Offshore web developer or intern?

Web developer: offshore or intern?

Many companies need a full time web developer but can’t afford one. The two most common solutions are to recruit an intern or to look abroad to find a less expensive web developer. Let’s look closer at these options. Intern or offshore web developer?

Recruiting an intern: cheap and easy

If your company is based in Western Europe, in the USA or in South Africa, you know how easy it is to find a student eager to prove his/her potential. There are so many IT schools around, teaching different languages from ADA to PHP, through Ruby On Rails and C . But more than the language itself, what the school tries to teach is a logic, a way to think to be able to provide solutions to a technical problem. Once that logic acquired, the student will be able to learn any language and specialize himself/herself in the one he/she prefers… or the one they get an opportunity to work with. Because if all students are passionate by what they are studying, we all know that they have to follow the market and go with that they are proposed to work on. Most of the time, their first professional project will be their internship. During their internship, they will use what they have studied to learn the language you ask them to work on. You got it, they will learn during their internship. It does not mean they won’t be efficient. It just means they won’t be as efficient as a developer with already a couple of years experience in the technology you need. Concerning the cost, an intern web developer will cost your company between 500€ and 1500€ per month depending on how long time your work with him/her and on your country’s legislation. This is quite cheap and even an offshore developer might be more expensive.

Offshore web developer: efficient and flexible

Now, let’s look at what an offshore web developer can provide that an intern doesn’t. First of all, it is also quite easy to recruit a web developer in countries like India. There are so many of them, it makes the process a lot easier than recruiting in Europe or in the USA. However, you have to make sure that you find the good one. You don’t want a mercenary, looking for a new company every three months, if you need the same developer to work on your project for a year. Find the good partner and don’t hesitate to have a good look at the resumes they send you so that you can anticipate this situation. Once the good developer found, you will have the opportunity to work with someone who already has some experience and knows the language you need. Of course, this offshore web developer will have to learn about your project and your development constraints, but this will be a lot faster for him/her than for an intern simply learning a new job. An offshore developer will cost you between 1100€ and 2500€ per month depending on the technology and the experience you are looking for.
Because there are some many opportunities in India, it is very easy for a web developer to find a new project to work on. This makes offshore IT staffing services very flexible so don’t worry about signing a one year contract: if it’s not the good developer, you are not married with him/her and your partner will find a solution to find one that better suits your needs.

Time for you to take a decision. But remember, we are here to help you finding the best solution, so don’t hesitate to contact us!