So you made a huge amount of research and decided to follow companies like Netflix, NASA, PayPal and Uber and start Node development. Congratulations! Now the ‘only’ thing to do is to hire the best developers for your team. So how do you go about it? Hiring Node.js developers is not that easy as the demand outweighs the supply and the developers available are not always skilled enough.
It is crucial to be familiar with the Node environment, know what questions to ask and what skills a backend developer should have to find the best candidates. In this article, I will discuss all that with some tips and tricks that will help you get the best of the best for the backend web development for your business based on my experience working with many clients.
What you will learn from this article:
- What are the key differences between Node.js and other server-side frameworks, and how do these differences impact application development?
- What are the most important skills and attributes to look for when hiring process a Node.js developer, especially considering the current market demand and skill levels?
- How important is it for a Node.js developer to have front-end development skills, and what level of proficiency should they have in technologies like HTML, CSS, and front-end frameworks?
- What are the indicators of a strong Node.js project or contribution in a developer’s portfolio? What specific aspects should hiring managers focus on?
- What are the most critical Node.js frameworks and libraries a developer should be familiar with, and how do these tools enhance development efficiency and product quality?
Node.js App Development
As mentioned above, successful companies like Netflix, PayPal or Microsoft recognized the benefits of Node.js. It is a comfortable framework allowing code execution on the server-side. Node.js unifies app development, eliminating the need for different languages. It is mostly dedicated to building web applications in real-time. What is more, it is suitable for mobile app development due to its ecosystem, package manager and extensive solutions like Nest.js.
Developers find Node.js great since it gives them great development speed and multi-user proficiency. It is a combination of library, framework and web app side development tools that effortlessly streamlines the process of web application building. It is based on Chrome’s V8 JS engine and uses an event-driven, asynchronous, non-blocking input/output model.
Who are Node.js developers?
Node.js has been experiencing a high developer demand. Since 2017 its rising popularity resulted in a rise in job searches. Currently, Node.js has over 25 thousand users on Github and this number is constantly growing. What is more, in the Stack Overflow 2020 survey Node.js scored 51,4% in terms of popularity of frameworks.
Screenshot from StackOverflow 2020 Survey.
Since Node.js is used for back-end engineering the developers should be able to make a connection between the customer and the server-side. Node.js services also include front-end, so developers also understand the user-facing part of the application. They should know how the front-end components work with the back-end ones.
Apart from those, among the most frequently mentioned developer skills are:
- familiarity with Agile and Scrum
- ability to write unit and integration tests
- experience working with Git and GitHub
- Code Review and Continuous Integration processes
Are Node.js developers in demand?
According to Indeed’s hiring lab, job searches for Node.js rose by 57% in 2019 and is still expected to grow and overtake popular frameworks like Ruby on Rails. Since Node is a JavaScript runtime the demand for it will grow with the demand for JS. On indeed.com there are currently over 11 000 job offers for Node.js developers from all over the world.
10 must-have skills of a Node.js developer
Experience
Node.js library consists of many tools and IDEs so it is important that your candidate knows how to navigate among them. A good developer should have some Node.js projects in his/her portfolio and show active participation and contributions to open-source projects. This not only proves solid knowledge of the framework but also proves the developers is a passionate engineer and team player.
Understanding of other front-end technologies
Front-end design patterns development obviously goes beyond the knowledge of Node.js. It refers to what the end-users see therefore a good understanding of front-end design and development including HTML and CSS is necessary for Nodde.js developers.
Efficient code
The code written by your candidate should be object-oriented. Ensure he/she follows standard practices for continuality.
Knowledge of Node.js frameworks
Frameworks expand the Node.js ecosystem, adding features and functionalities. That is why it is important your candidate knows some of them and can choose the most suitable one. Most often here we can talk about the Express functional framework, MVC frameworks like Strongloop or Sinatra and, of course, Nest.js for the back-end development.
Error-handling skills
Make sure the developer you want to hire knows how to handle errors and how to log them. Syntax manipulation and troubleshooting are basic problem-solving skills of a good Node.js developer.
RESTful APIs and API Communications
Every Node.js developer needs to know how to interpret API codes, meaning, know how to handle interactions between multiple systems.
Asynchronous Programming
Node.js is all about asynchronous programming as it significantly decreases the waiting time for requests. Since it is still a relatively new concept, not every developer will have a proper understanding of its workarounds.
