Hire senior and proven Frontend developers

In an age where user experience can make or break digital products, the role of Frontend developers has become increasingly vital. These talented individuals bridge the gap between design and functionality, turning visions into interactive and visually appealing realities.

The role of a Frontend developer has transcended from mere coding to becoming an artful architect of virtual spaces. Crafting seamless user interfaces that marry aesthetics with user-centered functionality requires a unique blend of skills and competencies.

However, the pace of technological progress is unprecedented and the traits defining a skilled fronted developer have evolved. The 2000s bring its own set of challenges and opportunities for businesses looking to strengthen their development teams. Whether you're a startup aiming to make your mark, a tech giant seeking excellent tech experts, or a business of any size, understanding the nuances of hiring frontend developers has never been more critical.

Required skills and competencies of a Frontend developer

Some companies would require a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field to be able to apply for a job as a developer (in any capacity). Some companies don't require anything else except raw coding skills and problem-solving abilities, but having some kind of developer-related certification is always a plus.

The following are some of the skills that you should look for when hiring a Frontend developer:

HTML and CSS knowledge

HTML is used to create web pages, while CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) manages their appearance. Both these languages are essential for any Frontend developer to know as they are used to build websites. A Frontend developer must have excellent knowledge of HTML5, XHTML, and CSS3. They should also know how to work with frameworks like Bootstrap or Foundation, which help them create responsive layouts for mobile devices.

JavaScript knowledge

JavaScript is the most popular scripting language developers use to create interactive elements on websites, such as buttons, menus, and other widgets. It is important to hire a Frontend developer who has strong knowledge of JavaScript because it helps them enhance the look and feel of your website without having users leave it; something called client-side processing or single-page application (SPA).

Clean code

The most important skill for a frontend developer is being able to write clean and reusable code. This means they can write modular code that's easy to maintain, refactor, and reuse across projects. They need to understand the best way to structure their code, so it's easy to read by other developers and maintainable over time.

Knowledge of other frameworks

Frontend developers should understand how to build web components using frameworks such as React.js, Vue.js, Angular.js, or Ember.js. They should also be comfortable building reusable code libraries for their engagements.

Ardit Maloku, a Fullstack Engineer working at Proxify mentions the importance of the work Frontend Developers do.

“Frontend developers should be responsible for building pixel-perfect websites, keep users up to date with everything happening on the website, and give opinions on how to improve the user experience.”

Ardit Maloku

The difference between frontend and backend development

The frontend development is the first step of building a web application. It involves HTML, CSS and JavaScript code. The frontend developer is responsible for developing the user interface and interaction elements of your website or mobile app.

The backend development, on the other hand, involves creating all backend functionality like databases, APIs, and server software, which provides the data to display on your website or mobile app.

Ardit explains what the difference is in a nutshell.

"Frontend development is programming that focuses on the visual elements of a website or app that a user will interact with. Meanwhile, backend development focuses on the side of a website users can't see.”

To understand this even further, Ardit explains the difference in a simple metaphor:

“Many people, like me, for example, like cars. If we look at the website as we look at cars, we can see everything they have in common. So, the frontend is the interior and exterior of a car, while the backend is the engine of it. The user on the website is the driver of the car, so the driver still needs to push the pedals to drive the car. That's what frontend does for the website; it makes that engine (backend) run and operates from the end-user’s perspective."

For a more detailed description, check out our ultimate guide on frontend development languages and how they differ from one another.

How do you hire a good Frontend developer?

The first thing to understand is that there are many different types of frontend developers out there, and each has their specialty. Some focus on only HTML/CSS, while others focus on JavaScript frameworks like React.js, Angular.js, or even jQuery.

If you're looking for someone who can build a simple HTML page with some CSS styling, then you'll probably want to hire someone experienced with HTML/CSS. If you want someone who can design custom templates for your site, then look for someone who has experience with jQuery (or similar) frameworks.

Hiring a Frontend developer is not easy, and it's not just because of the shortage of frontend developers in the market. There are many factors you need to consider.

Here are some tips that will help you hire the best Frontend Developers for your team:

• Before you start looking for candidates, ensure that you know exactly what you want in a Frontend Developer. You should be clear about the skills required as well as the experience level that you expect from your candidates.

• Look for someone who has worked on tasks similar to yours before. This will help ensure that your candidate has relevant experience, which helps reduce the training cost and onboarding time for them once they are hired by your company.

• Check that you are hiring someone who is technically skilled at what they do. This will help ensure that the person you hire knows what they're doing and can deliver results on time and on budget.

• Ensure they are motivated enough to want to work with you. This can be done by finding out what drives them and making sure that their goals align with yours.

• Make sure that the person has experience working with other developers and managing tasks themselves – this will help ensure that they won't need constant oversight from you (although sometimes this is unavoidable). Also, ensuring they have experience working with similar companies will avoid any surprises when it comes time for them to start their job.

Interview questions and example answers

For Junior level developers

1. What skills does a frontend developer need?

Example answer: A frontend developer must know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. They also need to be familiar with responsive design and web development best practices.

2. Define HTML meta tags.

Example answer: Meta tags are HTML elements that contain information about the page, including the page's name, description, keywords, author, and more. They are often used by search engines to help them determine how to categorize your site.

3. Describe the advantages of REST web services.

Example answer: REST stands for Representational State Transfer. It's an architectural style for building Web services over HTTP. REST web services make it easier for clients to access data across multiple platforms and devices (for example, mobile phones).

