This post was written by Howie Chan, Business Analyst at TechAlliance.
One of the most common problems mobile start-up companies face today is the difficulty of finding good developers. Particularly, London (Ontario) doesn’t seem to have a booming mobile community. So where can you find talent in the Forest City? Here are a few ideas:
Colleges: Fanshawe, Conestoga, Lambton
Colleges are an excellent source of new and eager talent. For example, colleges such as Fanshawe, have specific programs to meet the needs of a growing technology industry. Fanshawe has a Computer Programmer Analyst program, a Game Development – Advanced Programming graduate certificate, and an Internet Applications and Web Development program.
On top of all this, colleges need employers. Drop into a college’s career centre or speak to a co-op director to get you plugged in. You can also approach non-traditional recruitment channels through social networking, attending campus events, or sponsoring college clubs like Biz Inc. at Fanshawe.
Universities: Waterloo, Western, (and even Guelph and Laurier)
Universities traditionally spawn highly analytic and theory-oriented programmers. More recently, however, universities have branched into game and web development through minor degrees like Western’s Minor in Game Development.
Universities are also home to booming hipster-technology communities. You may find that some of your best programmers are enrolled in medical science or philosophy during the day.
Outsourcing: Third party development companies, Kijiji, offshoring
London has a growing web development community, but few of these companies specialize in mobile development. Most of these web development companies offer services for website-mobile optimization, but I haven’t come across any that can help you create a mobile app from the ground up.
Kijiji is a quick and dirty way to find a low-cost local developer. However, like most classifieds, Kijiji’s developers don’t provide quality assurance or have a responsibility to meet deadlines.
You can also outsource the task of development offshore. In order of least to most expensive, China, India, Eastern Europe, and even Israel are places to explore. You can find developers in these countries on websites such as Freelancer or Elance .
DIY
Another option, and an option that I think should always be considered, is learning to code on your own. There are hundreds of tools that are available to teach you how to program. Even then, a lot of code is already written and can be literally copied off the internet and integrated into your own mobile app (make sure to review the copyright clauses).
The hands-down best website that teaches you how to code is Codecademy. You can also watch video tutorials or chat on live-web boards like on the Google and Microsoft sponsored WebPlatform.org.
If you want to learn more about these channels or want to chat about how TechAlliance can help, shoot me an email at howie.chan@techalliance.ca.
