Hiring talented front-end developers, especially React JS developers, has become increasingly difficult in the last few years for hiring managers. In a short period, React JS has gained popularity among developers and has become one of the top choices for businesses around the world.
Due to its simplicity and flexibility, React JS has established itself as the best and most sought after framework for 2019.
From must-have React JS skills, to how and where to find the best experts, we have developed this guide to make your entire hiring process simple and effective.
What's included:
What is React JS?
React JS is an open-source JavaScript library for building UIs. React was created by Jordan Walke, a software engineer at Facebook, and is used for creating simple page applications and mobile applications. React is maintained by Facebook and a vast community of individual developers and companies.
Why is React JS in demand?
React JS is popular among programmers because of its simplicity that makes use of single components where the programmer can separate the difficult UI components into individual ones. Speed, flexibility, and reusability of its components are some of the appealing aspects of React JS. In a recent survey conducted by Stack Overflow, for their annual Developer Survey, React JS was at the top of the list for the most loved and wanted web frameworks for the year.
It is estimated that more than 530,000 developers and 94,000 + websites utilise ReactJS. Part of this huge popularity comes from the fact that major corporations such as Facebook, Uber, PayPal, Instagram and Airbnb use it to resolve UI issues. This credibility has drawn a lot of developers and companies to ReactJS.
Where do the React JS developers live?
From the survey graph below, we can conclude that the highest population of react developers are present in the North American continent. The second highest population of react developers can be found in the European and Asian countries.
What skills do React JS developers need?
Technical Skills
Assessing a candidate’s technical skills before hiring them is critical to avoid yourself from the cost of a wrong hire. Below is our list.
- Experience with HTML, CSS, and libraries like Bootstrap/ foundation or CSS frameworks like LESS/ SCSS.
- Superior knowledge of JavaScript. This also includes a solid understanding of JavaScript, ES6, JavaScript-related tools and technologies.
- Experience with server environments - NodeJs, ExpressJs and likes.
- Thorough understanding of React JS principles and concepts such as Virtual DOM, JSX, the component life cycle, and events.
- Experience with state management libraries like Flux and Redux.
- Experience with route management libraries like React router.
- Familiarity with bundling libraries like Webpack/ Browserify.
- Familiarity with the Google JavaScript Style Guide or Airbnb style guide or similar. Any developer aspiring towards excellence always pays attention to style.
- Familiarity with atleast one testing frameworks.
Soft Skills
Effective communication is the key to build great teams and products. Hence, expect to get heavy use from a candidate’s ability to work and play well with the team and clients. Some of the good soft skills to look out for include:
- Good communication skills.
- Ability to take criticism.
- Open-mindedness.
- Empathetic towards others.
- Perseverance
- A well-founded hunger for knowledge.
- Desire to grow both professionally and personally.
Now that we have made a list of exceptional attitudes, skills, and habits that should be in a potential candidate, it is time for us to go and find these candidates by seeking them in their natural habitat.
Where can you hire React developers from?
Hiring react developers locally can be a daunting task. Hence, we recommend broadening the search for candidates. Allow developers to work remotely or from other countries – specifically for those who value a good work-life balance. In a recent survey conducted by HackerRank for its annual developer survey, developers preferred professional growth and learning, and work-life balance as the most important things to look for in a potential job offer.
Below is a list of different sourcing platforms to post job descriptions and to collect applications.
Professional Job Sites
These have been the most sought after options while hiring for potential candidates. These sites provide a one-stop solution to everything related to jobs. Below is a list of top job sites.
- Indeed
- Monster
- Glassdoor
- AngelList
- SimplyHired
- CareerBuilder
Company website
The Company’s career page is a great place to start for the hiring of candidates. The addition of employee benefits on the career page is an excellent way of captivating the attention of potential candidates.
Referral
This is also an excellent way for resourcing candidates. Referrals provide reliability and are a cheaper option.
React Online Communities
Online communities provide sterling opportunities to find skilled programmers. Some of the best online communities related to React JS are listed below.
