Hiring a full-stack developer may be the most challenging thing ever because of the complexity of the term full-stack. It is used in a broad sense to describe different types of developers proficient in various web stacks. Unlike front-end and back-end developers, two full-stack developers may work with entirely different languages and frameworks.
Here Are Some Things You Must Know Before You Hire a Full-Stack Developer
Full-stack developers can work on both the front-end and back-end of the website. They can also do DeVops, which means they can work on all the different components of a website or web application.
- Front-end: The front-end of the website is the side that your clients can see. It refers to the visual elements on your site that are created using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript technologies. HTML helps to give a structure to the website; CSS establishes the style, and JavaScript gives it logic.
- Back-end: The back-end of the website is the side that is not visible to the clients. It is the server-side essential to run a website. It stores the database, does caching, and also provides business logic to the site. Some commonly used back-end stacks include Django, MEAN, Ruby on Rails.
- DevOps: DevOps is essential to manage website servers, scale up or down a site to update it. With DevOps, you can create databases and cloud storage for your site.
Full-stack developers may work with front-end and back-end developers separately. They may bring together the works of these developers who have specific specializations to create a seamless link between the two ends more effortlessly.
Developers in full-stack can have different specializations. For instance, there can be MEAN stack developers, LAMP stack, ROR, ASP.NET developers. While MEAN stack developers specialize in MongoDB, Expressjs, AngularJs, NodeJS technologies, LAMP stack developers specialize in Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP.
Even though full-stack developers are proficient in front-end and back-end languages and frameworks, they do not specialize in each of them. Instead, they have working knowledge of them, which is sufficient to build a complete website from scratch.
When Should You Hire a Full Stack Developer?
Limited Budget: Many people think that full-stack developers charge much money for what they do because of their full-stack knowledge. However, it is only a misconception. Hiring front-end and back-end developers individually will require a more overall budget than hiring a full-stack developer. So when your budget is limited, the best thing to do is to hire a full-stack developer.
Startup Business: When you are just starting your business, your budget is more likely to be limited because you have to spend money on many things, including your website. That is when you should hire a full-stack developer. Once you have your website up and running, your customers will grow, and so will your revenue. Your budget will increase, and then you can easily hire specialized developers to improve the quality and performance of your site.
No Team Leader: If you need a leader for your in-house development team, there is no better person than a full-stack developer. S/he is qualified to assist every member of the team. S/he can help to solve problems that arise while developing a website. S/he can facilitate communication among the team members and ensure that the work happens smoothly.
From Where Can You Hire A Full-Stack Developer?
Full-stack development is popular among developers, and so many of them pursue it as their career. You are likely to find some of them in your locality. But hiring them online is a wiser choice. Several websites offer qualified and experienced full-stack developers at cheap rates. You can get your work done professionally and save on your expenses at the same time.
Here are the top websites from where you can hire them:
- Toptal: Toptal is the best website for hiring freelance full-stack developers. It connects employers to the top 3 percent of candidates worldwide. This website is trusted by big brands like Hewlett Packard, Airbnb, Zendesk. And the hourly rates at which you can find developers of your choice range as low as $60 and as high as $210.
- Hired: Hired has over 3 million job seekers, so you will always find someone to work on your project. The process of hiring from this website is quite simple. First, you create a job position and specify all the skills and experience you need for that position. Hired gives you some automatic matches from where you can select. Or you can also lookup candidates from their advanced search function. Then you can send personalized interview requests to candidates and hire someone within 25 days.
- GitHub Jobs: GitHub is a popular code repository, so new and experienced developers regularly visit this website. It has a vast developers community made of some of the most talented developers. GitHub Jobs is the company's job board where you can find qualified full-stack developers any time you need.
- Upwork: Upwork is another popular website for hiring full-stack developers. It has various plans and features. Once you post your free job with everything you need, Upwork automatically connects you with some of the top talents and agencies worldwide, including those near you. It has a Basic, Business, Plus, and Enterprise plan. The Basic idea is free, while the Business plan is $849 a month.
- Stack Overflow: Stack Overflow is similar to GitHub Jobs. It is one of the largest developers communities, with over 50 million monthly visitors. You can look up some of the best developers here, or you can post an ad so that developers can find you and contact you.
- Freelancer: In this website, searching for a full-stack developer has a different procedure. It has over 25 million registered users, which include many highly qualified full-stack developers as well. However, it is up to you to find someone who will be most suitable for your website. You will have to connect with the candidate by yourself because the platform does not have automatic hiring options.
- AngelList: If you have a startup company, this website is the best for you. It features many talented developers that you can choose from for your new business. The best thing about this website is that it will connect you with investors who will find your project.
- Gigster: Gigster is a fantastic website if you have enough time to hire a professional. They have freelancers who have worked for companies like Google and Microsoft, so you can trust them with their developers. Gigster is most suitable for large companies with more than basic requirements. You can hire full-stack developers and, at the same time, form your team on the website itself.
- PeoplePerHour: PeoplePerHour has over 2 million freelancers. The website connects your business to this vast community of freelancers worldwide. The hiring process is also easy because you can see the ratings and reviews for each of the candidates. Further, it has an artificial intelligence system that matches the best freelancers once you post your project using their project writing tool. The site has only fixed price offers starting as low as £10.
