How to hire nearshore developers: scorecard to day 90

# How to hire nearshore developers: scorecard to day 90

What should you decide before interviewing Latin American developers?

Write down what the hire will own, how you will assess it, and who can approve the offer. Set those terms before reviewing profiles.

For an existing engineering team, start with an actual piece of work. "Own the billing API and reduce failed payment retries" gives interviewers something to test. "Strong backend developer" leaves each interviewer to invent a different role.

Use the same hiring standard you would use for a local teammate. Add explicit checks for remote work, shared hours, and the employment arrangement.

Build a scorecard from the work

Keep the scorecard short enough that interviewers can complete it after each conversation. The following is a suggested template, not a provider standard.

For each criterion, record "meets," "does not meet," or "needs more evidence." Add the example that supports the rating. A score without a note gives the hiring manager little to review.

Separate requirements from preferences. Experience maintaining a production service may be required. Experience with your exact test runner may be teachable. Decide which is which before a strong candidate reaches the final round.

Avoid using a combined score to excuse a failed requirement. If the role needs a regular customer call, availability for that call is a separate decision.

Define seniority through decisions the hire must make. A senior developer might need to plan a migration and explain how to reverse it. A less experienced hire might implement a scoped change with review. Use those expectations to choose the exercise and the support you can provide.

Before the first interview, have the interviewers score the same sample answer. Discuss where their ratings differ. If one person expects system design and another expects syntax recall, resolve that disagreement before candidates enter the process.

Give each interview a distinct job

Use a focused sequence with a named owner for each step:

1. Confirm the role, pay expectations, schedule, and interest.
2. Assess technical work through a relevant exercise and discussion.
3. Review ownership, team communication, and unresolved questions.
4. Hold a decision meeting using the completed scorecards.

Combine steps when the same interviewer can cover them well. Add another conversation only when it will answer a specific unresolved question.

Tell candidates what each step covers and when they should expect a decision. Reserve interview slots before requesting a shortlist. Name a backup approver if the hiring manager will be away.

For a nearshore IT role, define whether the person will join your product team, handle support work, or own infrastructure. Those jobs need different evidence. A product engineer's feature demo will not answer every question about incident response.

Use an exercise that resembles the job

For a backend role, ask the candidate to review a small API change with a failing test. For a frontend role, use a screen with an accessibility defect and an unclear loading state.

Provide enough context to make a reasonable decision. Explain the expected time commitment, permitted tools, and what you will assess. Use synthetic data. Avoid asking candidates to complete unpaid production work.

If AI tools are allowed, assess how the candidate checks their output. Ask them to explain the code, identify a weak assumption, and change the solution when a requirement shifts.

Keep the task bounded. Give candidates a working setup and explain whether finishing every part is expected. A broken environment can consume the interview without showing how someone reasons about the job.

During the exercise, record the help you gave. A candidate who solved a defect after a direct hint showed different evidence from someone who found it independently. Ask the same core follow-up questions so interviewers can compare the results fairly.

End with a written handoff. Can another engineer understand what changed, what remains uncertain, and how to test it? That artifact gives you evidence beyond the interview conversation.

What does the data say about hiring speed and overlap?

Treat hiring speed as several separate milestones. Track the date the role is approved, the first qualified shortlist, offer acceptance, and the first working day.

SHRM's 2025 recruiting benchmark puts median time to fill at roughly a month and a half for executive and nonexecutive positions. Its definition runs from job requisition to offer acceptance. This is a broad hiring benchmark, not a forecast for your developer search. SHRM's 2025 recruiting findings

A provider's shortlist promise measures a different step. Before comparing numbers, ask what starts the clock and what stops it. Also ask whether the stated period includes your interviews.

Track delays your team can resolve

Keep a simple record for each candidate:

Use this record to find where candidates wait. If technical feedback sits with an interviewer, changing the sourcing partner will not fix that delay.

Ask for an estimated start date separately from an estimated hiring date. A candidate's notice period and your access approvals belong in that discussion.

When reviewing a completed search, keep rejected offers in the record. Ask why candidates declined and whether the role changed during interviews. A fast shortlist followed by repeated offer declines calls for a review of pay, scope, or expectations.

Confirm overlap by city and season

Nearshore describes geographic proximity. For hiring, the useful question is whether the person can work with your team when the work requires it.

Mexico City stays at UTC-6 without seasonal clock changes. Tijuana follows US daylight saving time. A country name alone does not settle the schedule. IANA North America time zone data

Bogotá stays at UTC-5, while Buenos Aires and São Paulo stay at UTC-3. These cities do not change their clocks seasonally. A US team's clock changes can still shift the difference between offices. IANA South America time zone data

Write the expected schedule in the offer discussion. Include the candidate's city, your team's time zone, required meetings, and any flexibility outside shared hours.

Test the arrangement against a normal week. Check when code reviews happen and when product decisions need a live discussion. A shared calendar should show enough time for those tasks without making every working hour a meeting.

Treat on-call coverage as a separate requirement. Ask about the rotation and response expectations before making an offer. A daytime schedule does not settle overnight support.

How do the hiring models change your process?

Choose the model based on the work you need someone else to handle. Separate finding the person from employing them and managing their work.

Use the table below to structure provider conversations. Confirm the actual duties in the agreement.

Match the interview to the responsibility

If you will manage the developer each day, keep technical assessment and the final hiring decision with your team. Ask the provider for screening evidence that helps you use interview time well.

