Hiring dedicated developers: the questions that separate vendors from body shops

'Dedicated developer' has become a pricing label, not a delivery guarantee. The difference between a vendor and a body shop shows up in six questions — ask all six, and listen for what they can't answer.

First: 'Can I see apps this engineer has shipped?' — live store links, not portfolios. Second: 'Who reviews their code?' — a named senior architect, or 'we have quality processes'. Third: 'What happens if they resign or underperform?' — a replace-in-days guarantee in writing, or a shrug.

Fourth: 'Who owns the repositories?' — your org from day one, or 'we'll discuss handover later'. Fifth: 'What's the notice period to scale or pause?' — a week is reasonable; six months is a lease. Sixth: 'What happens in week one?' — a documented onboarding with access, context and a first task, or 'they're great, you'll see'.

The pattern behind all six: vendors with an engineering culture can answer specifically because the mechanisms exist. Body shops answer generally because the mechanisms don't. And when the answers are specific, verify them — ask for the store link, the SLA clause, the replacement guarantee in the draft contract before you sign anything.