How To Hire The Right Developer

Developers, programmers, coders, DevOps engineers, and web designers are one of the most in-demand professionals in today’s particularly competitive markets. But hiring them is difficult, especially if you are not fluent in code yourself. So how should you go about the recruitment process to make sure you find the right match for your company? Most of the recruitment process comes down to asking the right questions and having the right conversations with the right people.

1. Talk to the members of your organization first

Apart from assessing whether or not you really need a developer and getting a clearer picture of the job description, talking to the company hierarchy gives you insight into the direction the business is headed in. What are the upcoming projects for your company? What is the work going to be? Are there new technologies you might work on in the foreseeable future (and how important is it for the candidate to adapt to them?)

2. Analyze the market

Of course, there is the obvious question of what your competitors are currently paying for the same job. But doing deeper research on the kind of personnel being hired across the industry might equip you with fresher ways to interview or test the candidates, or even better a brand new way to look at recruitment (say, a previously untapped talent pool).

Additionally, development is a creative process, and your recruitment journey needs to reflect that. More often than not, developers are likely to stay at a well-paying but simultaneously engaging position than at a boring job with a well above average remuneration package. Studying the market equips you better at trying to make the role more interesting or challenging for potential developers.

3. Test their knowledge of the field

Development is a fast-paced environment. Technologies, teams, and skillsets keep evolving, and you wouldn’t want someone who struggles to keep up. Gauge how well-informed the candidates are about the latest trends, languages, platforms, and methods.

Secondly, ask for their portfolio and the projects they have worked on previously. Evidence of their previous work is a great way to see how versatile they are, and if they can continuously unlearn older skills and equip themselves with new ones. You wouldn’t want to be stuck with a one-trick pony at the end of the day. Get help from other developers in your company to review the code, and evaluate how they present that code. A solid history of great work with neat, easy-to-understand code is a sure shot indicator that their work for your company would also be of that quality.

4. Have a thorough testing strategy

Have your candidates work on a small sample project as part of the hiring process, and get your team of in-house developers to evaluate their output. This will answer a lot of questions on its own:

• How quickly are they able to execute their work?
• How clean and error-free is their work?
• Are they well-equipped to be a valuable addition to your team?

But before you design the test, make sure it matches the level of knowledge and skill the developer would require at the job. A good way to do this is by collaborating with a bunch of your own developers to set the assignment up. Alternatively, you could scout the internet for tests and sample projects you could assign to your candidates.

Once the candidate has finished the project, evaluate it in their presence. Ask more questions if needed to understand their perspective and why they approached the code a certain way.

It is important to remember that this is only a test and not an actual piece of work. Using it as an excuse to get a part of your company’s work completed for free is unprofessional and will reflect poorly on your company’s image.

You can add more layers to the hiring procedure with additional rounds or tests (say, a logic evaluation) which will go beyond just checking their software development ability and gauge their actual technical temperament.

5. Assess their role as a team player

Development is an intensely collaborative process. Usually, developers work on different parts of the same project to collectively build the final product. It is important that your next hire reflects this attitude. Most developers can get the job done, communication skills and teamwork are what place the really good ones above the rest. A 9/10 in skills and a 4/10 in teamwork is far worse than a 7/10 in both.

Moreover, you wouldn’t want to bank your entire project on just one technically excellent developer. This is risky, as suddenly losing the individual for whatsoever reason would be greatly detrimental to your company.

Remember that a good developer executes what is given to them and stops there. The best ones would try and understand the larger picture, and fit into the rest of the organization’s attitude, trying to work towards shared goals.

6. Cover every aspect of the job during the interview

Apart from the usual “Tell us about yourself”, there are a lot of questions you might potentially have for the candidate, such as whether they are currently working on anything (and if they would continue to work on projects after joining your company). Be transparent about the level of commitment you expect from them towards your organization.

Get a measure of their mentality as well, by asking them what their ideal career path looks like, whether they think of themselves purely as a developer or can bring anything else to the table, and so on. Having senior management and developers join in for the interview is a great way to facilitate this conversation.

An interview is a two-way process: Remember that as you’re evaluating them, they are also evaluating your company. Give them a clear idea of what is expected and needed at your organization, too – the deadlines that might be expected of them, the extent and type of work they might have, the work culture at your company, and so on. Leave room for questions from the candidate too.

Every potential employee is a significant addition to your company. The right hire can immediately boost your business to the next level, so make sure you get it right every time. All of this might be too much of a headache, of course. And that is why the simpler solution is CodeGlo: An elite team of mobile and web developers who can turn your product ideas quickly and efficiently into reality. Talk to us right away.