The prosperity of any undertaking relies on the quality of resources. Personnel is an imposable resource. One way or another, qualitative executives are the driving force of any activity. At the same time, human resources require a sophisticated approach since any individual is a complex structure of biological and psychological processes that are known as a human being. For this reason, searching for a high-skilled professional is not an easy task.
The current era can be called the era of digitalization. The growth of portative electronic devices caused the demand for multiple apps for both personal and for-profit purposes. Subsequently, the society of developers began to expand. Engineers got into learning various machine language and tools for web app building.
In most cases, the type of a developed app is the crucial requirement to opt for an engineer. If it refers to web apps, the modern trend counts in favor of Ruby on Rails framework. It has many attractive features and advantages to convince a company to search for ROR developers for hire. Nevertheless, the task promises to be challenging. So, let’s find out which pitfalls to expect for HR departments aimed at a Ruby on Rails engineer.
Where to Find Ruby on Rails Developers
An old saying claims that all good things come to the one who waits. However, the major concern is where to find ROR developer. Fortunately, in the times when the Internet has replaced multiple outdated services, this concern is no more than a task. Ask your browser about Ruby on Rails London, New York or Dubai and get an immediate answer. However, it’s better to go a traditional way at first.
Traditional Job Search Websites
As a rule, the search for human resource is carried out on famous services like LinkedIn, Upwork, PeoplePerHour and others. Such place is the perfect spot where employers and employees can meet each other. Job seekers submit their CVs and other relevant information to attract possible recruiters. Employers, in turn, place their job offers on these websites. Therefore, it is a proper solution to post Ruby on Rails jobs at numerous job search services.
RoR Communities
Technical specialists tend to create communities according to professional activities. Different forums and online societies are the spots where Ruby on Rails engineers can discuss various issues related to the use of the popular framework and help each other in other questions including employment. Visit such websites as ruby-forum.com and metaruby.com, as well as forums on devshed.com and other resources to push luck in hiring Ruby on Rails development services.
Social Networks
Do not think that developers neglect any other forms of communication except for forums and dedicated societies. They are human beings who have friends, families, hobbies and other characteristics inherent to regular people who are unaware of the meaning of words “compilation” or “JavaScript”. So, there is a chance to find ROR developer right on Facebook or even Instagram by posting a job offer. You cannot even imagine the power of sharing within social networks.
Specialized Events
The Web is not the only meeting place for Rails programmers. It is possible to encounter the accumulation of web app builders in real life when they attend a specialized or field-oriented event. If you have no idea how to find the time and venue of such event, visit Meetup and catch your chance to hire Ruby on Rails developer on the nail.
Drain-Away
We do not encourage poaching but you should be aware of such not entirely fair way of attracting ROR developers for hire. Some competitor companies descend to ill practices of luring qualitative staff away from rivals. This approach has two sides of the same coin. Anyway, the final word rests with a sought Ruby on Rails engineer.
Salary of a Good ROR Developer
The major argument of an employer to get a qualitative Rails programmer is the salary. It is rather difficult to provide even an approximate value since many factors are to be considered. Each professional has own experience, degree, and reference list. The productivity and work efficiency is also essential. Thus, the salary is a flexible value that has to be defined before answering the question how to hire Ruby on Rails developers.
If you have no idea about rates of web app developers, refer to famous job searching places like Indeed or GlassDoor. Here you can find not only Ruby on Rails jobs but also salaries and other relevant information to aid in your undertakings.
By the way, the location of sought specialists is also significant. It is understood that good brains from the USA will be costly than the same level specialist from Europe or India.
It is a good practice to seek for ROR developers for hire based on the offered salary rather than adapt your salary to a candidate. Make a market research and identify your wage ceiling for a certain specialist. In this case, requirements to the Rails programmer should be high enough but not excessive to avoid scaring off decent candidates.
Requirements to Ruby on Rails Developers
The solution of the issue “How to hire Ruby on Rails developers?” should be started with the recognition of goals. Job seekers have to understand requirements established by the employer. This is a kind of filter to reject inexperienced or ill-quality professionals. As a rule, the key requirements include the list of desired skills and period of experience. However, an employer can provide peculiar terms related to appearance or working schedule. All information must give a clear picture of the desired candidate. However, according to statistics, 78% of job seekers ignore strict requirements and apply for the job despite the subtle or even significant mismatch.
In fact, to find ROR developer meeting all the established requirements is a great piece of luck. As a rule, employers are too demanding in their search since they need a multifunctional professional, which can cope with any task. The largest share of applicants lack some skills or qualification but they should not be rejected immediately. Patience and desire to make a compromise are the distinguishing features of a decent employer.
