How to Find Solana Developers for Hire and Soar Your Blockchain Business

In May, Solana NTFs beat Ethereum’s, generating around $24.3 million in 24 hours. It’s called “Ethereum’s Killer” for a reason, then.

Solana’s popularity is growing in the blockchain world due to its speed, fees, decentralization, and the multitude of apps you can build there for your business. Well, maybe not you but a skilled dev you’re going to get for your team.

In this guide, we at ProCoders gathered our hiring knowledge and rich experience to help you hire a Solana developer that will not disappoint. We’ll let you peek behind the curtains of the job’s specifications and costs and give you some actionable recommendations on completing the hire successfully. Just like we do it most of the time.

Key takeaways:

• Solana is one of the top blockchain choices due to its diversity, speed, and fees.
• To hire the best Solana developers, ensure they have experience working with Rust, C, and C++ programming languages and know Solana frameworks.
• The salaries reach $100+ on average, but there’s a range.
• You can use several approaches on how to find and hire Solana engineers; each has pros and potential cons
• Choosing a good developer doesn’t mean hiring a matching one for your company

Reasons to Choose Solana for Blockchain Development

Solana has multiple benefits, including its basis on Proof of History (PoH) to establish the time and order of events. It’s quite universal when it comes to blockchain development. You can employ it for:

• Cryptocurrency – you can launch tokens with Solana, both native ones for apps and stand-alone cryptocurrencies.
• NFT – minting NFTs using Solana is much cheaper than using Ethereum, for example, which can cost you $100.
• Smart contracts – using Solana, your contracts are processed much faster; plus, you can transfer Ethereum contracts to Solana easily due to unique compliers the latter has developed.
• Digital business solutions – you can use Solana to build a variety of corporate apps, from e-medical records to online banking.
• DeFi application development – Decentralized applications for finances are a trend nowadays due to their security and reliability. Access to financial assets, loans, insurance, etc. becomes easier and cheaper due to the lower fees.
• and more.

Moreover, the Solana blockchain offers:

• Speed – the default speed is 65,000 TPS (transactions per second). But Solana’s team aims to max out the speed at 710,000 TPS with modern hardware.
• Lower fees – the average Solana fee per transaction is $0.00025 but is subject to change. This is achieved due to the higher block time and size (0.4 seconds and 20K transactions accordingly). Ethereum has 13 seconds and 70 transactions, so the difference is clear.
• Easier development – Solana operates on Rust programming language. It was one of the most popular among 65,000 programmers surveyed by Stack Overflow in 2020. According to the survey, 86.1% would use it in 2021 and on.

You can get all of these benefits for your app, but only if you hire the right Solana developer. They need to have certain skills and experience, and it may be complicated to evaluate them yourself.

Skills and Tech Experience to Note When Looking for Solana Developers

Solana can help you make a multitude of projects involving crypto, NFTs, Web3, etc. But not every specialist will be right for the job. When looking to hire a Solana development team, we at ProCoders always make sure everyone on the team has the following technical skills and experience:

• Rust.
  Rust is the main language used to create smart contracts. Rust was built for better performance and safety of the apps and libraries based on it. This skill has to be mentioned as one of the first in the resume you receive if you want to hire the right Solana developer.
• C and C++.
  This may sound like an additional skill, but it can come in handy as Solana supports C and C++ writing. When it comes to finding proper Solana developers, you should look for someone acquainted with both.

• Frameworks.
  Both general front-end frameworks and the ones specific for Solana are a must for SOL developers for hire. If a candidate states they can build full-stack, it means they know not only the blockchain languages but are also knowledgeable in front-end frameworks such as React.
  
  And to create smart contracts using Solana, a pro will need separate frameworks like Anchor. It makes development much easier and faster due to the specific toolset, including IDL specification, TypeScript package, CLI, and more.
• Solana dev tools.
  As you find Solana devs for hire, make sure they are fluent in niche development tools. For example, experience working with Sealevel that’s responsible for processing multiple parallel smart contracts counts here.

Hire Solana experts wisely, based not only on their spoken knowledge but practical experience as well.

