Most businesses need software developers as the accelerated digitalization pushes companies to quickly adopt the latest technologies. However, not all companies have the resources for hiring experts with technical backgrounds. And very often non-technical employees participate in the recruitment process.
As the market is overflowing with specialists with various skills and experience, it’s quite challenging to find the matching tech talent. In order to make well-informed hiring decisions, it’s important to understand a few peculiarities when it comes to hiring expert developers.
What should you look for in your future software developer? What skills matter? How to get ready for the interview and what questions to ask in order to assess their qualification and hire an expert? You will get the answers to all these burning questions in this article.
Tips to Make the Process of Hiring a Developer Easier
Let’s start with some tactics that will make you one step closer to recruiting and working with the experts in software development. Here is how to hire Node.js programmers or developers with other skills and make the best decision.
1. Identify Your Needs and Standards
Before hiring expert developers, your primary task is to clearly identify your tech talent needs. Most likely, you already know what type of software or application you want to receive.
If you are not sure what programming languages or technologies should be used, then don’t hesitate to get a consulting session with seasoned IT experts who will guide you through the main technological stack that will be appropriate for your case. Based on this info, you will be able to understand what professional you are looking for and what will be your candidate search standards.
2. Check Talent Availability
Software developers are the most sought-after professionals who are challenging to hire. Check your local talent availability and define your time frames to close the deal with the developer.
It’s worth noting that whereas hiring local developers will be very costly and time-consuming, Eastern Europe has already become a top destination for outsourcing software development and for recruiting Eastern European software engineers remotely.
Take a closer look at companies that operate in this region as they have access to thousands of the most experienced specialists who offer their services for the most reasonable price.
3. Prepare the Right Job Description
The well-written job description makes all the difference in the process of hiring expert developers. The job openings are immense and your task is to be as specific and transparent as possible to attract the relevant candidates.
In the requirement field, include what qualifications and experience, degree subject, soft and tech skills you are looking for. In addition, indicate what tools they should have experience with and whether they should have an interest in a particular industry, if applicable.
Don’t forget to give a brief company profile overview so the applicants also understand if they want to work for you and become a part of your team. If possible, provide some essential information about the project itself.
4. Explore All the Options
After you have posted your job description and started receiving applications, you need to carefully consider the career path of each person. While you have your requirements regarding your future developer, you should also stay open-minded and see their potential. Review each application and select the best-matching ones to proceed to the interview stage.
5. Plan the Interview
Depending on your needs, there could be a few interviewing stages. However, you should focus on getting ready for your face-to-face interview. This is a unique opportunity to identify if the candidate is right for the role or not. You should plan your communication in advance. Think of what questions you want to ask and what information you would love to get in the course of your conversation.
To make the process easier and more convenient for you, at the end of the article, we will provide you with a list of the most common questions that you should ask during a job interview with your future developer.
6. Conduct Relevant Technical Test
Before working with the experts, you should conduct the relevant technical assessment to evaluate their skills. This recruitment stage is the crucial screening part as it enables you to see their technical skills as well as problem-solving abilities in a real sample case.
Make sure your test task is related to your business or project and you will easily see if it’s the right match for you. By doing the test task a candidate will demonstrate their approach to solving a work-related challenge so you make a well-informed final decision. If the tech test results are not enough to decide, you can always ask for a referral from a previous employer.
7. Get Some Assistance
If you are not an expert in recruiting specialists, especially in the tech field, you should also consider collaborating with companies that offer a full software developer recruitment cycle for you.
By having a reliable tech partner, instead of wasting your time and resources on finding the right specialist, you will be able to focus on more important business development tasks. And a dedicated partner will take care of all the details and will provide you with their internal workforce or will know how to hire .NET developers or the best specialists with relevant tech experience and skills to work on your project right away.
What Soft and Hard Skills Are Crucial for a Qualified Developer?
Another vital part of hiring expert developers is knowing what are the soft skills and technical qualifications that are integral for a professional who can contribute to the overall success of your project. Here are the ones that you should keep an eye on while communicating with your candidates.
Soft Skills to Consider While Hiring Expert Developers
1. Communication skills
Exceptional communication skills are a winning ticket to a thriving career no matter what your industry is. The field of software development is not an exception. Choose a person who is confident and speaks clearly. It will enable both you and your developer to stay on the same page about the expectations, updates, requirements, and deadlines, and avoid any potential misunderstandings.