- Stack Overflow
- React Subreddit
- Hashnode’s React JS community
- DEV’s React JS Community
Freelancing websites
Hiring freelancers is a buzzing trend in the recruitment space. The major advantage of hiring from freelancing websites is that the hiring pool is diverse and vast, irrespective of the location of the candidates. The only disadvantage is proving the credibility of the candidate, which can be done by referring to the candidate’s LinkedIn profile and other social media accounts. Below is a list of the top freelancing websites.
- Freelancer
- Upwork
- Guru
- Airtasker
React JS salaries around the globe
Since React JS is in demand around the world, the salary scale for these developers is also highly competitive. The graph below depicts the average salary of a react developer in different parts of the world. It should be noted that the values depict an average salary and are subjective to changes in a candidate’s experience and level of skills.
What to do next?
Our candidate assessment process is described in detail below.
1. Resume Screening
This involves filtering the candidates based on the resumes. Look at the candidate’s previous experience and React projects. Such content should be present in the resume with the description of their role in the project. Here is a list of common keywords that are found in professional React JS resumes and should help you to screen applications. Please note that an application doesn’t need to have all these keywords.
- HTML5, CSS3, SCSS, LESS, Bootstrap, Foundation, Bulma, Mixins, Responsive
- JavaScript, jQuery, Lodash, UnderscoreJs, ES5, ES6, Babel
- NodeJS, NPM, ExpressJs, NextJs
- React JS components, JSX, VDOM, Virtual DOM, Forms, Events, Keys, Router, Animations, Virtual DOM, React hooks
- React Flux and Redux
- ReSelect, ImmutableJS, Thunks, Sagas, Preact
- Webpack, Browserify
- AngularJs, VueJs, Svelte
- Firebase, MongoDb, SQL
If a candidate’s GitHub account link has been provided, use the same to assess the candidate’s number of projects, frequency of commits in React projects. Since resumes are not a credible source of any candidate’s abilities, a recruiter should never be completely reliant on this process and should use the next methods to verify the candidate’s skills.
2. Screening Tests
It becomes a tedious and time-consuming job if the recruiter has to interact with each candidate and set up tests to assess them. A solution to such a problem is by using an online technical assessment platform like Adaface, which is loved by candidates 💖 for the initial screening process. Below is a list of skills that can be tested using Adaface. There are 2 ways in which a candidate's skill can be assessed using online technical platforms.
i. Assessing for all the skills
- This includes evaluation of HTML/CSS.
- Evaluation of JavaScript, React JS, and NodeJS.
ii. Assessing for the necessary foundational skills
This method is recommended for assessing the foundational skills of a candidate, which is important in-comparison to the in-depth knowldge that the candidate may or may not possess. This can be done using a customized test to assess the necessary skills relevant to the role, such as by using the Front-end developer test.
3. Technical Interview
The technical interviews are usually handled by Senior Developers or programmers with extensive knowledge of React JS, who check the candidate’s level of experience with the React framework. For Recruiters handling technical interviews, below is a list for React JS interview questions you can ask candidates.
- React Interview Questions and Answers
- 21 Essential React JS interview Questions and answers
- A React job interview – recruiter perspective
4. Final Interview
It is essential to hire a React JS developer who fits your company’s work and ethics culture. Also, assess the potential candidate on how up-to-date is he/she on the trends of the React JS community and with the new concepts of React like React hooks.
Conclusion
Examine the scores of all the candidates to find the most suitable candidate for your organization. Hope this guide helps to find your React developer Jedi.
🌟 Extra Resources 🌟
💯Best: Download our React JS developer checklist to help you assess your candidates.
💡Pro-Tip: Download our react developer hiring infograph.
💡Pro-Tip: Read about how you can set up effective coding tests for your candidates.
Are you hiring for other technical roles? Adaface provides 700+ assessments on more than 30+ languages to screen the best engineers for you.
Keerthi Rangan
Keerthi is a Content Marketing Strategist at Adaface.
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