Hiring Developers in Ukraine: Recruitment Insights to Help you Build Your Remote Tech Team

Nearshore IT engagements allow businesses to fill in positions with strong tech talent at a reasonable cost. Staff augmentation vendors in Ukraine usually have in-house recruitment teams, and so do we at NCube, a software development outstaffing company. Here are some recruitment insights for those who want to weave Ukrainian developers into their development teams.

Where can I hire Ukrainian software engineers?

• LinkedIn

With nearly 95K out of 220 00 software engineers (according to the Ukraine region), this platform is considered to be one of the best recruitment channels. The only drawback of this channel is the stiff competition among recruiters, which makes recruiters push their search outside of it.

• Djinni

The best resource for an anonymous job search in the Ukrainian market. Candidates describe their experience and let companies send them vacancies. Great place to engage talent with various technical skills.

• Specialized developer websites

It’s easy to find developers using developer community websites. Except for the well-known GitHub, Ukrainian developers can be engaged through Dou.ua. With 150K users monthly, it’s one of the biggest communities for IT specialists.

• Channels in Telegram, Facebook

Particularly, private groups where engineers share their ideas and generally search for like-minded people. However, one needs to get an invitation from a member to access the group.

• Recruitment-specific tools

Amazing Hiring and X-Ray allow you to find and connect with developers and create a whole database of tech talent.

• Developer conferences and events

Although of a lower priority in the recruiter’s toolbox – you can meet the finest tech minds at events, even in the role of a speaker. Great place to meet seniors and domain experts.

• Tinder

A controversial but effective channel as proven by recruiters in Lviv, one of the biggest IT hubs in Ukraine. This city boasts a large number of IT specialists working in the city center, so it’s easy to target the audience. Recruiters often initiate communication in English to test the language proficiency from the get-go.

Which positions are the most difficult to fill?

Ukraine is a true repository of technology talent, so finding good developers for junior and middle-level developers will only take 1-2 weeks. However, when it comes to senior positions and domains like data science, AI, DevOps where the competition is stiff, it’s really tough to find an expert on short notice. Plus, the requirements for such positions are much higher, so it may take a few months.

• Easy: Trainee or Junior level, common tech stack like Java or Python, web or mobile developers, UX/UI designers.
• Difficult: Starting from senior+ level, DevOps or Cloud experts, Data Scientist, AI Architects.

How often do developers reject an offer?

Not too often. In Ukraine developers are indeed spoilt for choice – there is an ongoing competition among companies for tech minds. Some developers use the offers as a level for getting promoted in their current job. It’s important to identify and weed out those who are likely to act this way during the first stages of the recruitment process. Thus, the percentage of such is lower than one of those who reject the offer after working several weeks on the client’s project. The reasons vary – from failed expectations concerning the tech stack to not fitting the company’s culture.

What about employee retention?

In our experience, 2 years and longer, given that the developer’s career ambitions are sustained and they like the project. More often, the initial hires stay throughout the project. If a developer joined at the beginning, there is a 70% chance of them staying till the finish. There are also other factors that should be considered on the side of the vendor: office location, motivation, and generally keeping up with what other companies may offer.

What requirements complicate the candidate searching process?

• Time shifts with the USA. The geographic location leaves a small number of cross-over hours to be in synch with US teams, especially with teams from California. It’s practically impossible to set up a large team that would work early morning or night shifts.
• Languages proficiency. While most developers master English at a decent level, tech specialists with knowledge of other languages, be it German, French, or Japanese, are hard to come by.
• Working more than 8 hours per day. Ukrainian developers are not likely to take work home as they value the work-life balance.

What requirements don’t create speed bumps?

• Remote vs. office-based work. Ukrainians welcome home offices and will be glad to be a part of a remote-first culture. Many developers have rich experience working with freelance projects.
• Traveling. Business trips are on the wish list of the majority of developers in Ukraine. Therefore, onsite training and team visits are always welcomed.
• Minor time shifts. In our experience, developers don’t mind shifting the start of the working day to noon.
• Staying online all the time. Ukrainian developers, for the most part, treat the projects with a due sense of ownership and respond to messages after hours and on weekends.

In conclusion

We are hopeful that the information above will be useful for creating a remote technology team in Ukraine. If you face a challenge, let’s schedule a meeting with our recruitment team lead Maria who will gladly share some insights with you.