- Scalable Path: Scalable Path is another platform like Toptal, where you can hire the best talents without any technical knowledge. It has a personalized hiring system with a step-by-step approach, so you always get the best developers for your project. You can hire a team of developers as well with highly qualified team leads. The entire process takes only a few weeks.
- Authentic Jobs: This website claims to be the leading job board for developers, designers, and other professionals. Here you will find talented full-stack developers who have both technical knowledge as well as a knowledge of the aesthetics required to create a website.
- CodePen: With over 2.8 million members, CodePen is the world's largest job community of developers and designers. It has over 5 million visitors each month, so when you post your job, it is sure to be seen. Further, if you pay more money, it will also be cross-listed on two highly popular websites- CSS-Tricks and ShopTalk Show. Here, you can find both remote and in-house developers as per your preferences.
- X-Team: X-Team is a leading website for hiring a team of developers. This site mentors all its developers so you can rest assured about their quality. The process is automated, so you do not need technical expertise to select candidates. You also do not have to interview them because the website will do it for you. It has a simple, flexible contract system where you pay every month. You can scale your team whenever you need it.
- We Work Remotely: This is a leading website for hiring remote full-stack developers. The platform is expensive compared to other platforms, so you pay $299 to have your job posted on the site. But if you want to work with remote developers, this is the best repository you will ever find.
- Arc (CodementorX): Previously known as CodementorX, Arc is another platform for hiring remote developers. It does not limit your search to local developers; instead, it finds talents from all corners of the world so you can have more options to choose. The developers you hire are qualified and trustworthy, so you can rely on them for your project.
- Global Employees: At Global Employees, you can hire full-stack developers at short-term contracts. And these contracts are scalable as per your project requirements. You also get free support for setup, system, management, and liability. Further, you do not pay any upfront costs. You see free sample résumés of some of the most qualified developers before you hire them. And if you do not like the services of your developer, you can choose the 100% money-back policy.
Factors You Should Consider When Hiring a Full-Stack Developer from an Online Website:
Time: You may think that the entire hiring process is time-consuming because you have to go through several resumes, select some candidates, interview them, and so on. But it need not always be that way.
If you do not have time to go through such lengthy procedures, you choose online matching services that get you connected with a professional developer so you can go ahead with the work immediately. Websites like Toptal and Hired feature some highly qualified developers, so you need not worry about who you are working with when you do not handpick him.
Further, the time frame within which your project needs to get done is also essential. When choosing online, you will often get recommendations based on this factor because different developers require different lengths of time to finish the same project.
Budget: Another crucial factor is your budget. Not all websites feature developers who work at low prices. So if your budget is low, you need to make your choice accordingly. Websites like Upwork, Freelancer, and PeoplePerHour are suitable for you to hire a web developer at low prices. You may not get the best site because you will have to work with new and inexperienced developers. Moreover, developers assure top class quality only when you can afford to pay for it.
Number of Developers: You may need only one full-stack developer for your project or you may need a big team of developers with a team lead. There are separate platforms for such unique requirements, although some of them do feature a combination of both. For instance, you should check out Scalable Path and X-Team if you need a team. They will be more beneficial to you than other sites that feature both group and individual developers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hiring Full-Stack Developers
How much will it cost me to hire a full-stack developer for my startup?
There is no defined cost for hiring full-stack developers. It depends on the experience of the developer, duration & extent of the project, and the location from where you are hiring. You can get both low priced and high priced developers depending on your budget.
Do I have to know full-stack development to hire a full-stack developer?
Knowing the technicalities of full-stack development can help you interview your selected candidates. You do not have to spend hours studying the subject to do so. You can quickly look up interview questions with answers that are widely available on the internet. If you do not have time to do so, you can also hire from a professional online hiring service that will give you already interviewed candidates.
Here Are Some Examples of Frequently Asked Interview Questions to Full-Stack Developers:
What do you know about GET and POST, and how are they different?
GET is used for data recovery while POST is for writing the data. GET carries the request parameter in the URL string and not the message body, as POST does. Further, it is possible to bookmark GET, but it is not possible to bookmark POST.
What is the normalization and denormalization of data?
Normalization helps to reduce data redundancy or remove it entirely so that there is more space in the database, which, in turn, increases data consistency. Denormalisation, on the other hand, increases data redundancy to improve the performance of the database structure. We generally denormalize data after normalizing it.
What is the difference between a Rolling Deployment and a Blue-Green Deployment?
In Rolling Deployment, there is a single complete environment for deploying codes. The code is implemented in the same environment, i.e., in the subset, and when the deployment process is complete, it moves to another subset.
In the Blue-Green environment, however, there are two complete environments. One is a running environment, and the other is the one which we want to upgrade. Switching the environment blue to green directs all the traffic to the new environment.
What is the best way of hiring a full-stack developer?
There is no one way to hire a full-stack developer. So you should go for whatever seems best to you. If you are not open to remote hiring, you can look for developers near you. But remote hiring will give you a more extensive number of developers and so you are sure to find someone who is best for your job.