These skills and experience ensure you’ve found great Solana engineers. But there’s more to know, such as where to find the best talent, how to choose the perfect match for your business, and more.

Where to Find Solana Talents for Your Startup

Now that we know what skills your candidates should have, let’s see how and where to hire Solana developers. There are several services you can use, depending on your budget, the desired model of collaboration, etc.

• Job boards – you can look to hire a Solana dev team on job boards such as Solana Foundation Job Board. You can either look for people who posted they were looking for the job or create a post yourself and wait for the applicants to contact you. This may take a while, though, due to the demand for top-notch specialists. Besides, there’s no guarantee you’ll get a decent application on day 1. You’ll have to check every candidate’s skills yourself. That’s a lot of time, and time is money, as we all know. Not to mention that you may end up with no qualified specialists at the end of the search.
• Social media – no joke, there are many Solana developers on Twitter. You can follow specific hashtags and search through profiles of professionals you find there. This doesn’t sound very reliable, as you don’t know how long it’s going to take until you hire Solana developers.
• Freelance platforms – a quick and cheap way of hiring Solana experts for project work. You can do it through Upwork, for example. You don’t need to hire them as in-house specialists, which means there are no expenses on insurance, etc. However, freelancers can be volatile. Today they work on your project, tomorrow they disappear without a trace. This doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s a real risk.

• Hiring agencies – these ensure the person works only for your company and they won’t bolt after encountering the first difficulty. This is another relatively quick way of hiring Solana talent, but it also comes with risks. You can’t be sure the pro is a good match for your company. Hiring agencies work with a pool of candidates they already have, but they aren’t responsible for the quality of work done. The people working for these agencies are mostly recruiters and managers without tech experience, so it’s impossible to check the applicants’ skills and provide you with a well-versed specialist. Not to mention you’ll have to pay them at least 15-20% of the specialist’s annual salary.
• Outsourcing companies – if you need to hire outstanding Solana talent for one project, outsourcing is a good idea. The company has its own pool of candidates, but they can test their technical skills to ensure they are qualified to get the job done. You don’t have to interview these people or arrange the hiring process. As to the drawbacks, you have no access to the team. So, you just wait for the project to be finished and hope it will turn out well. And this depends on the reliability of the outsourcing company.

• Staff augmentation companies – this model of hiring real Solana experts removes all the risks of the other models. It’s fast, they test devs’ hard and soft skills, you have 100% control over the process, and can communicate with the specialist yourself. A decent staff augmentation company offers transparent collaboration. However, you need a manager with knowledge of Solana development and all the intricacies of the project, since the team will be working with them. It’s like an in-house team but without the additional expenses on hiring, sick leaves, insurance, vacations, etc. from your side.

The costs depend greatly on the country, hourly rates, the type of expert you need, etc. Here are the estimates:

We at ProCoders consider this model the most reliable, effective, and easy to understand for all parties. That’s why we’ve been offering staff augmentation with experts from Europe for various development projects for years. Europe may not be the cheapest choice, but we don’t look for cheap, right? We look for a perfect combination of price and excellent skills.

The results are always flattering, again, for all parties. Qualified devs always have a job, our clients have reliable teams creating to-notch software, and we fulfill our mission of connecting the two efficiently
All options have their pros and potential risks, so, before you look for a Solana dev team for hire, determine which one is the best for you. And then, choose the right pro for the job.

How to Choose the Right Solana Developer

How to hire Solana engineers?
It’s better to ask “How to hire great Solana engineers? The ones perfect for my project.”
Your final choice depends on:

• The kind of developer you need (junior, middle, senior)
• Additional skills (full-stack development, etc.)
• Soft skills (no matter how good the dev is, if it’s a toxic person, you’ll have problems with them)
• Office, remote, or hybrid work
• Available hours when you can communicate
• Web3 developer salaries expectations
• The staff you have for the project (a tech manager, other developers, etc.)

As you establish your point A with the answers to these questions, you’ll have a vision of a perfect employee, which usually makes the hiring process and outcome better.

