6 important factors when hiring a developer for your software project

A competent software developer must, of course, be able to master the basic requirements and skills. However, to choose someone who stands out from the crowd, you also need to consider some key attributes.

Here are six things to consider when looking to hire a software developer

A solid programming foundation

A competent software developer obviously needs to have solid programming skills. That goes without saying. However, it's important to note that a good programmer is usually proficient in more than one programming language. It's not just a matter of knowing a particular language, but of understanding the fundamental concepts behind programming.

Indeed, while the focus is often on frameworks such as Laravel or Django, solid, fundamental skills should not be overlooked. Even if your programmer only works on front-end code, such as React, an understanding of typically back-end concepts such as interfaces, polymorphism and inheritance is certainly useful.

What's more, programming isn't just about thinking and pressing keys. It also involves research, and a solid knowledge of the programming language or framework itself is a strong indicator. If you're hiring a Laravel developer, a .Net developer or a Rails developer, they should have a thorough knowledge of the APIs available and know when to use them. C

Soft-skills

A good software developer needs strong communication skills, as he or she is often required to liaise directly with a customer or manager to bring a project to fruition.

The ability to solve problems and clearly formulate solutions is also essential, as most software developers have to propose options to meet specific budgets and standard solutions. They must also be able to present a breakdown of the stages or phases of a project.

Interested in project success

A good developer must focus on the success of your project above all else. By focusing on results that improve the value of your project (aligned with your business objectives), a good developer will regularly encourage you to consider more efficient and cost-effective options.

The developer should challenge your ideas and propose alternatives. Sometimes, this might mean suggesting a pre-made solution rather than committing to entirely bespoke development that's more costly and time-consuming to implement.

Project and time management skills

We generally look to recruit software developers who know how to use and implement project management tools such as Trello, Basecamp, JIRA, ClickUp, etc.

The developer will thus be able to track projects, enabling teams to assign tasks, share and collaborate on documents, and plan projects.

Time tracking is also essential to a project's success - a developer needs to be able to provide detailed reports on how and where their time is spent on a particular project. This enables a company to understand how much time is being spent on specific tasks, and to determine which aspects of a project their money is being spent on. It's also a useful tool for estimating deadlines for a company's future projects.

He has experience with Git or SVN

Software developers should use source control tools such as Git or SVN to increase their productivity.

These tools enable developers to track the modification history of their code and manage different versions of it. This enables them to easily revert to an earlier version when needed, merge modifications made by several developers on the same branch, or work on several features simultaneously.

Git and SVN also enable developers to manage code quality issues more effectively by offering features such as automated testing, quality control and code validation. This enables developers to detect errors quickly and correct them before they become more serious problems.

Finally, a source control tool also ensures data security by enabling developers to regularly back-up their source code and store it on remote servers. This helps prevent data loss in the event of hardware failure or other catastrophe.

The icing on the Sundae

If you want a developer who stands out from the crowd, it's a good idea to hire those with complementary technical skills. This will show that they have gone beyond their basic professional experience and demonstrate a genuine passion for programming.

Qualities that set developers apart from the rest include those who can carry out automated testing (e.g., unit testing, functional testing and integration testing), those who have worked on their own amateur coding projects and those who have contributed to open source projects.

These activities push the developer beyond their comfort zone, lead them to think in a more versatile way, and naturally allow them to acquire new skills along the way - a perfect mix for finding the developer who stands out.