What kind of Web Developer am I looking for? (A guide on how to hire for the right role)
This article is for a Designer, Project Manager, Operations Manager, or Entrepreneur looking to hire or outsource a technical person to execute on a web project.
Web Development is hard to conceptualize if tech isn’t your profession. Starting off as a freelancer offering web development service, I encountered this first hand from clients.
For that reason, I always parallel a web project to construction/home repairs. When you need work done in your home you make sure you hire the right guy for the job. For example, you aren’t going to hire an electrician to do plumbing.
Hiring for your web development project isn’t much different. Just because someone is a developer, it doesn’t necessarily mean he or she can successfully execute your project/idea.
My goal with this article is to give you a high-level overview of what each role does, so when looking for a developer you can make sure you pick the right person. Not just the person that says “Yes”.
TL;DR — The Best way to divide it up is by three roles
- Front-End
- Back-End
- DevOps
Fullstack ( Someone who knows a little of everything; they usually also have a strength they excel at so be sure to ask them what they prefer.)
Front-End Developer
To keep consistent with the construction analogy, a front-end developer would be a painter. Everything you see when navigating a website/application was “painted” by a front-end developer.
A good front-end developer pays attention to every little detail and can translate your design perfectly into code.
When To use a Front-End
- Translate an already made design into code.
- Small websites/apps with no CUSTOM functionality.
- Mostly anything user-facing
When not to Use a Front-End
- Making Front-End Function editable by an admin user.
- Custom functionalities (Calculators, pull data from other sources, improve load times, database manipulations).
- Server setups.
Again this is just a high-level overview so please understand skills/roles can vary.
Back-End Developer
Back-End developers are working on the things behind the scenes. The electricians, plumbers, of the web development world.
Making custom functions, manipulating data, manipulating how data is processed and fed to the frontend.
When To use a Backend
- User Interfaces (you're making an app with different users and want to manipulate what they see/can do)
- Store data input by users on the frontend (contact form)
- Make functions of the website editable in a CMS (Wordpress, Magento, contentful)
When not to use a Backend
- When you're looking to make a beautiful looking site ( join forces with a front-end)
- When you're looking to do animations.
DevOps
DevOps can sometimes be categorized into a backend developer. I personally like to separate it because not every backend developer has DevOps experience. DevOps is like the architect of a construction project. They set the proper foundation for the construction to be built on.
This includes things like setting up the server and making sure it is configured to support the technology your building on it. Make sure repositories of code are configured to continuously integrate into your site. If your building complex applications, DevOps is a must. For simple sites a backend developer is enough.
Wrapping it all up
Not one size fits all for developers. Take your time to understand what the candidate's strength is.
Where Can I hire Freelancers or Development Firms?
- UpWork — UpWork was where I found most of my talent before I built my team.
- Workana — Great LatAm freelancers
- Guru — I haven’t had much luck here
- Clutch.co — Each Review is vetted and reviewed by the Clutch.co team. If your looking for a firm this is the best place.
Where you can find me and my LatAm team of kick-ass Developers?
