To put it simply, ‘hiring the right front-end developers is synonymous with digital success.’ A front-end developer is responsible for developing those aspects of an application that the user interacts with, that is, a front-end developer creates everything you see and feel on the internet. The role includes building mock-up designs, UI/UX strategy, code implementation, functionality integration, and testing.
Formally development was something which was always interpreted for the back-end. But the current times tell a completely different story. The demand for Front-End Developers has seen a steady rise. When it comes to hiring the best front-end developers offshore, the process can be a little intimidating, especially if you haven’t been actively involved in the hiring process for a long time now.
So in this article, we have listed the series of interview questions you need to ask a potential candidate.
What Companies Seek in Front-End Developers?
Following are the common traits and characteristics that companies seek while hiring dedicated front end developers:
- Programming Language or Tooling – HTML/CSS/JS
- Experience/Portfolio
- Development Methodologies
- Artistic Vision
- Attention to Details
- Communication
- Problem-Solving Skills
Common Front-End Development Services :
- Full Stack Web Development
- HTML5/CSS Development
- Custom Web App Development
- CMS Design and Development
- Data Migration, Support and Maintenance
- Front-end Optimization Services
5 Questions To Ask When Hiring A Front-End Developer From An Agency
Question #1 Name a website or app that annoys you. What’s wrong with it?
This question throws light on the candidate’s awareness of current issues and trends in web development, as well as their problem-solving skills. A right answer is one where they do more than just complain about someone else’s work. Skilled web developers will offer real-world solutions to practical issues, such as how to improve load times or optimise the user experience.
Question #2 What APIs have you worked with?
All candidates should have worked with APIs for well-known commercial services, such as those offered by Twitter, Slack, Dropbox, and the suite of APIs provided by Google. Front-End developers should be able to talk about how to call API functions and integrate results into their design.
Question #3 What would be the biggest motivation to use the latest standards of HTML5 and CSS3?
This can be an essential question to judge how updated the front-end developer is with the new versions of HTML and CSS. The expected answer would be that the latest versions allow developers to add interactive graphics and media content including video and audio without the need for any additional plugins, such as Flash. With this, the new versions allow them to build SEO-semantic websites and deliver great cross-platform support.
Question #4 What are the necessary steps to optimise the ‘perceived performance’ of a website?
Every front-end developer needs to know the best practices he/she can follow to optimise the perceived performance of the application. Some of the right points would be around:
- Cleaning up the HTML document
- Reducing external HTTP requests
- Sprites, image optimisation and compressing images
- Applying lazy loading functionality
- Applying preload functionality to specific components
- Incorporating JS scripts at the bottom of the page.
- Minifying CSS, JavaScript, HTML.
- CDN and Caching
Question #5 What is the importance or need of a CSS preprocessor?
Most developers know how to use preprocessors, and the answer you can expect should be along these lines:
Front-end development has become more interactive, and cross-browser compatibility is a prerequisite for every application. But, CSS itself has limited capabilities to create cross-browser compatible style sheets, and hence CSS preprocessors like SCSS/Sass or LESS offer an optimised way to write style sheets that can be compiled into CSS. They allow web developers to:
- Define variables
- Use nested index
- Build and use mixins (functions)
- Apply mathematical and operational functions
Summing Up
Front-end development is a field of constant evolution. You need people willing to learn and adapt continually. When you hire front end developers at Uplers, you’ll have a team with the entire range of skill-sets mentioned here. A team that is capable of learning on the job and adapting. Dedicated front-end developer’s ability to handle complex projects and deliver end-to-end support could be one of the main factors that drive the growth of your organisation.
Author Bio:
Sheryl is the Sr. Marketing Specialist at Uplers who has a great experience in designing well-defined user journeys across the digital marketing domain. She leverages her digital marketing expertise to help businesses draw significant ROIs.