4. Explain the concept of promises and async/await.

Example answer: A Promise is an object representing the eventual completion or failure of an asynchronous operation. It returns a single value of some type and has three states - pending, resolved, and rejected. Async/await is a special syntax to work with promises in a more comfortable, synchronous-like manner. An async function always returns a promise; await makes JavaScript wait until that promise settles and returns its result.

5. Explain user-centered design.

Example answer: A user-centered design focuses on the needs and desires of your users, rather than just trying to make your product look nice. User-centered design helps you understand what your users want and need so that they can use your product more effectively and enjoyably.

6. What is the difference between null and undefined in JavaScript?

Example answer: Undefined means a variable has been declared but not assigned a value. On the other hand, null is an assignment value that represents no value or no object.

7. How do you ensure your website or application is accessible, user-friendly, and up to all the latest web development standards and best practices?

Example answer: Test websites and apps on all major browsers, devices, and configurations to ensure the user experience is up to par on all of them. Employ the help of screen readers and other solutions to ensure my applications are accessible to all users. Also, stay informed of all web development best practices and use the latest language versions to reduce and eventually eliminate any room for error in my code. I use test-driven development regularly.

8. Tell me when and why should I make use of Webpack?

Example answer: Webpack is an open-source module bundler for JavaScript applications. It bundles together all of your files into one file called a "bundle." This means that instead of loading each file separately (like CSS, HTML and JavaScript), WebPack bundles them into one file that loads quickly and efficiently – so your website loads faster!

You should use Webpack when you want to bundle multiple JavaScript files together into one file, and load them all at once in the browser.

9. Mention three ways to decrease page load time.

Example answer:

• Keep the number of HTTP requests to a minimum by combining multiple files into one.

• Reduce the size of each asset by compressing images, and minifying HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files.

-Minimize the distance between the server and end-user by using a CDN (Content Delivery Network).

For experienced (Senior) developers

10. What is stringify?

Example answer: Stringify is an online tool that helps you convert plain text into rich snippets in HTML and JSON formats. It works on plain text documents, extracts metadata from them, and converts them into JSON or HTML code with formatting and style information. There are many developers who use Stringify to create rich snippets for their web pages as well as their websites so that Google can better understand what their website is about and rank it higher in search results pages.

11. What are your favorite (and/or most used) HTML features, and how have you used them in your tasks?

Example answer: “I appreciate how HTML5 handles multimedia support as opposed to its previous iterations. I often use this feature to craft an interesting, visually appealing, and responsive design that uses audio and video elements as a crucial part of the overarching website experience. It allows me to build freely without worrying about bugs during loading time or encountering conflicts with other elements on the web page.”

Allow the candidate to express their personal views with this question.

12. Can you explain how 'this' keyword works in JavaScript?

Expected answer: The JavaScript this keyword refers to the object it belongs to. It has different values depending on where it is used: in a method, this refers to the owner object; alone, this refers to the global object; in a function, this refers to the global object; in a function (in strict mode), this is undefined; in an event, this refers to the element that received the event.

13. In an image tag, what is the benefit of the srcset attribute?

Example answer: The srcset attribute allows you to specify multiple images that can be loaded depending on the device and screen size. This provides users with a better experience when they're browsing through your site on mobile devices.

14. Explain the difference between Git Pull and Git Fetch.

Example answer: Git Pull and Git Fetch are two different commands that both fetch new code from a remote repository and merge it into your local working copy. Git Pull fetches new code from a remote repository, merges it into your local working copy, and then stops. Git Fetch is similar to Git Pull, except it does not stop after merging; instead, it continues on with any additional commands you've given (like Git checkout).

15. What is Semantic HTML? How does it work?

Example answer: Semantic HTML is when you use HTML tags that are relevant to the content on your website, such as paragraphs for text and lists for lists. Semantic HTML helps search engines understand what your website is about so they can provide better results for users browsing the web with those search engines.

16. Explain the difference between == and === in JavaScript.

Example answer: == checks for equality with type coercion, meaning the interpreter implicitly converts one or either of the operands to make them directly comparable. On the other hand, === is a strict equality operator and checks for equality without type coercion. If the operands are of different data types, it returns false.

17. Define the Anonymous function in JavaScript?

Example answer: The anonymous function in JavaScript is used when you don’t want to explicitly define a function name, but want to execute some code in its place.

18. How can you handle errors in JavaScript?

Example answer: Errors in JavaScript can be handled using try/catch/finally blocks. The try block contains the code that might throw an error, the catch block executes if an error occurs in the try block, and the finally block executes after the try and catch blocks, regardless of the result.

Why should you hire a frontend developer?

There is so much more to frontend development than simply HTML, CSS, or JavaScript code. Frontend developers provide efficient solutions to the following challenges:

Website accessibility: Accessibility challenges are something that frontend developers are trained in and know how to solve. It's relatively easy to create a website that can be accessed by most users. But, how about creating one that can be accessed by all users regardless of their circumstances? Frontend developers are the best person for the job, as they are directly responsible for writing the parts of the website that users access and interact with in any conceivable capacity.

Website performance: The user response time is closely connected to the frontend. This means that only 10-20% of the website's performance is reliant on the backend (server-side). If the web performance is slow and unreliable, users will quickly abandon the website and try other alternatives. That is why it's crucial to have good web performance, paired with a stellar UI (user experience), which inevitably leads to more traffic and, ultimately, improved revenue in the long run.

Web design: A quality frontend developer is a "hybrid” between a software engineer and an interface designer. They are able to take a raw graphical design pattern and translate it into a visually lustrous HTML experience that offers: accessibility, reliable web performance, easy maintenance, cross-device compatibility, and responsive web design.