Setting requirements is a half the battle. Hiring Ruby on Rails developer means not only to demand but also to offer. So, to attract job seekers your job opening description should list not only functions and requirements, but also perks you can offer.
How to Write a Job Description for Developer Position
Actually, when an employer knows exactly what s/he needs, writing a job description turns into a formality. Numerous job search resources provide ready-made templates for employers with the necessity to enter the required data.
Be prepared to explain both requirements and responsibilities of your open position. To make a job offer more attractive, it is recommended to add the description of benefits and privileges associated with the position, namely, the salary, working schedule, award fees, social conditions etc. A small introduction of the company is also welcomed.
Obviously, each employer advances own claims to a professional background and operational involvement of a seeker but most of the requirements are cut and dried. E.g., let’s have a look at desired characteristics of a full stack engineer expected by one of the engaged companies through Railsware example. Logically, we start with responsibilities:
- Active involvement in production process
- Writing effective and reliable code
- Setting maximum goals
- Designing robust and secure features
- Interaction and collaboration with other specialists to ensure effective cooperation and target orientation
- Being job enthusiastic
Along with a rather indistinct notion of benchmarks, rather understandable and clear demands to the qualification of a candidate should be also set, like:
Excellent skills in developing software products
Experience in pair programming
Practical knowledge of Test Driven Development
Knowledge of front-end frameworks like Angular or React is a must
Knowledge of Relational Database Management System
Degree in the field related to Computer Science is preferable but not a must
A decent employer does not only demand but also gives. The quality and quantity of remunerations can be a decisive factor in the possible cooperation. Here are some of the benefits we propose at Railsware.
Obviously each employer has a different list of requirements, responsibilities, and benefits thus job description should be customized respectively.
How to Test a ROR Developer
Eventually, your job opening will attract candidates meeting the set requirements in some or other way. However, skills and knowledge on the paper do not always correspond to the actual state of affairs. Besides, choosing a candidate of several ones is also a challenge. So, a qualification procedure is a regular practice for hiring Ruby on Rails developer.
Checking Technical Skills
Naturally, an HR department consists of experts in another area. For this reason, it is necessary to get a proven specialist to make a testing task and verify the coding of candidates. If this option is not possible, ask candidates to submit their works or references to profiles in dedicated communities, e.g. GitHub. As a rule, developers store examples of their projects. Based on these data, even a person far from the technical area can have an idea of experience and scope of work performed by a certain specialist.
References
When you hire Ruby on Rails developer or any other employee, you should verify person’s working history, namely, references from previous workplaces (e.g. character reference letters). If your candidate had practiced a freelance activity, you could verify the authenticity of the provided information on dedicated websites like Upwork, Freelancer, and others. Contact the previous customers and get an idea of working qualities of your candidate.
Full Day Interview
A shaped working community is a complex structure requiring a special attitude. Integration of a new employee can either improve or aggravate the overall performance. A novice can be a great professional but with pure communicational skills or a people person with insufficient qualification. Although both scenarios are not favorable, the first one is more pernicious in the context of the team integration.
If you want to hire Ruby on Rails developer for the long-term collaboration, it is essential to analyze the candidate from the perspective of accommodation in the existing staff. That is why at some point we implemented a full day interview approach which foresees a collaborative work of the candidate in tandem with a team member.
This template of cooperation may be altered in accordance with the position requirements. For example, full stack engineer candidates to Railsware have to pass two parts of the full day interview through collaboration with two different co-workers. Such methodology enables us to exclude a biased opinion on the candidate’s qualification. Besides, trial work on different projects can reveal various aspects of the candidate’s capabilities in narrower fields of software developing activities.
Conclusion
In the present article, we attempted to answer the question how to hire Ruby on Rails developers. On a large scale, the process does not distinguish from a regular recruiting procedure. At the same time, it is better to have a technical consultant to prepare requirements and test applicants. Be patient and the best candidate will be found.
On the other hand, the whole process looks tiresome and time consuming. Especially when it comes to hiring the whole new team for your project but not just one or two engineers. Lack of recruiting expertise and technology knowledge can lead to hiring people not suitable for your company in terms of culture and skills. Which is pretty expensive. So if you’re starting your business and you’re just looking to build your MVP with Ruby on Rails, for example, or if you simply do not have someone to help you with recruiting questions, better look for already established teams of engineers.
Luckily, today you can choose from many, considering technology, pricing or/and location. When choosing, pay attention to company’s profile and case studies: which products they built, are there any reviews? Try to connect with founders of companies which already experienced services of this development firm – any references or recommendations may help you to decide.