Hiring a programmer or developer is quite scary if you do not possess the necessary technical knowledge.

You don't know what to ask for or how to determine if someone is the right candidate for your company.

The fact that you are seeking these experiences and knowledge, however, means that you need them.

As a result, you can't avoid the hiring process. Therefore, even if you are uncomfortable with it, you will need to get through it. 

Even so, there are several things you can do to ensure you're hiring the right person.

In this article, we offer a list of all the considerations that you need to keep in mind when hiring for coding or programming jobs.

Let's start now.

1) Define what type of developer you need to hire

Source

In the absence of programming expertise, you may be unaware of the many types of developers. Knowing what they do and what they specialize in will help you make the right decision.

Here are some types of developers:

• Front-end developer. The major responsibility of this type of developer is to ensure that visitors to your website can easily interact with every page. They do this by combining design, technology, and programming abilities and by taking care of debugging.

• Back-end developer. These developers are responsible for creating and maintaining the technology behind a website (server, database, and core application). Simply put, they ensure that your website runs smoothly and correctly.

• Full-stack developer. Full-stack developers specialize in both front-end and back-end development. They are responsible for designing user interactions on websites, developing servers, and databases for website functionality.

• Web developer. Web developers create and maintain websites. They’re both responsible for technical (such as performance) and design aspects. In some cases, they write content for the website as well.

• UX/UI designer. UX and UI designers’ job is to provide users with easy-to-use interface pages. Thus, their responsibility focuses on design, usability, function, and sometimes, even on branding and marketing.

• Mobile developer. A mobile developer, or app developer, excels at creating, designing, and maintaining mobile applications, whether on Android or iOS. Generally, these developers work together with UI and UX designers to ensure the best user experience.

Now that you know what the different developers specialize in, you can easily determine which one is most suitable for your project or business needs.

Even if you do not see your desired skills on the above list, consider exploring other programming and coding job profiles.

2) Know the programming or coding skills to look for

Source

After identifying the type of developer your business or project needs, before kicking off the hiring process, you should know exactly what programming and coding skills and knowledge you require.

Thus, ask yourself questions like:

• What skills do I need to look for?
• What will the candidate I hire have to do on a daily basis?
• What knowledge and experience would benefit my team and business?

It will take some research to get clear and in-depth answers to these questions. 

Hence, head to Google or any other search engine and find the talents and expertise you need in order to execute your projects or keep your existing ones updated.

Typically, the skills to look for in a developer are:

• Analytical skills. Programmers and developers must be able to analyze complex information and data. For example, they must quickly understand algorithms and use this knowledge to program computer data. Therefore, it is crucial that the person you hire also has experience conducting research and analyzing data with popular tools, as well as knowledge of the most important data mining techniques.

• Computer language skills. Programming languages represent a must-have skill for programmers and developers. Based on your business needs, you may need to hire a person who is proficient in one or more of the following computer languages: Java, SQL, C++, Python, PHP, JavaScript, etc.

• Problem-solving skills. Programmers and developers should be able to identify and solve problems easily and quickly. Thus, make sure the candidates you interview have this ability and have experience with programs that serve this purpose.

• Communication skills. Good communication skills are important for any type of role. In such a case, the possession of this ability will ensure that the resource you hire will be able to explain issues and give explanations clear to both people who have programming knowledge and those who are inexperienced.

3) Write an effective programming and coding job description to attract the right applicants

If you want to attract the right applicants, you need to write a clear and effective job description.

Based on the research you made before, you now possess all the data and skills you need for your company.

You now obviously need to include them in your job listing. You can use the following effective structure for it:

• Company Description. Start your job description by describing what your company does, relevant accomplishments, and your market positioning. You shouldn't overstate the positive things about your business; it might sound fake.

• A description of the job requirements. In this section, you need to write exactly everything you’re looking for. Thus, outline the required years of experience, programming languages, type of degree (if necessary), and other technical skills relevant to the role.

• Job Duties. The purpose of this section is to describe in greater detail what the candidate will do once he/she accepts the position and joins your company. You can include details about his/her daily responsibilities and who he/she will refer to.

• List of Desired Soft Skills. Technical skills concern the practical abilities needed for the job, whereas soft skills are more important to excel at work and collaborate. Soft skills may include communication, problem-solving, and flexibility.

• List salary and benefits. You can add details about the salary, top and bottom pay depending on the level of experience, as well as perks, such as pension plans.

4) Conduct programming and coding tests to ensure the applicants possess the desired skills

From TestGorilla’s website

It is a good idea to verify that candidates who apply for your job posting possess the skill sets you require before conducting an interview. This will save both time and frustration for both parties. 

Assuming you don't possess sufficient knowledge and expertise to prepare a test yourself, you can take advantage of some artificial intelligence software for human resource management, such as TestGorilla. 

With these programs, you will streamline your hiring process by providing ready-made tests that you can send to your applicants to verify their knowledge and abilities.

As an example, in such a case, you might submit a Java skills assessment to your applicants. 

After that, the software will automatically rank your applicants based on their test scores. The only thing you need to do then is to pick the ones that got the best scores and let them move forward in the hiring process.

5) Prepare in advance the questions you’ll ask during the interview

Source

Your applicants have completed the assessment programming tests, you've chosen the best candidates, and now it's time to conduct an interview.

To make a more rational decision, you can schedule multiple interviews.

During the first interview, you can evaluate the candidate's soft skills and determine whether he or she is the right fit for your company and team.

After making a first shortlist, you can conduct a second and, if necessary, a third interview to assess the candidate's technical knowledge and skills. You should involve more members of your team in the interview process, so you can get different viewpoints.

As these interviews will be decisive, ensure that they assist you in making the right decision. To this end, you need to make sure to ask the right questions.

Again, if you don’t have any programming knowledge, you need to do some research and look for the relevant questions to answer and also search for the correct responses you’ll need to expect. This way you can conduct a structured interview and determine if the candidate has actually the level of expertise you need.

Some examples of questions you can ask during the interview are:

• What are your strategies for keeping up with computer programming trends?
• Are you a fan of any particular software development process?
• Can you describe a recent programming project you worked on?
• How much practical experience do you have as a programmer?

Conclusions

Hiring for coding and programming jobs isn’t easy, especially if you don’t have any corresponding knowledge or experience.

The process will be easier if you take the considerations listed above into account.

Determine the type of developer you need and do some research to find out more about the skills and competencies to look for. After you've done your research, test the candidates by giving them some assessment programming tests and asking them the right questions in the interview.

With this process, you'll ensure that you hire the right candidate for your project and company.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this article. Hopefully, it was useful and insightful for you. If you want to read more about hiring, check out this article about how to optimize your hiring process.