Complete Guide To Hiring Full-Stack Engineers

Full-stack developers are demanded by a multitude of app projects for the cost benefits and edge of expertise they offer. They are capable of handling a wide range of development tasks in an app project. When you hire dedicated full stack developers, you get experts who can build the frontend or client-side as well as backend or server-side of any app project.  

But just for the popularity and demand of full-stack developers, you should not hire developers with so-called full-stack expertise. You need to have a solid understanding of different tech stacks, the need for hiring them, and key skills to consider. We are going to explain all of these in this blog post. 

Who is Exactly a Full-Stack Developer? 

A full technology stack comprises technologies for all the different aspects of an app development project including frontend, backend, database, and middleware. Some of the leading tech stacks include MEAN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS and NodeJS), MERN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, ReactJS and NodeJS), LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP), MEVN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, VueJS and NodeJS), etc. 

A developer having expertise with any of these sets of technologies is called a full stack developer. Apart from having multifaceted skills, they are best known for having a complete vision of the app project and the capabilities to shape an app project from start to finish. This is why for any web application development company,  full-stack developers are considered highly valuable resources. 

Why Hire a Full Stack Developer?

Businesses consider hiring full-stack developers for many reasons and scenarios. In more than one way hiring full-stack developers can prove to be really advantageous for app projects of different sizes and niches. Let's briefly explain a few of them. 

When an app project needs to hire highly experienced app developers with comprehensive skills, expertise, and vision for the app lifecycle. 

App projects require faster rollout and the least technical challenges. 

When app projects need to get onboard project managers with huge experience and practical skills, they can opt for full-stack developers. 

When an app project undergoes budget constraints and needs to hire a small development team it can opt for full-stack developers. 

Which tech stack to choose for your app project? 

Now that you have an understanding of the benefits of hiring full-stack developers, you must have a brief understanding of the promises and capabilities of different technology stacks. Let’s explain them one by one. 

LAMP

LAMP is a traditional tech stack that brings four key technologies to handle all facets of app projects. It comprises Linux operating system for frontend, Apache HTTP Server for middleware, MySQL for database, and PHP for server-side programming. 

MEAN

This is the most popular full tech stack used by the leading app and web projects across the spectrum. It consists of MongoDB database, ExpressJS middleware, AngularJS frontend framework, and NodeJS backend framework. It is used widely across single-page web apps (SPA) as well as other app projects across the niches. 

MERN 

MERN is similar to MEAN stack and it only replaces the AngularJS with ReactJS framework for the frontend of the app project. The promise of React in code reusability, component-based modular architecture, ability to make quick changes through Hot Reload, and availability of Virtual DOM, are some of the key value propositions of React. 

MEVN

MEVN is another variation of MEAN or MERN stack that only replaces the frontend with the Vue.js framework. Very low footprint code, smaller APK size, rich feature set and capabilities, and ease of integrating different tools are key reasons behind the popularity of the MEVN stack. 

How Do Hire Full-Stack Developers With The Right Skills? 

Now let us spare a few words on hiring full-stack developers with the right set of skills. Consider the below-mentioned skills and areas of expertise. 

Technical Skills 

As the vast majority of frontend frameworks use JavaScript, you need to test their coding skills with JavaScript first.  

If the full-stack developers are not skilled enough with JavaScript, make sure they are skilled with other leading languages like Python, PHP, Ruby on Rails, etc.

Make sure the developers have comprehensive command on popular OS platforms such as Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, and macOS. 

As the basic skills, they should also be versed in elementary web languages like HTML and CSS. 

Having a great track record and project experience, full-stack developers should be versed with popular developer forums and version control systems like Git and GitHub. 

Full-stack developers need also to be versed with a variety of web architectures. 

They should also have sound knowledge of Rest and HTTP, two web protocols. 

To handle all kinds of database technologies they should also be skilled to handle JSON and XML data formats. 

Make sure you evaluate the technical skills of the developers through a demo app project that is similar to your own. 

Additional Skills: UX/ UI Design 

As many app projects depend on full-stack developers to build their products from start to finish, it is expected that they have a sound knowledge of UX/ UI design skills and principles. So, based on the project requirements you should evaluate your UI/UX design knowledge and skills as well. 

Communication and Soft Skills  

All these core development skills put aside, when hiring full-stack developers you must evaluate their communication skills, personality traits, work attitude, etc. Some of the most important skills you need to assess are our ability to communicate and collaborate, command of collaboration tools, good work attitude and timeliness, gamesmanship and collective thinking, creative brainstorming abilities, problem-solving aptitude, and knack to excel. 

Conclusion 

While the demand for full-stack developers remains always high, how well you assess the right skills and capabilities matters a lot for your project. Opting for remote hiring in this respect can open up doors for the global talent pool and help you get on board the best experts with your preferred tech stack.