According to our observations of the IT market, the demand for iOS developers remains consistently high, especially for specialists who can not just “code”, but create product solutions with high stability, performance and adaptation to the needs of the end user. iOS remains a key platform for many companies in the field of fintech, education and e-commerce, which require a high level of reliability and UX. Therefore, find a competent An iOS developer that meets all business expectations is not an easy task. In this case, we share our experience of successfully filling a Senior iOS developer vacancy in 20 days — taking into account a technical interview and agreements with the client.
Customer request
The client is a fintech company that is developing a mobile application for managing personal finances.
The main goal is to find an experienced iOS developer who can take responsibility for developing key modules for the native iOS application, integrating with internal APIs, and supporting the architecture in the long term.
Expectations from the candidate:
- Commercial development experience on Swift from 3 years old;
- In-depth knowledge UIkit, confident ownership SwiftUI (or willingness to switch to it);
- Understanding architectural patterns (MVC, MVVM, VIPER);
- Experience with the API (REST, GraphQL);
- Knowledge of principles automating assemblies et CI/CD;
- Ability to work in conjunction with designers, analysts and backend developers.
Difficulties encountered
- Competition for candidates. Many iOS developers on the market are already considering only offers from large product companies with a high level of compensation or a remote format. We have faced a number of refusals precisely for these reasons.
- Hybrid format. The client's team worked in the “3/2” format (office/remote), which automatically cut off candidates looking for a fully remote option.
- High code quality requirements. The company's technical lead required a “clean SWIFT code” using Unit tests and a competent architecture. We carefully checked the portfolio and GitHub candidates so as not to waste the client's time on inappropriate ones.
- Motivation. It was necessary to find a developer who would be really interested in working in fintech, rather than just “writing screens”.
Recruitment process
We used several channels to search for candidates to ensure broad market coverage
- Professional platforms: LinkedIn, Djinni, AmazingHiring
- Specialized IT channels on Telegram: IOS Jobs, IT Jobs Remote & Relocate
- GitHub and Open-source projects: were looking for developers participating in the iOS community
- Referral program: received several recommendations from candidates who have already been interviewed by us
We have built our selection on three key principles:
1. Clear communication with the client:
At the start, we clarified all the nuances: the stack, the level of flexibility in format, critical skills and project features. This allowed us to reduce the number of iterations and offer only relevant specialists.
2. High-quality screening:
We conducted more than 30 initial interviews, focusing not only on hard skills, but also on motivating candidates. Thirteen candidates were selected for transfer to the client's side.
3. Relying on analytics and market data:
Before starting an active search, we analyzed the current situation in the Android development market: the level of competition, the median salary, the availability of candidates with the right stack (especially Jetpack Compose), and preferences in terms of work format. This helped us to immediately adjust the recruitment strategy, make the client's offer competitive and select channels with the highest concentration of relevant specialists.
The result of our work
Within 20 days, we successfully completed the search for a candidate for the position of Senior iOS developer, organizing the selection process with maximum efficiency. The final candidate met all the requirements, namely:
- Experience: 4 years in commercial iOS development, last 2 years in the fintech sector
- Technology stack: Swift, SwiftUI, Combine, MVVM, REST API, Unit testing
- Additional competencies: experience with CI/CD, Bitrise, Push notifications, analytics
- Soft Skills: proactive, able to work in an Agile team, interested in product development
Additional achievements
- The client initially expected to find a developer in 1.5—2 months, but thanks to a clear process, we closed the position in 20 days
- The candidate accepted the offer without counteroffers due to a competent support process and motivation development
- The client was satisfied and has already given us a new Android developer vacancy
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