React, a front-end library/framework developed by Facebook, is currently (as of the 19th of April 2020) ranking 4th in the technology ranking on GitHub with 13,133 commits, 1,378 contributors and over 147k stars.
According to Stack Overflow’s 2019 Developer Survey, conducted by surveying over 90k developers, 31.3 percent of devs use React in their projects, which gives the technology one of the top spots in the ranking of most used web frameworks. That’s more than React’s main competitors, including Vue.js and the Google-supported Angular. The Facebook-backed technology also wins in other important rankings — it’s the most loved and the most wanted web framework among developers surveyed.
What does this raw data mean for businesses around the globe? That the community behind React is huge, filled both with experts in the field, as well as complete front-end beginners who chose React as their first web framework to learn and master, following their more experienced peers.
How can you make sure, then, that you hire React developers who know all the good practices of using the framework, so they can deliver the project on deadlines and within budget? Read on to learn about all the things you need to look for when planning to hire React developers.
React developer hard skills to look for
As web development is a highly technical job, it requires a specific skillset. When you plan to hire React developers, you need to look for people with the following hard skills:
- Expert knowledge of JavaScript
React utilizes JavaScript, the most popular programming language for web projects. Good knowledge of it means being able to handle issues like DOM manipulation, performance tuning, mobile strategies, memory leaks and more.
- Previous experience in React
There are many JavaScript devs who are happy to work with any framework, but it’s the people focused on React development who you should be looking for. Also consider hiring those who have some additional experience with React Native — you might want to take your product to mobile platforms at some point.
- Knowledge of JSX
JSX is the syntax used in React to make HTML/XML code coexist with JavaScript. It’s a very React-specific thing, so if you find a developer knowledgeable in JSX, they can probably handle your project well.
- Knowledge of popular libraries used with React
There are a lot of additional libraries available that can significantly speed up the development process and improve the performance of your website or web app over vanilla React. Some of the most important ones are Redux (state management), Redux Form (complex forms) and Material UI (Google-created UI package).
- Experience with Node.JS
If you want to hire a React developer who will be also responsible for the client-side of your web project, they should be experienced in some back-end technology. Your best bet would probably be Node.js — a technology allowing for the use of JavaScript, a primarily front-end language, on the back-end as well.
Soft skills to look for when hiring React developers
Your new React developer hire will be the core of your web project's technological development. But the team behind your product is surely bigger, with many of its members not necessarily being tech-savvy. That’s why it’s important for your new developer to be able to cooperate well with the rest of the people in the company — able to understand them and explain the necessary technical complexities, so the needs of other specialists can be translated into functioning features of the web project.
To make sure teamwork thrives in your company, look for the following soft skills when you want to hire React developers:
- Expert time management
Especially crucial for smaller startups, often hiring a limited number of developers. In this kind of environment, being able to manage time and workload by yourself is incredibly important in order to reach the next milestones on time.
- The attitude of a researcher
Because the React community is so huge, brainstorming on forums happens often and new tips and tricks are figured out on a regular basis. If you hire a React developer who also actively participates in the community, your web project might be filled with some great, innovative features that have been tried only by a few other devs.
- Accountability
Even the most expert developers make mistakes. Being able to admit your own failure is a crucial step to determining what went wrong and later learning a valuable lesson from it.
React developer job interview questions
Found a candidate who seems to fit your requirements? Then it’s time to run a proper technical job interview with them. If you don’t feel confident in React web development yourself, you might want to consider approaching an expert who can help you run the interview. This could be another web developer, a software consultant or an IT project manager. Whoever you choose, they should, of course, have proper experience working with React-powered projects.
What kind of questions should be asked during a React developer job interview?
- What is Virtual DOM and what is its role in React?
- What are the lifecycle methods in React?
- What are the keys needed for in React web development?
- What’s your go-to tool for testing JavaScript code? Why this specific tool?
- What are the most common ways of creating a React component?
- What is a container component?
- What’s the Context API?
- How do you prevent data mutation?
- What are the ways to preventing re-rendering?
- What is an HOC? Give an example of one.
How to hire React developers who fit your company
Company fit is another thing you should consider when you want to hire React developers. The better your new colleague fits the team, the more efficiently everyone works, delivering the results fast.
What does company fit include?
- Industry fit
Look for people who have experience working with products similar to yours. These developers will bring knowledge of solutions that have already proven successful to your team.
- Product fit
Web project is a broad term for a huge number of different solutions, from small websites to huge online shops to complicated machine learning-powered web apps. When hiring a React developer, remember to focus on candidates who have already worked on products that have something in common with the one you are developing.
- Company culture fit
Think of the management style of your company, working hours flexibility, the ways coworkers can interact with each other. All these create a company culture, always unique to a specific business. Take it into consideration when hiring a React developer — look for people who share your company’s values, so you will end up with a team that cooperates perfectly.
Why hire a remote React developer?
The recent coronavirus crisis taught many companies how valuable the people with experience in remote work are. It’s easier for them to manage their time well outside of the office and deliver better results when put into unusual circumstances.
We highly recommend hiring remote React developers for building every business. Developers are often people who find remote work the most comfortable option for them and thrive in a more flexible working environment. Having such an expert at your company protects you from additional problems you might have if a similar crisis happens and you must enforce fully remote work.
Complete your team of professionals
Do you plan to scale fast and grow your team with true experts on board? We can help.
Ideamotive runs an extensive network of IT professionals looking for new job opportunities. We are able to not only help you hire React developers, but also supply you with talent for other roles, including web designers, back-end developers, mobile developers, IT project managers, product owners and much more. Whatever type of IT talent you need, we can deliver.
