Hire Top Front-End Developers

Having surveyed over 49 thousand IT specialists from all over the world in 2020, the Stackoverflow team concluded that front-end developers are among the TOP 3 most popular IT professions. In addition, according to the survey results, more than 80% of them aren’t actively looking for new job opportunities, and over 30% are not interested in new vacancies.

With an understanding of how difficult it is to find and select an IT specialist in mind, we’ve compiled a short guide with the main tips & tricks on what front-end developers should know and where to look for such a specialist. The information has been verified by the ITExpert team: for 8+ years we’ve hired dozens of frontend developers from companies all over the globe.

Who is a Front-End Developer and what do they do 

A front-end developer is an IT specialist who works on the visible part of an app or website creating pages, menus, forms, buttons, navigation, and other elements users see and interact with.

Front-end developer’s responsibilities may vary depending on the IT company and project, but they generally cover: 

• user-friendly interface development and support;
• identifying and correcting errors;
• sometimes — usability checking.

What skills and knowledge should a Front-end Developer have

Although HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are the pillars of the front-end, mastering frameworks is important for a future career. Frameworks contain a set of ready-made solutions (caching, interaction with the database, and routing) and make it easier to write code.

Among front-end developers, React.js, Angular.js, and Vue.js are the most popular frameworks. According to the annual Stack Overflow Developer Survey, React.js was used by 44% of experienced developers and almost 43% of beginners in 2022 which makes it the most well-liked framework in the international IT community.

In addition, it is important to have such skills and knowledge for a Front-end Developer:

• HTML package (HTML5, W3C, and WHATWG specifications).
• JavaScript frameworks and libraries.
• CSS frameworks (for example, Bootstrap).
• CSS preprocessors (Sass, Less, and Stylus).
• JavaScript/CSS builders (Grunt, Gulp).
• Methods and kits for structuring CSS code (OOCSS, BEM, and SMACSS).
• Version control systems (Git, CVS, Mercurial, or others).
• Debugging tools.
• Fundamentals of relational and non-relational databases, SQL queries.
• Optional — popular CMS (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal).

Moreover, an experienced front-end developer should be able to work with REST API. An understanding of the principles of UI/UX design and SEO optimization will also be an advantage when looking for a job or negotiating a promotion.

Mykola Kliestov

CTO and co-founder at ITExpert

“An indicator of a specialist’s seniority is knowledge of unit testing. Its purpose is to make sure that a specific section of code works correctly, performs its task under different conditions, and doesn’t interfere with the operation of other sections of code and the product as a whole.

Also, a high level (middle+) can be indicated by state management skills. State management allows you to create reactive variables, record changes in their values, etc. An example of a state manager is Redux (React).”

Top websites and platforms to find Front-end Developers

How to find a front-end developer? We’ve put together the most popular web resources with additional tips on finding skilled IT specialists.

LinkedIn 

Searching for a candidate on LinkedIn is relatively easy, you can do this by:

• Search by titles “Frontend-developer” or “frontend-developer” and similar ones.

• Compose boolean queries*, covering the technologies you need.

*At the same time, avoid wording “frontend developer remote”, because candidates rarely indicate it in their profile.

• Publish vacancies on the platform in the job section or company page.​

Keep in mind that LinkedIn has many restrictions: from the number of operators used in the free version to sending requests, and you may even face LinkedIn blocking for suspicious activity on your account.

GitHub

GitHub is a platform that allows developers to store their code, share it with colleagues, and collaborate on Open Source development. To use it and start searching, you need to get registered. You can search for specialists using three parameters: location, programming language, and number of subscribers.

The request might look like this:

language: javascript location: kyiv, followers: >15

These settings will help you find specialists with JavaScript skills, who are located in Kyiv and have over 15 subscribers.

You can exclude unnecessary parameters from the request, leaving the programming language only. Select the “Users” column in the menu, since GitHub usually displays queries by repository.

StackOverflow

It is the most convenient way to search for candidates using boolean search. Thanks to these settings, recruiters and business owners can eliminate the results of irrelevant queries and cover profiles that meet basic requirements.

Others

Many Front-end developers are also design-savvy (and they may even combine UI/UX and Front-end roles). Therefore, they often publish their portfolios on Coroflot, Behance, and Krop. Try these platforms to find a highly skilled specialist.

Mykola Klestov

CTO and co-founder at ITExpert

“Before starting your search, figure out whether you need a specialist who will write code in JavaScript, or whether the candidate should also have experience in TypeScript + knowledge of the React, Angular, and/or Vue frameworks.

Angular is considered more difficult to learn (and it’s an older framework) and requires knowledge of TypeScript. At the same time, a front-end developer with knowledge of React and Vue (‘younger’ frameworks) won’t necessarily know TypeScript.”

Hire the best Front-end Devs with ITExpert

Every company can surely find an IT specialist for its team. However, practically, it is easier to quickly and efficiently fill vacancies when professionals get down to business. Starting a search for front-end developers without sufficient knowledge and experience in recruiting, you are at risk:

☹️ To hire incompetent specialists. By hiring IT specialists on your own and without experience, you risk inviting low-skilled front-end developers.

💸 To waste money. The longer you spend looking for candidates, the more money you spend on hiring. In addition, specialized recruiting tools and platforms are expensive and are usually relevant for large companies with constant hiring requests. Agencies bear these costs themselves, you only pay for the recruiting service if the vacancy is successfully filled.

😰 To miss deadlines and not release the product on time. While you’re screening irrelevant CVs and aren’t sure who to give a job offer to, product development may be delayed. Time is the key ingredient to beat your competitors in the market.

Our IT recruiting agency specialists have been hiring tech/non-tech IT specialists for companies all over the world since 2015, from the USA to Israel. Our clients include Sony, Deloitte, and Depositphotos.

Hire qualified Front-end developers with ITExpert!