Hire a Product Engineer: 8 Best Sites to Hire a Product Developer
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Updated:
June 29, 2024
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Product engineers just might be the link you're missing to take your business to the next level. But the process of finding the right developer for your business can be daunting if you don't have the right tools.
Perhaps you’re looking for a product engineer who can:
If you know what freelance sites to look through, you have a much better chance of finding a candidate who will be a good fit for your business.
We've done the work of finding the eight best websites to use to hire a product engineer.
Product engineers should have a variety of skills such as:
Even if you have particular expectations or requirements for your developer, you'll likely be able to find some good candidates using the freelance websites we have found.
Each of these websites differs slightly in how they operate and in the level of expertise they can guarantee from their developers who use the site.
If you're looking for a product developer today, head to our review below of the 8 best freelancing sites to use to help your business find the right gig worker for the job.
One of the biggest reasons people hesitate to hire a product developer is because they are concerned about the quality of the work the freelancer will produce.
Toptal is one of the best websites to use for finding developers for any position in your business if you’re prioritizing quality.
Toptal has an extremely rigorous application process for all its developers. All individuals who are interested in being registered with the site as a freelancer have to pass multiple language quizzes, skill reviews, test projects, personality quizzes, and a live screening.
This intense acceptance process weeds out the developers who are not as skilled or not as committed as others who are available.
All product engineers using the site are also evaluated regularly. This evaluation process guarantees that interested businesses always have access to the best developers available.
Toptal will allow you to work with any developer for free for two weeks before deciding whether or not to continue working with them. If you decide you can find a better developer elsewhere, Toptal will assume the cost of the invoice.
Toptal is an excellent way for businesses to find highly-skilled product engineer on the fly.
OnlineJobs.ph takes your employee search to a global scale by outsourcing you to freelance product engineers currently available in the Philippines.
OnlineJobs.ph allows you to search through their database of available freelancers in Southeast Asia. You can also use the website's recruitment service, where they find a freelancer who they believe will be a good fit for you. The recruitment service is $500/month but searching for a freelancer by yourself is entirely free of cost.
The freelancers you'll find with this website will only cost a fraction of the cost of a freelancer from the United States. Though you may have to work around the distance by scheduling FaceTime calls and emails, you can still receive a worthwhile product from a talented freelance product engineer.
If the cost of the freelancer is one of your main concerns, OnlineJobs.ph is an excellent choice for you.
Arc.dev is a freelancing website that is specifically for freelancers located all over the country.
Similar to other high-quality freelance networks, Arc.dev requires all interested freelancers to undergo several technical and behavioral assessments. These Silicon-Valley-style tests will help measure how skilled, confident, and reliable each freelancer is before they are confirmed onto the site.
Arc.dev is also known for matching companies with appropriate freelancers in a short period. Within 72 hours, you can usually connect and begin remotely working with a freelance engineer who was registered with the site.
Since you know that every engineer included in Arc.dev's website has been vetted by Silicon-Valley standards, the search time for a good freelancer is significantly reduced.
If you want to guarantee that you will have a quality freelance product engineer in less than a week, Arc.dev is a good place to start your search.
GoLance is a freelance network that works a little bit differently than most others.
Rather than mindlessly searching through applications or paying a recruitment fee, GoLance allows you to create a specialized job description for the project you need help on. From there, freelancers are invited to apply for the position if they have the matching skills and experience.
Once you find a freelancer that you think is a good fit, you can set milestones through the website or agree on an hourly rate.
GoLance features detailed reporting tools so companies can keep track of how much they are spending and freelancers know how much they've earned at any given time.
GoLance is free to use and only collects a percentage of the commission paid to the freelancer.
If you're looking for a very specialized freelancer or have a complex project you need help on, GoLance might be a good place for you to see what type of response you get from potential freelancers on the market now.
If you're in a crunch and don't have time to waste sifting through freelancer applications, Lemon.io might be the best place for you to start your search.
Lemon.io is a database of freelancers that are specifically geared toward startup businesses. One of the best perks of the database is the free estimate of the services without an obligation to hire and the multiple tiers of vetting that takes place for all contractors.
Representatives working for Lemon.io know how important it is to get a job done on time, so Lemon.io offers special deals for rush projects and quick turnarounds. You can also almost guarantee that a freelancer will be assigned to you within 24 hours of inquiring on the website.
On average, there's about a 48-hour time period between making your first search on Lemon.io and getting started with the work you've assigned to your contracted freelancer.
Lemon.io is a bit more expensive to use than other freelancing websites, but the quick turnaround may be worth the cost for some startup businesses. You're likely to find a freelancer who can complete the job you need within just a couple of days using the Lemon.io tools.
With a screening and recruitment platform dedicated solely to engineers, Triplebyte guarantees that you can find a highly qualified engineer on their website with no problem.
The engineers on this freelance site are split among a variety of categories including data science, back-end development, machinery, or mobile developments. If you know exactly what type of engineer you're looking for, you should be able to find one online here.
Triplebyte is geared toward large tech companies. The engineers they vet and allow to be featured on their site are often easily able to work at large firms in Silicon Valley.
Because the quality of the featured freelancers is so high, the cost to use Triplebyte may also be a little too expensive for smaller or startup companies. To use a freelancer featured on Triplebyte, you should be prepared to pay up to 25% of the engineer's first-year salary.
Large companies with the financial means to meet Triplebyte's monetary obligations will likely find a very experienced and trustworthy engineer in no time at all. Smaller companies with less spending ability, on the other hand, may opt to look at a less expensive option.
As the largest freelance network currently on the web, Upwork is an excellent choice for finding a freelancer equipped in almost any subject or specialty.
If you use Upwork to find a product engineer, however, you may need to dedicate some time to the number of applications you'll be looking through. Though the Upwork employees try to filter out scam accounts, there are so many users that it can be impossible to vet through all of them.
The best way to find a freelance product engineer on Upwork is by creating a specialized job description that details exactly what you are looking for. From there, interested applicants can pitch to the job by supplying you with their resume and answering any additional questions you may add to the application.
The process of hiring a high-quality freelancer from Upwork is not an easy one. It will take significant time to vet through all applications and settle on a freelancer. Even then, there is no guarantee that the freelancer will get your work done promptly.
If you are in a crunch for time or quality of work, you should opt for a different method for finding a freelancer for your business.
Remote work is getting easier every day, especially with sites dedicated to improving the experience like Andela.
Engineers from all over the country are registered Andela freelancers only if they pass several tests. According to their website, Andela evaluates every engineer in relevance to an industry-validated framework and a behavioral and situational assessment.
These tests help guarantee that the freelancers you may want to hire can do the work you require and will be relatively easy to work with remotely.
Andela is a mostly online company. They do have at least one large facility in Kenya and several employees located throughout Africa. Because of this location change, the amount it costs to hire a freelance product engineer may vary greatly from what other freelance websites are quoting.
If you're okay with working remotely with your freelancer and are interested in hiring applicants who may otherwise be looked over, give Andela a try with a quick search on their website.
Searching for a freelancer online can quickly become a very frustrating experience.
Fortunately, it doesn't have to be difficult with so many websites that are willing to do the hard part for you.
You can now easily find a vetted and highly skilled freelance product engineer in little to no time at all. All you need is a good idea of what you're looking for and the amount of money you are willing to spend on the project or person.
