Anyone here have tips on how to hire strong offshore software engineers (India/Philippines)?

I small tech company at the moment, but we’re reaching the point where we need to expand our engineering team. I keep hearing about outsourcing and offshoring (India, Philippines, etc.), but I’m not sure what the best approach is if you want good long-term talent rather than just short-term contractors.

For those of you who’ve done this before:
• How did you find and vet great engineers from India/Philippines?
• Did you go through agencies, platforms (Upwork, Toptal, etc.), or direct hiring?
• Any advice on avoiding the common pitfalls of outsourcing?

Basically: what worked for you, what didn’t, and what would you do differently if you were hiring internationally again?