you need to indicate your name, company, industry, website, email, phone, and positions you’d like to fill. Once you’re done with this, the platform pre-screens candidates and sends you the best matches so you can interview them and find the right fit.

How to differentiate a great Django developer from the rest

Once you get replies and matches to your job post, you need to choose a reliable programmer to hand off your project to. Things you should be looking at include:

Portfolio of Django-related projects
Feedback from previous clients
Technical skills and soft skills

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Source: dribbble.com by Ico

Portfolio of Django-related projects

A portfolio says a lot about a developer’s experience and technical proficiency. It allows you to see what types of projects they’ve worked on and whether they have the skills you’re after. If a developer has already built a project similar to yours, they can probably deliver for you as well.

Generally, freelance websites allow you to view a developer’s portfolio on their profile. Software development agencies usually have a projects page on their website where they show off what they’ve built. In case studies, companies outline product features, technologies and tools used, and problems encountered during development.

Real feedback from previous clients

Another important factor in selecting the best developers is feedback from previous clients. Get to know whether a company or a freelance developer met the expectations of past clients in terms of development, collaboration, and beyond.

Toptal shows feedback and ratings from previous clients on a developer’s profile. Upwork shows work history along with client reviews. Additionally, Upwork differentiates top freelancers from the rest by giving top-rated status to those whose job success score is 90% or above. Clutch collects client testimonials for every Clutch-registered company. PeoplePerHour shows client feedback along with job descriptions.

Technical proficiency and soft skills

Pay special attention to a developer’s technical skills. These are some of the must-have Django developer skills:

Python. Django is written in Python, and your candidate should have a solid knowledge of this programming language and follow object-oriented programming (OOP) principles. The basic ideas behind Python and OOP are classes and objects.
Django. There’s hardly a project that Python/Django developers write from scratch due to the availability of Python frameworks. Since your project will be powered by the Django framework, your developer should know Django and be passionate about it.
Object-relational mapper. Django connects applications to databases through an object-relational mapper (ORM). It’s easier to connect an application to a database through an ORM than through SQL.
Multi-process architecture. The ability to correctly write and manage threads and processes is key to developing high-performance applications.
RESTful APIs.Understanding how to use RESTful APIs is necessary to integrate your application with other components.
Python applications. A Python developer should know how to package code for release and deployment.

Apart from technical skills, good Django & Python programmers should have certain soft skills. You can evaluate a candidate’s soft skills during an interview or by asking their previous clients.

At Globaldev, we consider these the most important soft skills for software developers:

Communication. Whoever you choose― whether a freelancer or an outsourced development team ― look for great communication skills. Software developers don’t spend all their time programming. They should be able to discuss the product vision, ideas, and technical details clearly in writing and verbally. Poor communication can be the cause of ineffective development, bad code, and a product that doesn’t live up to your expectations.
Motivation. The secret of high-quality products isn’t only talented coders. Developers should be enthusiastic and dedicated to their project development.
Responsibility and time management. Developers should be able to manage their time, prioritize tasks, and meet your product timeline.
Problem-solving. Developers should be able to make critical decisions and find solutions to problems.

Interviewing Django developers

Once you’ve selected the best candidates for your Python/Django position, it’s time for an interview, either in person or by video. During an interview, you should make sure a freelance developer or software development agency has the technical and soft skills required to make your project a reality.

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Source: dribbble.com by Mila Spasova

To find a Django developer that suits your project, you need to base your technical questions on your project requirements. Include theoretical as well as practical questions. This will help you see a candidate’s actual level of technical proficiency and whether they’re ready to do real-world tasks.

Benefits and risks of hiring a Django agency

It’s important to consider the pros and cons of hiring a freelancer versus an agency to better understand who’s right for you. We’ll start with the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing to an agency.

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Source: dribbble.com by Ben Lueders

Advantages of hiring an agency

Long-term collaboration. Your cooperation with a software development team isn’t limited to development. You can work together for continuous support, updates, bug fixes, and scaling.
Within a dedicated team, a product manager creates a timeline for product development, breaks down tasks, assigns roles, and makes sure everything goes as planned. Therefore, you can speed up the project workflow and get on-time delivery. In addition, a product manager handles regular communication between you and the team so you can stay updated on the progress. There are great collaboration software development agencies use to make communication smooth and easy. At Globaldev, we use Skype, Slack, Hangouts, and email.
If you’re new to software development, it can be difficult to manage the scope of your product. An agency can help you define your project requirements.
Get a full cycle of services including design, development, quality assurance, and deployment. An agency can also analyze and evaluate your business idea.
A chief operating officer (COO) can create a team based on your specific business needs so you get developers with the most relevant expertise.

Disadvantages of hiring an agency

Generally, you pay more for your product development if you hire a software development company. Yet agency rates vary greatly depending on the region. A lot of business owners decide to work with companies in Eastern Europe since countries such as Ukraine and Poland are known for their low-cost yet high-quality development.

If you decide to go with an agency or company, you need a detailed guide that can help you choose one company out of many.

Benefits and risks of hiring a Django freelance developer

To get a full picture, we should also consider some positives and negatives of outsourcing your development to a freelancer.

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Source: dribbble.com by Maggy Cailloux

Advantages of hiring a freelancer

A freelancer doesn’t have specific operating hours, so they can build a flexible schedule that suits your needs.
Usually, you’ll pay a freelancer less than a development company for the same job.
You’re likely to find a specialist who has the expertise required for one specific task and has done a lot of projects similar to yours.
Thanks to relevant matching and rating systems on freelance platforms, a good freelance developer isn’t difficult to find.

Disadvantages of hiring a freelancer

There's no guarantee that the freelancer will do their job fairly unless the freelance platform offers some kind of time tracking tools.
Freelancers generally collaborate on a short-term basis. Usually, you hire a freelancer for a limited time, and they may not be available when you need them later on.
If you need anyone else on your team alongside a Django developer, you’ll have to find them by yourself.
You need to manage your product development on your own.

Infographic: 7 differences between freelancers and agencies as Django developers:

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Tips from Globaldev: How to make your Django hiring process a success, or what to do as a client

As we’ve already screened, interviewed, and hired lots of Django developers, we’d like to share some useful tips on how to make the right hire:

Take your time. Don’t rush just to fill your Django position. Search carefully and remember that the wrong hire can be a costly mistake.
Set a clear goal. When hiring, it’s important to clearly realize your objectives for development. What do you expect your freelancer or dedicated team to achieve? The clearer the goals you outline, the more suited your hire will be.
Be realistic. Have down-to-earth expectations regarding the amount of work developers can do, deadlines, and money.

Summary: A Django freelance developer or an agency

Check out some main requirements for projects to make a final decision on whether a freelance developer or an agency is right for you.

Are you interested in hiring Django developers to extend your team? Learn about our staff augmentation services.

If you have any questions on how to hire freelancers or dedicated teams, or if you want a free consultation from Globaldev, shoot us a message.