Django is one of the top web frameworks to employ for your needs. We’ll provide some useful tips on how to find top-notch experts to nail your next big project.
Hire Dedicated Django Developers — Easy-peasy!
Let’s cut straight to the chase. Here’s the step-by-step guide on Django developer hire subtleties. (But we’ll elaborate on some extra details later).
1. Learn your “prey”
As a good head-hunter, you should know everything about your target. We’re talking about the required skill set and expertise, first and foremost. Here’s what your next Django expert should have in their portfolio:
Python knowledge
Django is a sweet peach that grows on the Python tree. In essence, it’s a framework sculpted from the code of Python — it was assembled to finish apps or a website backend as quickly as possible, while also retaining the maximum quality. So naturally, proficiency in Python’s syntax is a total must.
Front-end
Mostly, frontend is polished with other tools — Django focuses on the backend “groundwork”. But sometimes, backend devs have to fiddle with the frontend as well. So, a bit of Java. Elm or React could be a fat plus.
Framework erudition
If your applicant specializes in app making or web projects based on Python, they already must be skillful with Django. But knowing how to handle more frameworks — Pyramid, Web2py, Falcon, FastAPI — it is definitely an advantage.
And even though Django is still a top “power-tool”, knowledge of other frameworks signals that your candidate has a deeper understanding of Python’s landscape. That means, he simply can be a better application developer.
Databases
Finally, when you hire a Django web developer, database management is a skill to look for. This includes a decent mastery at tweaking the likes of SQL, Apache, Amazon Kinesis, Sentry, MongoDB, and others.
2. Pay attention to extra skills
Coding and testing are “hard skills”. But you should also consider how well the candidate does on the “softer side” of the business.
Before you finally make up your mind and welcome an aspiring Django dev to your team, pay attention to the following nuances:
Understanding the client
You’ve probably heard of the bespoke software concept. It’s a type of product that solves individual needs of a given client. It can be designed for any business, no matter how big it is: an online boutique or a huge corporation.
The code is worth exactly as much as how many issues it solves for the client. And being able to listen to them and walk in their shoes is radically important.
But understanding your clientele isn’t the only issue. The developer should also understand what the clientele of your client want and expect from their business.
Being able to research
The previous soft skill brings up another one. Before you hire dedicated Django developers, you should see how much dedicated they really are.
And true professional fervor includes the desire to do an independent research. Here’s why it matters.
To understand the psychology, expectations and crucial needs of the end-user, the developer must pay attention to the specifics of a business in question.
This is necessary since every target audience is different. Every product is different. And, therefore, they all require a different approach on all levels: from backend to frontend.
Contribution
Another trait that signals “Okay, this guy is good” — active stance in the community. In case you didn’t know, Python and Django have their own dedicated communities.
Developers share ideas, lifehacks, tricks. They discuss urgent issues, propose solutions, design their own databases, release huge chunks of free code via GitHub, and so on.
In other words, they sculpt the future of Django together. Is your job applicant a part of this hodgepodge?
Does he or she, maybe, run a blog dedicated to Python and its current challenges? Or is there a GitHub portfolio with a steaming pile of open source code to proudly present? If yes, that’s another pro to hire this person.
Teamwork
Nothing works without teamwork. Even if the potential employee is super-brilliant, they need to fit the already existing dev team. Because if they don’t, it can result in expired deadlines, sabotaged projects and missed opportunities. (And money too).
Teamwork doesn’t just apply to healthy work environment, by the way. It also involves your client who should provide their insight, feedback, and opinion.
If the arrogance doesn’t allow the dev to take a “muggle” who doesn’t even know how to code seriously, then this will be a genuine problem.
Time management
There’s a good caboodle of daily tasks for a Django dev.
Does the client need a new feature? An urgent quality assessment is needed to catch the pesky bottlenecks in the code right this second? Or some descriptive documentation should be on the boss’s desk immediately?
Like a multi-handed Kali, the Django dev must be able to do all that. Especially, when there’s as little time as there’s oxygen on Mars.
So, multitasking, time management and personal effectiveness are a golden trio of productivity.
Responsibility
To err is human. Even the most brilliant experts are immune to mistakes, flaws, and blunders.
And while some do their best to avoid these, others can slack off. Or be too proud to admit a mistake. In turn, this can seriously hurt the team effort to deliver a high level product.
Taking a responsibility is also a must-have skill. First, this can save your work team a lot of time. They’d just be forced to spend it on detecting a blunder, of which its “author” is secretly aware.
Second, it positively affects the relations between your employees. A person who’s willing to admit and fix their mistake eventually earns more trust and respect.
And finally, responsibility also contributes to the professional growth of any worker — a Python developer is no exception.
Can-do attitude
Even the most experienced software developer can run into a challenge. This is especially true when it’s time for a technology to evolve, making it to the next generation.
And sometimes the senior dev just isn’t there to provide advice and mentoring. So, the potential employee should be able to get into the action all by themselves. Finding the right answers and solutions.
3. What else to know?
So, you get the idea of how to hire Django developers. But is there anything else to add to your HR quest? Yes.
These are some top questions to ask, while interviewing Django developers:
- Explain what Django signals are.
- Describe the project directory structure.
- Define the purpose of MRO in Python.
- Briefly describe which role the models in Django play.
- What is DRM used for?
- Would you apply Jinja templating in your work?
- What are different model inheritance styles?
- How would you configure static files?
- Which databases are compatible with Django?
- Would you use permanent redirection?
- What does django.shortcuts.render do?
- Is there a way to view all items in the Model?
- What is content for?
- DRF — what does it do?
- How do “project” and “app” differ?
Of course, you can add more technical questions to test knowledge. But to crown them all, show a little warmth with: Are you willing to be a part of our family?
Why is Django so popular?
For starters, Django is the most popular Python-driven framework: 49% of Python developers choose it as their go-to solution.
The reason behind this uproar: this framework makes things easy. It employs the MVT pattern — Model View Template.
This approach separates the entire code into this trio of segments. As a result, development becomes faster, requires less code, allows using pluggable elements, machine learning, and so on.
And here’s a short list of the web products that were built with it:
- Spotify
- YouTube
- Dropbox
- Mozilla Firefox
- Washington Post’s website
An impressive “architectural” portfolio, you may say.
Django has earned a solid reputation, by powering such gargantuan projects like YouTube and Spotify. The latter has 381 million active users monthly, according to Statista.
These figures prove one thing: this web framework can pull off a job of any level, size and difficulty. So, you can trust its rep to launch your own product.
The legend of Django…
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