About recruiting and hiring in general
No matter for which position you needed to hire new people, you for sure noticed that it is never an easy task. Or, at least, not as easy as you thought. And if you do not have clear job description and clear vision, it only adds up.
If we go on and include in the equation some specific roles which are particularly in demand, the task of finding a right person becomes even more demanding. Perhaps you like the way they communicate, but the hard skill set is simply far from being a match at this point. Or vice versa, maybe the candidate is simply not buying your vision and the vision of the product your have. Maybe their goals do not match the product path you had in mind.
This all applies to the software developers as well. Especially the ones that are in demand and for whom there is scarcity on the market. There are data that show that the demand will not decrease in the years to come.
We were writing about recruiting and hiring challenges earlier as well as about the difference about in-house and outsourced developers in general, but the topic can be further fragmentized in several different points.
What types of developers’ roles are there?
As the IT industry itself, the types of roles are in a constant change and adaptation to the new needs. Although we want to avoid falling into generalization, some of the most widely known categories are:
Frontend developers
Typically, when you ask someone to tell you what frontend technologies include, they will tell you – well, everything a user sees in an application. Of course, this may sound like an oversimplification because there are numerous roles and responsibilities that a frontend developer has to implement in their day-to-day tasks.
If what you can put a check mark next to these requirements:
- building visually appealing interfaces,
- being passionate about user experience,
- teaming up with design and backend team and so on,
chances are you need a front-end developer.
Backend developers
While how a website looks and interacts on the surface involves design and front-end development, back-end development includes all the programming and systems that power everything going on below the surface. It is what makes websites work. Even the simplest website has back-end functions required to make things show up properly and allows interaction by users. Databases, APIs, functional code and more all come under this heading.
Full stack developers
Full-stack web developer skills may range from UI based tasks, full scope of front-end programming to handling servers and database programming. Having this in mind, it is no wonder many companies would like these all-around players in their teams and no wonder they are often looking for full-stack developers.
On the other hand, it is also true that it can be demanding task to easily find a full-stack developers to hire.
A full-stack developer usually is of mid-level seniority since it took time to acquire and apply the tech stack they possess.
DevOps
The term DevOps was created using two other concepts: “development” and “operations”. Of course, it would be a total oversimplification to label it only with these two words. As a matter of fact, DevOps is furthermore a combination of principles such as security, collaborative mode of working, data analysis, and so on.
Which if them do you need?
Before even setting on a journey of scaling up your software development department, it is recommended to have clear expectations, road map, timeline, and priorities of the project. That way, you may be more certain that new members of your team will add up to the value of your business.
Whether you yourself are into programming languages intricacies or there are well-versed engineers in your team who could help, decide which tech stack you need at this stage of your product. This also means taking into consideration the size of your current team and identifying the areas where they need support.
What are developer job responsibilities?
Once these areas are identified, you need to put them on paper so they can be communicated to candidates as these will also be their new responsibilities. Often, it is also a good idea to communicate your company’s values and set up the preferred tone of voice from the early start.
Although a developer may have different responsibilities depending on different roles, there are also some general points that need to be covered.
For example, if they are going to work on a new project from scratch or to maintain and improve the existing one. Or, are they expected to implement test driven development. They will for sure be more comfortable if they know the structure of the team and the established practices. Of course, it is always good to communicate to which level they are expected to communicate with the stakeholders too.
Interview questions to start with developers?
If you would like to leave the technical questions to your technical staff, you can lead in with more theoretical ones just to have a better picture of a problem-solver who is sitting on the other side of the table. A few particularly helpful ones might be:
- Why did you start programming?
- Why did you choose to pursue this tech stack in particular?
- What kind of value did you bring to your previous teams?
- Can you think of a situation when you were struggling with a task and how you resolved it?
- Can you think of a time when your colleague was having trouble with a task and how you helped them to solve it?
- What do you do when you come a completely new problem to solve? Describe the steps.
Conclusion
Developers’ roles and tech stack may and do change over time, but it can be said that there is something that will always help you find a profile which is a right fit to your vision. Namely, it is always in vogue to have clear requirements and expectations to build a transparent and productive relationship with your new developers.
