When you are in dire need of creating a development team quickly and finding vetted professionals for long-term employment, the sourcing and interviewing process can be quite tenuous. This is the case if you don’t have much experience with vetting talented developers and assessing their soft skills.
In this guide, we will offer you answers on which fields of software development your dev should be in, and how it can be useful to hire software developers remotely.
What kinds of software developers are there?
The software industry is a fun jungle, and for the inexperienced, it can be confusing to learn that there are many different types of software development, followed by even more technologies, languages, frameworks, libraries, and other tech terms that a non-developer will have a hard time understanding. So, it would be a good idea to get acquainted with the basics first.
Frontend developers are in charge of turning a concept (made by a designer, a customer, or someone else) into a fully functional website using code.
The frontend developer makes elements such as logo, buttons, user interactivity, and the complete layout of the website interact with the backend and provides a seamless experience and a functioning aesthetic.
Developers are also in charge of making the site look good on a variety of devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers (a process known as responsive design).
Frontend design includes the use of coding languages, and the functionality of which can occasionally overlap between the two major development paradigms (frontend and backend). If a frontend developer has experience with both, the paradigm shifts to fullstack development.
Some of the most notable frontend programming languages and frameworks are JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Gatsby, Angular, and Vue.
The part of a software, website, or service that users do not see is referred to as the backend. The backend is referred to as the data access layer in programming, whereas the frontend is referred to as the presentation layer. Imagine it as a clock: the frontend is the arrows and the numbers, whereas the backend is the gear that makes the arrows turn.
For example, the majority of today's websites are dynamic. This means that content is created in real-time. A dynamic page typically includes one or more scripts that are implemented on a web server each time you visit a page on that website. The scripts create all of the material on the page, which is subsequently transferred and displayed to the user's browser.
The backend includes all processes that take place before a page is shown in a web browser.
Notable technologies in which backend developers are prolific are JavaScript (also in the backend), Node.js, C++, C#, .NET, .NET Core, Go, ASP.NET, Java, Ruby on Rails, and many others.
Fullstack developers are web developers who are fluent in both frontend and backend technologies that are needed to be able to code software.
Often, software development projects should be approached with the objective of fullstack development in mind. That is why fullstack technologies are very useful in ramping up production and helping you save money for hiring frontend and backend developers separately.
Some of the most essential fullstack technologies are HTML, CSS, ASP.NET, .NET Core, and JavaScript, among others.
Mobile development, often known as mobile app development, is the most common sort of software development.
In reality, compared to most types of software development, mobile development uses a whole new set of technologies.
For example, an Android application developer has to know Java, Blazor, or Kotlin programming to be able to develop natively. An iOS developer has to be fluent in Objective C or Swift development.
Others choose a hybrid or cross-platform development to overcome the resource constraints of mobile development, relying on a single toolset for multi-platform compatibility. Technologies that are applicable for both Android and iOS app development are React Native, Cordova, Ionic, Flutter, and Dart.
Web app developers
A web application is a page that can be interacted with. It allows users to contribute to data and interact with it in a variety of ways.
Web applications are comparable to traditional apps, but the primary difference is that they are kept online and may be accessed through a browser. As a result, they have tight contact with the server, which receives a large number of requests.
Web apps and websites are not the same things, and web app developers are not the same as web developers.
Online forms, shopping carts, word processors, spreadsheets, video, photo editing and viewing, file conversion, file scanning, and sending emails are all examples of web apps. Some famous web apps you probably have used before are Netflix, Google Drive, Adobe Acrobat, Dropbox, and Hootsuite, among others.
Technologies used for web app development you will come across are Webflow, React, Magento, Drupal, WordPress, HTML, CSS, and many JavaScript frameworks.
Data scientists
Data science is a branch of development that combines programming and data analysis to examine large volumes of data and uncover trends and repetitions in the behavior of target subjects.
Instead of creating commercially available, client-side software, data scientists build micro to large-scale programs specifically designed for data analysis.
Even though data may not appear as the most appealing subject topic, data science has a wide range of applications, from financial institutions, medical technology, and analysis, to advertising.
