Has there ever been a time when JavaScript developers were in such high demand? JavaScript itself is nearly everywhere, and so are the talented mobile app developers who build mobile applications with it. It’s a remarkable trend, one rooted in the tremendous value a talented JavaScript developer can bring to a development team.
React developers, specifically, can help an app developer team update mobile user interfaces more efficiently, keep them flexible and fast, all while minimizing the server-side resources they consume. It sounds ideal, but actually finding the right React JS developers can be a significant challenge.
The question is, why? Here is a brief overview of the market, the problem as we see it, and some strategies for finding and hiring the right React headcount for your development team.
What’s the Difference Between React.js and React to Native Development?
First and foremost, React.js is a library introduced by Facebook to render JavaScript pages faster and more efficiently. Since then, the landscape has changed to include (among others) React Native. It is a JavaScript framework for developing native mobile applications for iOS app and Android app. Let’s drill down into some key points about these two types of software development:
- React.js is a library, React Native is a framework
- React.js supports both front-end and server-side development
- React.js allows for the reuse of components
- React Native uses components tailored specifically for mobile app development
- React Native does not use HTML to render mobile apps
- You can add React Native components to existing app code
- Both React and React Native is relatively easy to learn for developers with existing JavaScript experience
What Makes React.js Developers Different?
React.js developers are skilled at rendering UI components using the React.js JavaScript library. The nature of React.js allows these developers to reuse code for cross-platform apps and improve debugging speed, leading to increased performance and programming efficiency. For web apps, the ability of React.js developers to render pages completely can also help improve search engine optimization (important, now that the Google algorithm prioritizes pages with good page load speed).
Perhaps most importantly, React.js devs can build cross-platform versions of mobile apps—one version for both iOS and Android apps. This is often a one-time or as-needed skill, which is why many companies choose to augment their current dev team with some React.js as needed (rather than adding permanent headcount).
It’s important to note that, whereas React Native can help deliver mobile apps with a truly native look and feel, React is better suited for responsive web interfaces. Though many developers are capable of both, it’s important to know your business needs when hiring React developers.
Why it’s So Difficult to Hire React.js Developers?
When trying to understand the difficulty of finding good dev’s, it’s worth restating that the demand for JavaScript is at an all-time high. According to Stack Overflow, the demand for React.js developers has experienced a triple-digit increase in recent years. On top of that, many of the world’s top companies, including Facebook, Atlassian, and Trello attract and use top React talent (the framework was, after all, introduced by Facebook a couple of years ago).
And compensation? Software developers, in general, are well compensated. It should come as little surprise then that React developers also enjoy healthy salaries. According to Indeed.com, the average salary for a React.js developer can range between $89,000 and around $110,000. Depending on the company and experience, this number can be much higher.
“Hiring React.js developers can be quite expensive. Attracting the right talent for a position in such high demand is another significant obstacle.”
Yet, the challenge in such a high-demand market isn’t just hiring a React developer, but hiring a reliable one that is both experienced and a good fit for the team. Attracting this kind of talent means hiring for both fit and technical competency.
Considering the fact that many developers now work remotely—or that many companies are opting to outsource developers—it’s no wonder finding the right developers is so difficult. This makes your approach to the recruitment and hiring process crucial.
What to Look for When Hiring React Developers
Finding the right people is always a challenge, no matter the field or discipline. Many of our strategies for hiring suitable React.js developers for mobile app development boil down to fundamental best practices for any type of hiring process.
Look for Relevant Development Experience
Given the high demand for React.js developers, it is important that you refine your search to the developers that have experience doing the kinds of things you’ll be asking of them. This is the advantage of such a large pool of candidates to select from—you can play the numbers and narrow your search without much downside.
For instance, does your team develop mobile apps for iOS & Android? Maybe you commonly work with React Native, or Native iOS and Android applications. Understanding exactly what you are looking for will shorten the time it takes to find the right people. It will also better protect your team from hiring the wrong developers.
Evaluate Technical Skill Set
It has been said that JavaScript developers can make the leap to React in a relatively short time. Still, how much experience does your prospective hire actually have?
During the hiring process, you can evaluate a candidate’s React chops with test assignments similar to the kind of work that a developer would be doing on your team. Maybe you ask them to completely translate a designer wireframes into front-end code, or perhaps you can ask them to build a simple mobile app component using the Redux library. Pay attention not only to how your prospective developer executes the test assignment from a technical standpoint, but how they communicate with your team, ask questions, and manage deadlines.
Determine Accountability and Cultural Fit
This aspect of the hiring process often goes overlooked, but it’s crucial. Hiring the right developer is not just about experience or technical skills. It’s also about answering a key question:
Will This Person Be Accountable?
Can you, for example, depend on this person to collaborate, contribute constructive feedback, and be a self-starter when it comes to executing projects? What are some of the bottlenecks and blockers your team has faced when trying to ship code? How will this person help (or hurt) that workflow?
“Pay attention not only to how your prospective developer executes the test assignment from a technical standpoint, but how they communicate with your team, ask questions, and manage deadlines.”
Finding and establishing accountability baselines, especially when hiring remote workers, can help establish expectations during the interview process to get a feel for how candidates might navigate different scenarios your team commonly encounters. Going through this process will also reveal whether or not the person is a good cultural fit. Again, test assignments are a great diagnostic for determining fit, as they will reveal a lot about project management and communication style.
The Cost of Hiring a Bad Developer
In the tech industry especially, most companies make any and all effort to run lean. This includes limiting costs like employee turnover. And hiring the wrong person can cost a company thousands—even tens of thousands—of dollars (not to mention all the money that is spent to complete onboarding). Hiring a bad developer to cost you in a number of ways:
- Onboarding new employees and replacing old ones can be very costly
- A lack of engagement can be contagious on a development team
- Picking up the slack for understaffed or dysfunctional teams can lead to employee burnout
- The wrong hire can cost you time and money on avoidable mistakes
The real cost of hiring the wrong dev, though, lies in the impact it will have on the team. Underskilled or unmotivated employees can slow a team’s productivity and lead to costly mistakes. With a bad developer in place, you’ll be spending far too much time tracking down estimated delivery dates, reasons for any delays, and the source of any problems with the code. On teams with aggressive deadlines, this kind of incompetence can be a dealbreaker.
We Can Help
If there is one thing we’ve learned about hiring the right developers, it’s that getting to the desired result means removing as much guesswork—and as many variables—as possible. This is true whether you decide to hire from within, use a recruiter, or outsource the service to a remote worker altogether. This philosophy of finding the right React.js developers is at the core of our app development services.
BitCot is a team of developers to hire well versed in the entire React development stack. Our aim is to be a partner, not a faceless hired hand—to help solve problems and create the very best web platforms and mobile apps out there. If you’re looking to hire a React developer, we’d love to hear from you.
More Articles From BitCot
https://www.bitcot.com/reasons-on-why-should-a-business-choose-ios-app-development-platform/
https://www.bitcot.com/how-to-choose-between-a-native-web-or-hybrid-app/
https://www.bitcot.com/top-5-features-ios-12/
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