2. Time-management skills
Very often, professional developers work under the high pressure of tight deadlines. Therefore, the ability to effectively manage their workload and deliver quality results in a timely manner is essential.
3. Teamwork
A software engineer or any other IT professional is always a person who works in a dynamic team. The process of building a new software solution is all about collaboration with team members from different departments. Therefore, the ability to effectively collaborate with mates is another one to pay attention to.
4. Problem-solving skills
Computer science is all about problem-solving skills. The process of software development is full of challenges and it’s critical to have the ability to solve any potential problem with ease. Finding an effective solution to a problem is a great quality that makes a professional stand out among others.
5. Adaptability
Software development is a fast-paced environment where drastic changes are inevitable. Adaptability enables a good specialist to easily change the strategy while maintaining the top-notch coding quality.
6. Critical thinking
A critical thinker will easily assess the problem and will be able to analyze it to come up with an unconventional solution with a little bit of a creative approach. It’s important to have the potential to see the situation from different perspectives and decide on steps to achieve the best outcome.
7. Emotional intelligence
EI including empathy is one of the pivotal characteristics of a mature specialist who can smooth;y integrate into any working environment and become a perfect employee, a great colleague you can rely on, and expect the highest level of professional dedication.
Hard Skills to Consider While Hiring Expert Developers
1. Programming languages
When hiring experts in software engineering and development, focus on what programming languages they are knowledgeable in. Among the most widely used languages, it’s possible to name C++, JavaScript, Python, and others.
2. Cross-platform development
Nowadays, all products created are expected to work seamlessly on multiple platforms and like Mac, Windows, Linux, etc. Therefore, the skills of cross-platform development are highly appreciated and will be a big bonus to the skillset of a specialist.
3. Source control
It helps software developers to easily make changes, track updates, and manage and store their code. Most employers are interested in hiring expert developers proficient in source control. Among the popular tools are Git, Mercurial, or SVN, so check out if the specialist has it listed in their resume.
4. Software testing
Every experienced developer should possess solid knowledge of testing procedures to ensure that product functions fulfill all the technical requirements. You should hire experts who have a great track record of testing software and an understanding of three core testing methods.
5. Database knowledge
Databases allow individuals to organize and structure information about a certain company. Preferably, a developer should understand how to secure a database and backup all the data to protect the company’s information during unpredictable situations. In order to do that, a professional has to possess a robust knowledge of SQL to operate the database effectively.
6. Text editing software
This particular skill is important for professionals of different levels of expertise: from a beginner to an experienced developer. This is a paramount tool in the daily life of a software engineer as it helps them become more productive and increase their work quality.
7. Cloud platforms
Cloud platforms are extremely popular as they enable running a remote database of a company. To configure this kind of platform, a developer should possess special skills and knowledge related to cloud-based technologies. For example, look for an AWS certification.
Interview Questions to Ask While Hiring Expert Software Developer
As a bonus, in order to help you hire an expert developer, we have prepared a list of questions that you can use to interview your future candidates and decide if they are a good match for your team:
- Why did you choose our company and why do you want to work in this job role?
- What are your professional goals for the next few years?
- What do you like and don’t like about your current team/job?
- How do you keep honing your technical and soft skills?
- In what ways did you positively contribute to a previous company or project?
- Can you share an idea or solution that you believed in and tried to convince others to support it? How did you manage to convince your colleagues?
- What are the main technologies you are interested in and why?
- What is your favorite programming language and why?
- Can you think of any software or application that you would improve technically? How would you fix those issues?
- How do you usually handle negative feedback from your managers or testers?
- What is the biggest technical challenge you have overcome in your professional career?
- What project management tools are you familiar with?
- Describe the project you have successfully completed and are proud of?
- What was the mistake you made and learned from?
- How do you ensure the quality of your code?
- What new technical skills would you like to learn and why?
Summing It Up
As demand creates its supply, there are thousands of software developers looking for a new technological challenge to tackle. Whether you want to expand your internal workforce or collaborate with a few engineers remotely to build your software, you need to take the process of hiring very seriously.
By implementing the knowledge we have shared in this blog post, you will be able to make the recruiting process as smooth and easy as possible.
If you are looking for experienced software developers to extend your team then don’t hesitate to contact us and we will be glad to assist you and hire an expert. At Intellectsoft, we offer various engagement models to make your collaboration with software engineers efficient while making sure your budget is also met.