If you are buying a project, assess the delivery plan as well as the people. Define acceptance criteria, review access, and handover duties. Clarify whether you can interview the engineers who will do the work.

For an EOR arrangement, decide how the finalist reaches that stage. If your team still needs a shortlist, assign that task explicitly.

Before signing any agreement, ask who handles a performance concern, a leave request, and the end of an engagement. Use a concrete scenario so the answer identifies a person and a process.

Compare the full scope of the quote

Ask for a written quote tied to the role, seniority, location, and agreed schedule. Separate recurring charges from setup costs and possible charges when the arrangement ends.

Confirm how equipment, leave, currency changes, and any required benefits affect the bill. Have the appropriate employment adviser review the proposed arrangement before work starts.

Request a sample invoice and compare it with the agreement. Ask what could change the amount and who must approve that change. Give finance the same assumptions used by the hiring manager, including the expected start date.

Do not choose a model solely because its headline fee looks smaller. Compare the tasks included and the tasks your own team must still perform.

What should you ask a provider before choosing a finalist?

Ask questions that produce evidence you can use in a hiring decision. "We vet everyone" needs a follow-up about what was assessed and what the result showed.

Request evidence behind the shortlist

For each candidate, ask:

• Which scorecard requirements did the screening test?
• What technical work did the candidate complete or explain?
• What concerns remain for our interview?
• Has the candidate agreed to the proposed schedule and pay expectations?
• Who checked availability and the possible start date?
• What information can we review with the candidate's consent?

Keep a distinction between a provider's screening result and your own assessment. If the provider checked general coding ability, use your interview to test the work your role requires.

Ask how the provider handles a rejected shortlist. Give specific feedback such as "needs experience diagnosing production database issues." "More senior" leaves too much room for interpretation.

This is also the point to discuss a role with Opus. This site is an Opus-owned reference; recommendations are editorial.

Talk to Opus about a role.

Make the decision from recorded evidence

Have interviewers submit feedback before the group discussion. Ask each person to distinguish observed behavior from inference.

"Found the missing authorization check and wrote a regression test" describes evidence. "Seems experienced" does not explain what the candidate can do.

When interviewers disagree, identify the disputed requirement. Review the exercise or ask one focused follow-up question. Avoid sending the candidate through another full round to resolve an internal disagreement.

Record the reason for the final decision. That note should connect the role's requirements to what the candidate showed.

Before issuing the offer, repeat the agreed scope to the finalist. Discuss who sets priorities, what support is available, and how performance will be reviewed. Give the candidate room to flag a mismatch before either side commits.

Prepare the first 90 days before the offer

Use the plan below as a starting template. Set goals that fit the role and the current state of your product. These are proposed checkpoints, not promised productivity targets.

Give the first task a clear stopping point. Avoid making a new hire learn an unfamiliar codebase through an urgent production incident.

Choose a buddy who has time to answer questions. Explain where to ask for help and when to escalate a blocker. Show the developer how your team reviews code and approves releases.

Before day one, test the access path with the people who approve it. Assign an owner to each pending account. Provide only the permissions needed for the first task, then expand access as the role requires.

During the first month, ask the developer to trace a request through the system and explain it to a teammate. Use the discussion to find confusing documentation. Pair that learning with a small change that can reach production through the normal review process.

For the next phase, choose work with a real dependency, such as a product decision or another team's API. Observe whether the developer spots the dependency and asks for help early. Make sure the manager can resolve blockers that sit outside the hire's control.

At each checkpoint, review work examples with the hire. Discuss code quality, judgment, communication, and follow-through. Avoid treating commit counts or time online as substitutes for that review.

If progress is slow, identify the cause. Missing permissions, delayed reviews, and shifting requirements need different responses from a skill gap.

Write down any change to the plan. If the project changes halfway through onboarding, update the goals before judging performance against them. End the final review with an agreed area of ownership and the support the developer still needs.

Where does Opus fit in this hiring process?

Opus reports: "Opus delivers 3 vetted candidates in 5 days." Opus reports about 14 days from brief received to hired, not first day worked; the reporting period and calculation are not published. Agree on the first working day separately. Opus hiring process

Use those milestones to plan interview availability. Ask how they apply to your role's stack, seniority, and schedule before setting an internal deadline.

Opus reports: "Every candidate passes an 8-layer vetting process." It also states: "Every Opus placement completes a 6-module internal AI certification before day one." Ask which assessment results address your scorecard and what your team should still test. Opus hiring process

The client chooses the finalist and manages day-to-day work. Keep a named engineering manager responsible for task scope, code review, and feedback. Include that manager in the hiring decision. Opus hiring process

Check the price and replacement terms

Opus charges one flat monthly rate per hire. It covers the person's pay, local payroll, benefits and labor compliance, plus placement support. There is no separate recruiting fee. The rate depends on role, seniority and location. Opus pricing

Published dollar rates: Not published. Ask for a written quote for the role you intend to fill. Opus pricing

Opus states: "Every placement carries a lifetime replacement guarantee with no cap and no time limit." Ask how to start a replacement search and how the handover would work for your team. Opus replacement guarantee

Bring the role scorecard, approved budget, required hours, and proposed start date to the conversation. Name the person who will interview candidates and the manager who will own the first 90 days.

Talk to Opus about a role.

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