As in any field of software, there are many technologies that data scientists use, but some of the most notable ones are TensorFlow, Keras, Scikit-learn, Pandas, and PyTorch.
Desktop developers
Desktop development is the building of apps operating on systems such as Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux, or simply explained – desktop systems only.
The most common type of software development used to be desktop development. However, with the global rising usage of smartphones and mobile apps, desktop development has become considerably less prevalent.
People continue to utilize desktop programs daily. For example, Google Chrome is a desktop application that helps you surf the Internet. Some of the most famous desktop development technologies are UWP, WPF, Windows Forms, Cocoa, Electron, and Swing.
Cloud engineers
Services, programs, and applications that run in the cloud are referred to as cloud computing. That means they may be accessible from virtually any location as long as the user has an internet connection and a valid login. They have a lot of benefits, including scalability as well.
Some programmers specialize in building cloud platforms. They'll create cloud apps, assist with cloud deployment and migration, administer cloud services, and give user support.
Notable cloud computing technologies are Microsoft Azure, Kubernetes, AWS, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Linux, and others.
Security engineers
Security software engineers are dedicated to guaranteeing the safety of various technical systems. They have a thorough understanding of the technique, methods, tools, and patterns used by cybercriminals to hack software, allowing them to assist in the prevention of such assaults.
One example of this type of professional is ethical hackers. They collaborate with clients to hack software to identify and reveal flaws, allowing them to fix those.
DevOps is a set of methods and ideas aimed at delivering software in a timely, efficient, and customer-centric manner. It is used by a large number of software engineers and teams worldwide that focus on problem-solving and efficiency, as well as quality and creating software.
DevOps engineers collaborate with teams developing software. They are involved in QA testing and deployment.
They are usually focusing on multiple types of tasks, including programming, integration, scripting, QA testing, and many more. They must also combine theory and practice to assist and collaborate with the rest of the team which may include software developers and quality assurance specialists.
Database developers
A database developer is in charge of creating databases, altering and designing existing or new systems, and ensuring that they meet the users' needs. The duties of the database administrator and developer can sometimes overlap, depending on the needs of the client or employer.
Video game developers
Simply put, video game software development is focused on developing video games. Depending on the complexity of the game and the technology it is built on, an average video game can be built for years.
The most crucial aspect of a good user experience, and hence the popularity of video games, is the visual feedback. To make sure that the interactive software will be intuitive and easy to use on computers, consoles, and mobile devices, video game developers use technologies like Creation Engine, Unity, Unreal Engine, Anvil, and CryEngine.
What are some good interview questions to ask developers?
When doing a pre-screening interview with developers, you will most likely focus on their general technical skills and soft skills as well. When it comes to general questions that apply to any technology or skills, here are some useful questions:
- What are the features of X?
- Why use X instead of other frameworks, like Y?
- How do you create a Xt app/website?
- How many years of experience do you have in this particular field or framework?
- What was your favorite project, and why?
- Show me some of your personal projects or projects you’ve been involved in that you were passionate about.
- Apart from your main expertise, what other technologies are you fluent in?
What skills to look for in developers in the vetting process?
Apart from an expert knowledge in their main tech stack, developers should also possess soft skills, and if you’re hiring remotely, English language skill.
According to our HR team, the main non-technical skills are presentability, openness, sociability, honesty, curiosity, flexibility.
When they are searching for people to staff in our company, between two candidates with the same professional skills and tech stack, some soft skills that will distinguish the better one are:
- Clear and professional communication approach
- Upper-Intermediate or higher English level
- Ability to get on well with any team
- Leadership ambitions
- Ability to support and mentor the junior colleagues
- Punctuality when it comes to attending the meetings or completing the tasks on time.
Conclusion
The good news is that there are many talented people working in software development, from all around the world. The bad news is that there are thousands of open job positions and opportunities, and on top of that, it is pretty hard to find a person with the exact tech stack, experience and soft skills to hire in a short period of time.
Check out our services and pricing, and perhaps you might hire the right person in a matter of days.
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