Interview Questions to Ask When Hiring Solana Engineers

As to the interview questions, ask these if you want to hire the best Solana experts:

• What is Web 3.0? How do you see its future?
• Describe the advantages of Solana compared to other blockchains.
• Are you working on any Solana projects right now? If not, when was the last time you had experience with the Solana ecosystem?
• Describe the step-by-step process of developing a dApp. How would you do it?
• Do you use any apps based on Solana? Are you using blockchain at all? When was your most recent blockchain transaction?
• What are the difficulties you’ve encountered in your experience with this blockchain?
• What do you think is the future of Solana?
• Why did you choose Solana to work with?

You can add any other questions to test the technical knowledge of the applicant, as well as their soft skills.

Solana Coding Tests

Before making a final choice of a candidate, we at ProCoders always arrange a coding test for each programmer. We think that no matter how good your interview questions are, they won’t show you the true skills of the applicant. But a small test task will!

After the test, you can narrow down the list significantly. Each company has its own special requirements and expectations. Some value speed while others look into every small thing to find devs’ mistakes or need them to do their job in a specific way.

By conducting such a test, you can see who’s going to meet those expectations. But also, remember that you will have to fit the pro’s requirements as well. We’re talking about salary, of course.

Salary of Solana Experts

Nowadays, with the popularity of blockchain, the salaries of the developers in this niche are higher than in other niches. Hiring a great Solana developer needs time and budget as the demand for professional devs is rising and the talent pool isn’t growing as fast.

Here are the average numbers for the Solana job positions.

Dev level / Country	US (monthly)	UK (monthly)	Estonia (monthly)	Croatia (monthly)	Portugal (monthly)
Junior	~$9K	~7.5K	~4.5K	~4.5K	~4.5K
Middle	$10K	$10K	$6.4K	$6.4K	$6.4K
Senior	$12.5K	$12.5K	$8K	$8K	$8K
Benefits	Good location if you live in the US. English fluency.	Good location if you’re from Europe. English fluency.	Good location for clients from Europe. English fluency. Cost-effectiveness with good skills.	Good location for clients from Europe. English fluency. Cost-effectiveness with good skills.	Good location for clients from Europe. English fluency. Cost-effectiveness with good skills.
Drawbacks	Issues with time zones if you’re not from the US. Too expensive.	Issues with time zones if you’re not from Europe. Too expensive.	Not the best location if you’re from Northern America. (but with proper management you can build round-the-clock development)	Not the best location if you’re from Northern America. (but with proper management you can build round-the-clock development)	Not the best location if you’re from Northern America. (but with proper management you can build round-the-clock development)

So, SOL devs’ salaries are rarely under $100K if you hire US or UK developers. The level of life and expenses are much higher there than in Eastern Europe, for example. Thus, the salary expectations are higher.

When looking for a Solana development team for hire, we at ProCoders always try to find a perfect ratio of affordable price and excellent skills. We take into account much more than the years of experience of the candidate. Their way of living, country, even city can make a difference.

3 Steps to Hire Best Solana Developers for Your Project on a Tight Budget

So, how to hire Solana developers? The ones that are ideal for your business philosophy, plans, thematics, etc. The process is quite effort-consuming, but finding proper Solana engineers is definitely doable.

The algorithm depends on the hiring model you choose. But two things are necessary for most of them:

• Company, project, and job information
• Interview process

You need to provide a detailed description of the job, information about your company, and your requirements, if you want to hire reliable developers. Here’s what needs to be in, say, a job description online:

• Info about the company – specialization, experience, outstanding clients, benefits for the employees, professional growth opportunities, etc.
• Details about the job – overview of the projects, the level of qualification (junior, middle, senior), clear job title, more info on the work environment, work-life balance, etc.
• Requirements – Rust, C, C++, framework experience, etc.
• Salary – at least approximate or a from-to range
• What to do next – send a resume, contact via phone or email, etc.

If you collaborate with a staff augmentation company, this is their responsibility. For example, here at ProCoders, we already have a talent pool engaged in various projects. However, sometimes all our programmers get on board so quickly that we need to enhance our teams. Or, sometimes our clients need a specific kind of tech specialist we don’t have.

