Django is the go-to technology for most Python web developers. As of the 19th of April 2020, the Github repo of the framework has nearly 2000 contributors, over 28k commits, and nearly 50k stars. The Django community on the official website of the framework consists of 14k people from 172 countries who worked on over 4k packages and projects.
The 2019 edition of the Stack Overflow Developers Survey also proved the dominance of Django on the Python web development front. The report is based on questionaries filed by 90k devs from all over the world, so it gives a pretty good idea of what the actual numbers are. According to the survey, Django is the 8th most popular web framework, behind only the technologies linked to JavaScript and Java. 13% of developers are said to use Django and 62,1% of the users love this technology.
With such a large and growing community of Django users, you might have a hard time finding true experts among the pool of beginners. So how to narrow the search as much as possible and hire Django developers that will really fit your company and the project you want them to work on? Learn about all the most important tips in our Django developers hiring guide below.
Django developer technical skills to look for
At the beginning of the hiring process, you will have to assess whether your candidate actually possesses the technical skills required for the role. What hard skills should you specifically look for when you want to hire Django developers?
- Good knowledge of Python web development
Sounds obvious? It might not when you actually consider how many different projects can be handled with Python. The language is often used for AI development, machine learning, data science, scientific computing at universities, and much more. It’s crucial for you, then, to narrow your search to devs who specifically work with Python as a web development technology.
- Experience with Django and other frameworks
When you have a candidate who is indeed a Python web developer (and not a Python academic user, Python AI developer, or other non-web focused dev), they most probably already know Django. But it’s also good if they have experience with other Python web frameworks, such as web2py, Flask, or Bottle. They are by no means as popular as Django, but experience with them gives additional perspective on Python web development and proves the developer’s desire for knowledge.
- Knowledge of additional server-side technologies
This mostly includes database management with SQL and MongoDB. Other things to consider: nginx, operations on Linux, stream processing/message processing (Apache Kafka, ActiveMQ, RabbitMQ), JSON.
- Knowledge of JavaScript and related frameworks
Django is primarily used to build the back-end of the website or web app, with the front-end being handled by other technology. As even back-end devs have to sometimes play with the front-end code, you might want to hire a Django developer who has experience with front-end as well. The most common choice, in this case, is JavaScript, usually alongside the React framework.
Soft skills to consider when hiring Django developers
Another thing to consider when you want to hire Django developers are their soft skills. These will influence how well the devs can cooperate within a team. As a back-end-focused coder, Django developers often have to closely work with their front-end peers. But good communication with people from other teams is even trickier — they are often not that tech-savvy and require additional explanation on all the complex things that a Django developer is working on.
Some soft skills that especially help in improving teamwork within a company are listed below.
- Being able to put oneself in the customer’s shoes
Understanding the perspective of a client is crucial to developing products that sell well. It’s a trait of the best Django developers to be able to listen to the customer’s needs and think of these requirements during the whole development process.
- Accountability and feeling of responsibility
Without people who are open to admitting to their mistakes, there is no well-functioning team. Even top Django developers can by accident introduce a bug or malfunctioning feature and the only good way forward in this kind of case is to take responsibility. Without doing so, developers are not able to learn from their mistakes and become better at what they do.
- Multitasking
Daily maintenance tasks, introducing new features, taking care of the current problems — there is a lot of things on the plate of a Django developer. That’s why great time management and the ability to multitask are crucial in such a role. It’s especially important in younger, smaller startups with only a few developers and without a clear tech-focused manager and team leader.
- Researcher attitude
But a great set of soft skills helps not only in improving teamwork but also the efficiency of Django web development. Developers who actively participate in the life of the Django community (by contributing on Github, talking with others on Reddit or Stack Overflow, investing their free time in side projects) are thriving the most. They know where to look for and who to ask to get the issues with your product solved fast, making the whole development faster.
Best Django developer job interview questions
When you have a candidate that meets all the hard skills and soft skill criteria relevant for your company, it’s time to run an interview with them. The technical part of it should be conducted by a Django expert — if you don’t feel like one yourself, you should consider asking for help from another Python dev with experience in Django, an IT project manager, or a software consultant.
Wondering what questions can be asked during the interview? Here are some of our favorites.
- What are the F() expressions and when would you use them?
- What is the MVT model?
- What are function decorators and how they can be used in Django?
- What are the ACID properties?
- How can you optimize Django ORM queries?
- What’s monkey patching and is it useful, in your opinion?
- What are many-to-many relationships?
- What’s MRO in Python?
- What’s middleware? How to write custom middleware in Django?
- OneToOneField and ForeignKey —what’s the difference between the two?
How to hire Django developers fitted to your company?
To make your web product’s development the most efficient and effective, remember to hire a Django developer who will fit your company and project as much as possible. Things to consider are:
- Industry fit
Hiring a Django developer with previous experience in your industry means hiring an expert with knowledge of solutions that already proved to be successful on your market.
- Product fit
Just like with the industry fit, it’s best to hire someone already experienced in the type of product you are developing. Even if your solution is unique, you can look for at least some similarities between it and the solutions your candidate has been working on.
- Company culture fit
Look for people who share the same values as your business. The better the fit in terms of company culture is, the easier the new hires will blend in and the better the communication within your team will be.
Who else will you be needing?
Even the best Django developers can’t handle the whole project on their own. You’ll most probably also need front-end developers (potentially working with React), an IT project manager, and a product owner. Data scientists and web designers might also come in handy.
How to hire all these important people in the most efficient way? Contact us at Ideamotive. We run a unique network of top IT talents from all over the world looking for new opportunities. After you get in touch with us, we will discuss with you your exact requirements and connect you with a tailored selection of the best people we know.
Start growing your team with us today.
