Hiring an Intern Vs. Hiring a Full-time Developer

Aleksandra M. -

As you can see from our landing page, we are a small development team. However, what you don't know is that we have had experience with hiring know-it-all and still-in-college developers. Here's our story on hiring an intern vs. hiring a full-time developer.

Hiring an intern

We have always admired intern's willingness to work hard and prove that he/she deserved to be here. Having an intern can benefit the organization in so many ways. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

Let's start with the good news first. An intern is:

  • willing to learn more,
  • committed to doing the most,
  • a potential who can turn into a great developer,
  • respecting authority,
  • questioning how things are done,
  • someone you can rely on finishing a task you have trouble with.

Let us explain all of the pros.

You were an intern once, you remember how it goes. Entering into a working environment is a huge deal for an intern. He/she is given a chance to demonstrate the fresh-off-college knowledge and finally use it.

One of the biggest pros is their proactive attitude. If the intern is brave enough, he/she is going to question how the things are done. Dear reader, don't panic, this is a good thing! Sometimes the company processes are not as efficient they should be and only someone from "the outside" can spot it. However, don't let him/her get cocky. Everyone needs boundaries.

On the other hand, there is a couple of cons:

  • not being able to work full-time,
  • not having enough experience.

Not being able to work full-time is an obvious drawback. What you should be worried about is the lack of experience. You can never expect intern's code to be as polished as a developer with 5 years of experience would do. And that's OK only if you have time to guide and teach an intern.

For Kolosek, the best thing about hiring an intern is having to mentor someone who can potentially become a great developer. Interns need experience and they are willing to learn. If you have the time, this is a win-win situation.

Current score: Hiring an intern vs. hiring a full-time developer - 1:0.

Hiring a full-time developer

Hiring a professional developer is great. It's just great. No one can argue with that. So, we'll get straight to the pros and cons.

Pros:

  • a quality developer with knowledge and (much needed) experience,
  • almost perfect code,
  • independent.

Cons:

  • more costs.

Pros are obvious. Having a developer who is independent and knows how to write a great code is a must.

On the other hand, the company should pay attention to costs. And this is the only con we have for you.

Current score: Hiring an intern vs. hiring a full-time developer - 1:2. Two points for experience, which plays an important part in the professional skills department.

Whom to hire?

Battle called hiring an intern vs. hiring a full-time developer has come to an end.

From what you have read so far, you probably guess that our answer is to hire a full-time developer. But we say hire them both! Hire an intern and an experienced developer.

When we were first starting out, we stuck to one rule - hire a good developer, that is willing to make progress.

In our team, you can find experienced and not so experienced developers. However, if you are first starting the business, be sure to have up to 3 full-time developers before hiring an intern. This way, all employees can share responsibilities for him/her.

And remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Make sure there is no weakest link with teamwork.

Thank you for coming this far in the text, we appreciate you reading the post all the way to the end! We hope you learned something new today. :) Until next time!