Database scheme creation
Database management is a crucial skill to have in order to develop successful Node.js applications. The right candidate should know how to create them for business processes and how to integrate multiple data sources and databases into one system seamlessly.
User Authentication and Authorization
A good web developer should have a working knowledge of user authentication and authorization between multiple systems, servers and environments.
Experience in Data Protection
Security is of great importance when it comes to web apps. Developers should ensure your software is secure through the implementation of data protection systems to prevent security breaches and data theft.
Top 10 questions you should ask a Node.js developer
After you carefully research the candidates, it is time to schedule an interview. To ensure you hire the best of the best, there are a few basic questions you can ask them. The most common questions for a Node.js developer are:
- How does Node.js handle child threads?
- What are the timing features of Node.js?
- What is REPL what purpose it is used for?
- What is REPL in Node.js?
- How would you debug a Node.js application?
- What are the functionalities of NPM in Node.js?
- Explain the Reactor Pattern in Node.js.
- What is event-driven programming?
- What is callback hell in Node.js?
- What are some of the most popular modules of Node.js?
Note: Try to come up with questions that are challenging but interesting at the same time.
How to find Node.js developers?
When hiring a Node.js developer, there are three general routes you can go: hiring in-house, finding a freelancer or outsourcing. Each of them has its pros and cons, so let’s take a better look.
In-house
Companies decide to hire in-house development when they are planning to develop their own product that will require ongoing maintenance and updates. This gives them access to a support team on-site, however, can be much more expensive than outsourcing.
When you are hiring in-house you have to consider aspects such as the time-consuming hiring process, providing a suitable workspace for your developer or team, training and later pay management, handling time off etc. In-house equals ongoing costs that are not present when outsourcing.
Freelancer
Freelance developers can be found through various portals, but they can be quite risky. Hiring a freelancer means you do not have control over the quality of your solution, the communication and availability can be limited while scaling means higher overall costs. What is more, you are entrusting your idea to a stranger, which puts you out for security risks.
Obviously, working with a freelancer brings cost benefits, but it is great only for short term commitments.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing can be further divided into two categories: team augmentation and hiring a dedicated development team. The first one is chosen by companies that already have a development team in-house, yet they lack specific skills or available resources. Team augmentation allows quick scaling with experienced engineers. Read more about staff augmentation in the post What Is Staff Augmentation.
On the other hand, hiring a fully-fledged development team is perfect when you need a self-managing team that can take over the project and handle it from start to finish. Outsourcing companies can also provide you with skilled designers and QA engineers, so you can focus on the business aspects of the web and mobile apps development — more about the topic in Outsourcing Trends In Software Development In 2022.
When discussing outsourcing it is worth mentioning the top locations where you can find experienced professionals, one of those being Poland. Polish developers are known for their high level of knowledge and code quality. Poland is still relatively cheap compared to other countries giving you the best value for money. What is more, they are reliable, have amazing communication skills and work culture.
How to choose a software development company?
As mentioned above, outsourcing is the way to go if you do not want to hire a dedicated team in-house and are looking for cost and time savings. You can look for an outsourcing partner in similar ways you would look for a developer, but the most popular way is probably through dedicated platforms like:
As they say, they help you ‘get in touch with firms that deliver’. You can go through various categories and filter the results to best suit your needs. The profiles of development houses provide extensive information about their portfolio, average rates, technology stack as well as previous clients’ testimonials.
Similarly to Clutch, it’s a catalogue full of development companies of various sizes and specializations.
You should definitely visit the company’s website and review:
- Portfolio - case studies are a perfect opportunity to review their previous projects to figure out if they have experience in building solutions similar to yours
- Company blog - articles show off the knowledge and understanding of the given domain and can help you find the most experienced engineers
- Client testimonials - check what previous clients have to say
- Events - at Selleo, we believe that being an active part of a community gives us a lot of opportunities to grow and learn
Summary
Finding the right people to develop your business project is a process that takes time and effort, no matter the technology. Node.js is a framework which popularity is constantly growing while the market seems to be not saturated enough. Thanks to its asynchronous approach and easy scaling, it is used by successful enterprises like Netflix or Microsoft.
Before you start looking for Node.js experts or node.js development company it is crucial to decide whether an in-house team or outsourcing is a better fit for your requirements. Each of them gives you different benefits, but be prepared to conduct extensive research.
If you come across this article because you are currently searching for the perfect outsourcing company for your Node.js project - look no further. Selleo can turn your idea into a high-quality working product while providing you with programming, design and QA experts. Contact us for more details and a free quote.
