Hiring Remote Tech Talent: Overcoming the Challenges, Maximizing the Benefits

Today, I am speaking with Levin Wense, Co-Founder & Managing Director of MVP Match, which connects startups with top remote tech talent.

As the world continues to adapt to a more virtual work environment, the ability to find and retain high-quality remote tech talent has become increasingly crucial. 

We will explore the benefits and challenges of hiring remote tech talent and gain insights from Levin on effectively sourcing, interviewing, and retaining the best remote tech talent.

So, without further ado, let's begin the interview and hear what Levin says about this vital topic.

Tell Us About Yourself and Why You Created MVP Match

I'm Levin Wense, the co-founder and CEO of MVP Match, a top-tier tech talent marketplace launched in 2020. My background is in shaping early-stage tech startups. 

I held business development roles at Redi (mobile food ordering) and GoButler (AI-powered concierge services) before joining MVP Factory in 2017 as the first employee. 

Now, it's a well-established Berlin scaleup that designs and builds digital products for clients using agile teams of highly-skilled tech freelancers. 

Throughout my work, especially as VP for product & talent at MVP Factory, I've witnessed many companies struggle to build successful product teams – first, to identify the correct headcount and skill mix, and second, to find these people. 

It's a problem when great products don't come to market because the right team isn't there to execute, but it happens daily. 

On the other side of that coin are the talents themselves. They're trying to sift through and find suitable projects and roles, often landing unfulfilling jobs that don't support their professional growth. And traditional tech recruiting isn't working to close any of these gaps. 

There was a need for a new model of talent matching led by experts who really understand product building from both a client and talent perspective. So I co-founded MVP Match to do that. 

What Advantages Can Remote Talent Offer Compared to In-Person Talent?

In a nutshell: more and better opportunities for companies and talent. 

Many companies still need to adapt to the future of work. They are either resisting the change or waiting to see what happens. But the future is obvious: remote-first and agile. 

Smart companies are quickly moving in this direction or have already arrived. And they are landing the best talent because they are open to recruiting from any location.

For instance, our pool of 7,000+ senior-level tech talent is spread over 120 countries. They work in freelance and permanent roles for our clients across the EU and UK. 

These clients range from small scaleups to global enterprises. As long as the vetting and matching are done well, and projects are managed right, and there's no reason that talent, and even whole teams, can't be distributed anywhere. 

For talent, working remotely means a quality of life upgrade. It's the ability to grow your career, work on the most exciting and challenging projects, and live where / how you want.

These are the conditions that the best tech talent wants, and they don't need to compromise.

Can You Tell Us Some Common Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring Decentralized Teams and How They Can Avoid Them?

The most common mistake I see is one that affects all companies hiring teams: needing to know how to design a team for your project.

By that, I mean not starting with a clear view of the tasks, relationships, and processes you need to successfully get your project off the ground.

If you do that first, you should know what roles to hire for. (We often get called in to support the team design piece before the hiring piece.) 

How Do You Establish and Adjust Work Culture Through Team Augmentations?

We work with many companies that manage agile, fluid product teams. They augment their core teams with freelance talent depending on the project stage.

Here are a few key things they do to establish and keep a strong work culture. 

First, they have great project team leads. In addition to day-to-day task oversight, these leads make everyone feel valued and supported (regardless of employment status). 

Second, they have a solid onboarding process that introduces new team members quickly to people, expectations, tools, and procedures. 

Third, if they're hiring freelancers, they prefer experienced ones. This typically means talent who has worked at multiple companies on multiple project teams. 

People who know how to quickly embed in a team, communicate well, document their processes, etc. 

The ‘Great Resignation’ Indicates Employees Have the Upper Hand. Is the Current Market Downturn Shifting the Power Dynamics Back Towards Employers?

I believe we'll see some overall power shifting in 2023 in the job marketplace. This is because workers are less likely to change jobs in times of economic uncertainty.

Naturally, that gives employers more leverage over pay, benefits, and requirements, such as where employees work.

I also think employers will opt for more liquid workforce options, like freelancers, where they can flex up or down depending on their needs and financial constraints. 

However, I don't foresee a power shift in the employer's direction when it comes to tech hiring.

The recent layoffs in Big Tech grab headlines, but they represent only a tiny percentage of people working in the sector globally. 

As for senior-level tech talent – developers, engineers, designers, project managers – the demand from companies for both freelance and permanent roles is still fierce.

These people will continue to be able to command very competitive wages and work conditions, like remote-first.

What’s Your Take on ChatGPT and Its Involvement With R&D? Will It Replace Software Engineers, Make Their Work Better, or Won’t It Have Any Effect?

The use of AI in work is inevitable, not just for developers but for all kinds of knowledge workers. My take is that ChatGPT and similar AI models will make the software engineer's work better and more productive. 

How good you are at promoting an AI chatbot is quickly becoming a critical programming skill. Smart engineers will use it to do repetitive, tedious tasks faster, like writing, debugging, and explaining code snippets. 

What chatbots can't do – senior engineers know this – is understand the needs of the business and figure out scalable solutions to meet those needs. 

How Has Developer Demand Evolved Over the Last Year, and What Do You Predict From the Sector in 2023?

There have been some notable changes over the last 12 months. For one, the rise in popularity of Web3 is definitely visible and therefore drives the need for talent with experience in blockchain or crypto. 

Golang is also quickly becoming a standard favorite technology that is being sought after more frequently. The same can be said for Flutter, the go-to framework for mobile.

Security is becoming an integral part of development, shifting the requirement for tech talent. Projects that started three to four years ago needed security as a top priority.

Now, companies are specifically looking for talent that can plug that gap.

Q3 and Q4 of 2022 were unsettling for many industries – it's difficult to predict the outlook for 2023.

However, I do think that, given layoffs and economic uncertainty in the near future, the need for remote tech teams will continue to grow and likely at a record pace, especially in expanding sectors like climate tech.

Thank you for speaking with me today, Levin!