In such cases, we put all our hiring experience and knowledge into practice to find a top-notch professional. First of all, because our clients only deserve the best talent. Besides, the dev will then continue working with us, and we’ll pay them even if they aren’t engaged in any project.

So, it’s clear that our hiring standards are skyscraper-high. And this is what we do:

• Research the market; we know where to get top-notch specialists with adequate rates.
• Pre-screen – an initial interview where the candidates show their soft skills and English proficiency.
• Test their hard skills
• Conduct a technical interview with development practitioners who lead the tech department.
• Arrange an interview with the customer, which is optional but gives you control over the hiring process without all the effort.

Let’s gather all the bits of information we’ve established on the hiring process in an easy-to-follow step-by-step on how to find Solana developers, preferably on a budget:

Step 1: Goal establishment

Hiring the right Solana developers requires clear project goals from you. Think about:

• What results do you want from the team to consider the project successful
• What tech you want to use for the project and why
• What’s your target audience and how you’re going to cover their pain points effectively, beating competition
• Your budget and timeframe, etc.

Finding out all of this may be tricky, but ProCoders has your back starting from the pre-start stage when your project is only an idea. Our Discovery services will help you see how long it will take to develop your app, how much you have to invest (honestly), what the risks are and how to avoid them, and more.

Apply for the service and get a team of specialists:

• Research the business part of the project and build a plan
• Evaluate the workload, choose the needed tech, and establish the needed qualification level
• Organize the tasks and plan the development from the beginning to the end, both for the programmers’ and business side
• Present you a roadmap with all the steps, evaluations, requirements, and investments.

Step 2: Hiring model choice

Based on your goals and requirements, choose where you want to look for a Solana pro. For example:

• If you’re on a tight budget and can accept risks, freelance is not a bad idea.
• If you want both adequate pricing and a 100% qualified specialist, a staff augmentation company is the best pick.
• If you don’t have a tech manager and want nothing to do with the development of the app, outsourcing should do the job.

Step 3: Resumes and interviews

Depending on the place you choose for the search, you’ll need to either get lots of resumes and go through them, conduct interviews with the candidates, or both. Even if you choose outsourcing, you’ll need to “interview” the company first, because if it’s an unreliable one, you’re going to pay much more than needed.

In the case of staff augmentation, the company choice is also important, but you have a chance to talk to the developers at all stages of project completion. With outsourcing, you can talk to the tech specialists before they start working, but who said the same people will actually write for you? There’s much less control in this case.

As you find out how to hire SOL developers, you may realize how tricky the process is and how much time you’ll have to spend on it. Gladly, there’s a company that will make it easier for you.

Find Experienced Solana Developers With ProCoders

When you need to find Solana engineers, the best idea is to trust this to professionals. ProCoders will not only take care of your project from the start to the end but allow you to get the best pros for your budget.

Service is our superpower. We are client-oriented at all stages of our work, handling all HR and other processes for you. However, we can also report to you on everything we do to guarantee transparency because communication is valuable for us.

We can augment your team with only one developer or a whole team of 25 people. And none of them will cause trouble with sharing your valuable data since we all sign NDAs and oblige to them. We also recruit people who have excellent skills, both hard and soft, because we understand how important it is to share a mindset with your team.

ProCoders don’t just find and hire a SOL developer for you, we provide excellent service and also save your time and money. So, if you want full support during the creation of your project by someone with expertise, ProCoders is your choice.

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve covered why, how, and where to hire Solana developers. They are in demand, as well as the blockchain itself due to its benefits such as low fees and high speed.

To find Solana developers, you need to know the skills a professional must have. These include the knowledge of programming languages such as Rust, C, and C++, as well as experience in working with frameworks.

When hiring Solana devs, keep in mind that their salaries are usually $100K per year and higher. These expenses should be included in your budget plan.

You can hire a developer through job boards and freelance platforms, but this takes a lot of time and such collaborations aren’t 100% reliable. Outsourcing is neat, but you have to choose the right company, so it may be hit or miss. Staff augmentation is one of the most reliable and resource-saving options where you can get full support throughout the development process and actually have control over the process.