Freelancers and subcontractors as part of the HiQ team

HiQ's Sourcing Manager Mira Nuotio enjoys her job when she can match the right person with the right project.

 "At best, people's enjoyment at work, skills, and results go hand in hand. The best part of my job is when both the consultant and the client are excited about working together."

At HiQ, Nuotio works with subcontracting partnerships with freelancers and small companies.

"While larger companies are quicker to find talent, the advantage of small companies or freelancers is that talent is more strongly profiled in terms of personality and the individual. I know immediately what kinds of projects each person is best suited for."

Nuotio says that it is in the interest of all parties that a client finds long-term consultants who are committed to the project from the start.

"Of course, there are also those who enjoy variety and therefore prefer shorter projects. Our priority is to offer projects that match the talent’s interests and preferences."

When a fixed-term project is coming to an end, HiQ proactively tries to offer new projects to the talent.

"It is definitely in our interest to maintain effective subcontracting relationships. This will benefit the talents by allowing them to concentrate on what they do without the need to sell themselves."

In a fast-growing company like HiQ, the need for talent is so great that people are often sought from outside the existing network. Through her background as a headhunter, it is natural for Nuotio to look for talent on LinkedIn or Github, for example.

"An up-to-date LinkedIn profile helps me to quickly see what kind of experience a person has. You can also mention subcontracting in your profile description or your areas of expertise, for example, if you want to be found more easily."

Special expertise in banking and TSP software development

One of HiQ's long-standing partners is Melvin Agency: a two-person software company focused on the banking and TSP industry. Founder and consultant Juha Aittamaa says that the cooperation has been ongoing since 2019.

"When we started the business, we contacted larger technology companies, and HiQ was the first to respond. The collaboration started soon and has been smooth and easy to this day."

Aittamaa finds HiQ to be a suitable partner for Melvin, as it offers interesting and long-lasting customer relationships.

"We like the long projects that HiQ enables us to do. In short projects, the work is more superficial and you don't get to see the life cycle of the product, for example."

For Aittamaa, the most meaningful projects are those where he can influence the technology choices from the very beginning and contribute to the design phase. A deep business understanding is, in Aittamaa's opinion, a significant competitive advantage for a software developer.

"My partner and I have focused specifically on banking and telecommunications service providers (TSPs), as we have accumulated so much tacit knowledge that is useful to work with. With TSPs, for example, the transfer of a mobile subscription from one service provider to another is based on old technology that you just have to know."

In the banking sector, on the other hand, legislation is stricter than usual.

"Data security and protection issues are extremely important. In addition, transparency has its own requirements, as all data must be traceable."

For Aittamaa, the most important basic principle of software development is to create easy and efficient methods that can be easily extended by any developer.

"In our client work, we favour modern technology that has proven to be effective.”

Would you like to become part of the HiQ partner network? We are looking for all kinds of talents: there is a high demand for test automation specialists right now! Contact us.