devopsy.kinsta.cloud

Author: Greg Robinson

  • Successful Strategies for Hiring Full-Stack Developers

    Successful Strategies for Hiring Full-Stack Developers

    Full-stack development is a complex web programming discipline involving multiple levels of web design and coding.

    Due to the complexity of the skill, it may be difficult to strategize a method of attracting a full-stack developer. Full-stack developers are the full package—they understand the development of both the front end and back end of a web application.

    To hire full-stack developers, you’ll need patience. Full-stack developers are incredibly valued as they bring insight, perspective and technical prowess to the table. Their understanding of software development is complete, making them helpful team members to any and every development team.

    With the right tips, you can find the perfect candidate for your open position. The following strategies will ensure that you attract the best full-stack developers to your company.

    Leverage Tech Communities

    Tech community boards are invaluable resources for hiring managers. They are communities that thrive on the question-and-answer formats along with teamwork and collaboration. They often feature complete profiles of their developers, which will grant you a deeper look into how they interact and cooperate within the confines of their respective communities.

    Stack Overflow and GitHub are perfect examples of all-inclusive development communities. Each allows users to upload code and ask questions. In the case of GitHub, many users frequent the site as early as high school or college. Therefore, you have the chance to watch and document the growth process of your candidate in a way that you never could before. You can also follow the candidate’s question-and-answer history to observe how they learn and how quickly they adjust.

    Each of these opportunities grants the hiring manager intelligence that would have been previously impossible to acquire and will give you a depth of understanding with your candidate that will be vital when making your final decision. These sites give hiring managers an advantage and insight that can be positively crucial when hiring a full-stack developer.

    Write an Enticing Full-Stack Job Listing

    Finding a full-stack developer can be quite a difficult task, as full-stack developers are in short supply. To attract top talent, you’ll need to entice them, make your job opportunity seem unique.

    The job listing should:

    • Include a hook that captures the developer’s attention (e.g. “Work your dream developer job from home!”).
    • List all duties (e.g. database management, front-end web development, back-end engineering).
    • List all tools, libraries and platforms necessary for the job.
    • List the team members who will work with them.
    • Include a concise description of the kinds of projects the team will be working on.
    • List the benefits of the full-stack developer role.
    • Include a summary of what your company does.
    • Have a call-to-action (e.g. attach your resume below; email us for more information).

    Utilize Niche Job Boards

    Full-stack developers have a plethora of technical skills. To find technically skilled people, your best bet is to use job boards such as Dice, Stack Overflow Jobs and GitHub Jobs. If you researched and connected with people through online tech communities, then it should be even easier to leverage these tech job boards.

    Some other niche job boards that can be helpful for companies looking for dedicated full stack developers:

    • co
    • CrunchBoard
    • Authentic Jobs
    • RemoteOK
    • WeWorkRemotely
    • Top Tech Jobs
    • Startup Hire
    • IT Job Cafe
    • Tech Careers
    • iCrunchData

    Conclusion

    Your company needs to employ helpful hiring strategies to find and hire top full-stack developers. One of the best ways to start your hiring journey is to research, of which this guide is hopefully a part.

    Research includes investigating and interacting with online tech communities. The information you’ll gather will be invaluable during the hiring process, helping you find leads, build connections and write effective job listings. Remember: An enticing job listing is a key to attracting top developers.

    Finally, you’ll want to leverage specialized job boards to find and attract full-stack developers. Use tech and remote job boards to find qualified candidates more quickly and efficiently.

    Hiring full-stack developers can be difficult, but by no means is it impossible. Simply use the strategies above, conduct your own research and start following leads. Sooner rather than later you should find a full-stack developer.

    — Greg Robinson

  • 4 Questions to Ask a Web Developer During an Interview

    4 Questions to Ask a Web Developer During an Interview

    Web development is a fragile process. You need talented web developers to make truly beautiful sites with seamless user experiences and fast loading speeds. Without experienced web developers, creating a website that has both form and function is exceedingly difficult.

    Web developers have a great deal of responsibility. They understand design and they understand how to implement that design using programming languages, tools and frameworks. How do they piece all of these skills together? How do you assess whether they have these skills?

    There’s no formula for the interview process that guarantees great hiring decisions. There are a few questions you should consider appending to yours, however, as they can help you get to know the web developer a little better.

    Here are four questions to include in your interview with a qualified web developer:

    1. What programming languages, tools and frameworks are you most familiar with?

    Web developers are usually proficient in a number of programming languages and are adept at wielding frameworks. They must have an in-depth knowledge of HTML, CSS and web scripting languages such as JavaScript. If the role you’re hiring for includes back-end programming, they also will need to know how to program databases by using PHP or even Python.

    Content management systems such as WordPress can also be extremely helpful for web developers. Bootstrap and frameworks also may be helpful when building web pages.

    You’ll want to ask more about the technologies, programming languages and frameworks they like using. Don’t limit your questions to strictly the technical requirements of the role. Assess the developer’s passion and knowledge.

    1. How do you stay relevant as a web developer?

    Technology is constantly evolving. Web developers have to have strategies to stay up to date on the latest updates, frameworks and trends. There’s no wrong way to keep up self-education. A potential web developer candidate might cite online courses as a way to stay skilled and knowledgeable.

    Web developer meetups, professional web development classes and sites such as StackOverflow and GitHub can help developers stay informed and in conversation with other developers.

    1. What are some mistakes you’ve made in the past as a web developer? How did you react to those mistakes?

    Web development is a complex process. There are lots of little things that can go wrong during development. It’s not uncommon to make mistakes even as an experienced web developer. However, it’s still important to assess how a candidate responds to tricky situations.

    Do they show themselves compassion when they make a simple mistake? Do they create actionable plans to remedy mistakes when they appear? Are they resilient or easily defeated? Are they prone to blaming others or do they take responsibility for their actions?

    It’s important to know how a candidate will respond to stress especially if you expect your projects to be lengthy or complicated.

    1. What would you like your role to be?

    It’s easier to get to know a candidate if you know the activities they like to perform. Are they interested in leading a team? Do they enjoy helping design wireframes with the design team? Do they take great pleasure in optimizing back-end processes?

    Ask the web developer candidate about their own likes and how they can best fulfill their duties as a member of your company’s team. You’ll find out a great deal about their personality, preference, and work style with questions that probe into their own likes, dislikes, and dreams.

    Conclusion

    Great web developers are rare. Even though it’s hard to attract the top web developers on the market, it’s not impossible. By asking the right questions, you’ll capture the imagination of the best web developers and, hopefully, gain some insight into their own creative and technical processes.

    Delve into a few technical aspects of the job, gauging their familiarity with popular programming languages and tools. Make it a point to ask web developers about past projects and performances. See how they self-assess and gauge their capacity for compassion, collaboration and resiliency. Continuing education is also important for web developers as trends often change.

    Be sure to also delve into their personal preferences and opinions as this will help you better understand how they work and if they are the right fit for your organization.

    — Greg Robinson