Nowadays, the market is flooded with beginners after short bootcamps calling themselves “web developers”. While they might be very ambitious and once turn into really good coders, they are not yet experienced enough to handle really important projects. That’s why, when you want to hire web developers, it’s important to look only for those who are able to prove their experience and value.
To make the hiring process easier for you, we decided to create this short guide on how to choose the correct devs for your next project.
How to recruit web developers that match your company and industry?
What makes you see that the web developer is closer to being a beginner than an advanced expert? Their unsureness when it comes to highlighting their area of expertise. A good web developer is one that chooses and understands their own career path. One that focuses on a specific niche instead of being a coder that claims to be able to handle all the projects possible.
When planning to recruit web developers, look for those who have experience in your industry and the technology you are planning to use.
Planning to create an app for your financial service? Hire web developers who have already worked in fintech startups and/or financial institutions.
Thinking about creating a new booking platform? Look for developers who have experience in working on similar sites and can recommend to you the best ways to turn your idea into reality, possibly in multiple ways.
Or maybe you want to join the ranks of e-commerce entrepreneurs? Then hire web developers with experience in platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce.
What does a web developer do?
They obviously code, you might say. But is that really all?
What a web developer does is slightly different depending on the size of a company. A huge enterprise may be able to hire IT project managers and software consultants who will be able to recommend specific technology to be used for the project. But in smaller startups, this might be actually what web developers do themselves — advise on specific solutions based on the requirements.
In smaller companies, web developers might also play the role of a designer. This could include figuring out the look & feel of the website or web app, preparing mockups, and creating prototypes. That’s also why it’s so important to always hire web developers with an understanding of good design practices, including the basics of UX design.
What do professional web developers use?
If you already have an in-house team of web developers and you are just looking to hire some more, you have probably already recommended some solutions and technologies. However, if you don’t have techies at your company, you might prefer to hire a team of experienced web developers and project managers who can do everything for you, including suggesting the technology to be used.
Our recommended technologies are Ruby on Rails, React and Python. While the last one is mostly used for back-end purposes when it comes to developing web apps, the first two are just enough for most websites. Professional web developers use them to build websites and web apps that are well-performing, reliable, and come with rich user experience.
Don’t look for beginners who brag about knowing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Professional web developers can name specific frameworks and libraries they worked with, such as React.JS, and explain what are the best uses of them.
Other technical skills a good web developer should have include:
- Experience in data analytics
In the 2020s, data will be everything. Your new hire should, therefore, be able to incorporate any findings data may bring them in the final product.
- Experience in testing/QA
While often testing/QA is done by another team internally or externally, web developers should also understand the basics of the process to check whether the product they build is bug-free and meets all the needed requirements.
- Experience in cross-platform coding
Websites and web apps these days must be mobile responsive to serve all possible users. That’s why it’s so important for the developer to be able to work with software dedicated to multiple platforms, and not only desktops.
- Understanding of what comes with a good UX
User experience is crucial to keeping your customers on the website. Make sure your web developer knows how to build products for not-so-tech-savvy users, not only other devs.
Who are the best web developers?
Those whose skill palette features both technical and non-technical skills.
Besides a few that we have already mentioned (e.g. teamwork attitude), there are also other soft skills that every good web developer should have. These are:
- Accountability
Understanding one’s mistakes and being able to admit something went wrong is crucial when building a successful product. Hire web developers who always strive to learn upon their mistakes and improve their skills.
- Ability to manage time well
Building a product (and, even more, later: maintaining it) is not an A to Z type of work. Issues come up regularly during the process, so a web developer should be able to manage their time well and adjust their schedule to what’s currently happening at the company.
- Flexibility
A product will never look exactly like the developer wants it to look. Other teams will call for specific changes and time will run out before everything will be as polished as perfectionists want it to be. Make sure your new web developer hire understands it.
How to hire a good web developer?
Ask them the right questions! Here are some of our most recommended ones:
- Can you give me some links to web apps/websites that you’ve worked on?
A good developer always has those on hand and can insightfully explain what they did on the website and what technology was used.
- What companies have you worked for?
When just starting their career, many developers decide to create sample sites and sample web apps to add to their portfolio. While this is a good practice, make sure to hire web developers who already have experience working with actual companies, so they will deliver work of the highest quality.
- What technology would you use for a project like mine?
If you are undecided yet about the technology you are planning to use, ask the web developer you are thinking of hiring about their recommendations. Try to make them go as much into details as possible. “We’ll do your site on WordPress” might not be satifsfactionary.
You should also ask some more technical questions as well. Some examples worth recognizing are:
- How do you tackle UX/SEO/security of the site and the user/performance when it comes to building a site?
- What tools/apps would you use to find a bug that drastically lowers the performance of the product?
- What would you use website heat mapping for when it comes to the development of our product?
- What is Promise in JavaScript?
- What is Virtual DOM and how does it work in React?
- What is ARIA in web development?
- What are the differences between CSS and JavaScript animations? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both of them?
- What is currying?
- .call vs .apply in JavaScript — what is the difference between the two?
- What is dependency injection?
How to check if the web developer will be a great fit to your team & company culture?
Think about what are the things that define how teams at your company operate. Do you report issues with a tool like Jira? Do you have an in-house team that works in an agile way, possibly with Scrum and/or Kanban methodologies implemented? Do you run daily stand-ups?
All the modern inventions in terms of organizing teams and people are very often used by web developers, even those working in remote teams. Even if you haven’t introduced those yet to your company, we highly recommend hiring web developers who already have experience with, for example, agile methodologies. They can help you implement them in your organization which would be a huge advantage for both parties.
But there are also other aspects that you might want to consider:
- Size of your company
If your company is an enterprise, you surely have a bigger IT team and can allow yourself to hire web developers who are less experienced but can be easily trained by their colleagues. However, a small but fast-paced startup may rather need a truly experienced engineer who will lead the web development team on the later stage.
- Multicultural attitude
Most successful companies nowadays think globally. Some have offices around the world, some hire remote workers from multiple different countries, others simply target their products to customers from anywhere in the world. That’s why the web developers you hire should be experienced in working with multinational, multiethnic teams and be unbiased toward others.
- Remoteness/remoteless
Not everyone works efficiently at home. If you plan to run or hire a remote team, make sure your new web developer has already some experience in working that way and is motivated as much at home as in the office.
The team behind your company’s success
To have a web app developed that will turn random users into returning customers, you need something more than just a great coding expert. Plan your product well with industry-leading project managers and then sale it with the help of IT marketing experts.
If you need a hand with finding the team most suitable for your next project, contact us at Ideamotive. We established a pool of all the experts you need to make your next product a hit in your field.
