Hiring ruby developers can be a tricky business, especially if you’re not familiar with what makes an exceptional developer and how to evaluate these qualities during the interview process. For best results, it’s important to follow these 10 steps when looking to hire ruby on rails developers.
Step 1: Identify what you need
Before hiring any developer, you should always have a clear idea of what you need. Are you looking for a mid-level developer or an entry-level one? Do you need someone who is in your area, or can they work remotely? You’ll want to make sure that anyone you hire will be able to meet all of your needs before moving forward.
Step 2: Build out your ideal team
Before you start interviewing candidates, it’s important to have an idea of what kind of person you want to hire for your company. As a hiring manager, your first impulse may be asking yourself, what does my company need? However, that might not be as helpful a question as what kind of person would best fit into my team? By building out a detailed team profile, you can make sure all future hires will work well with others on your team.
Step 3: Write out your job descriptions
With your requirements and a list of desired skills in hand, it’s time to put together job descriptions for potential hires. We know, we know—writing up job descriptions sounds like a waste of valuable time and money. But keep in mind that by writing out what you want from new hires, you’re already screening out anyone who doesn’t fit into your team culture or doesn’t have what it takes to succeed.
Step 4: Get ready to hire
Time is money, so as soon as you know a new developer will be joining your team, you should start preparing. The earlier you can find someone who’s an ideal fit for your team and company culture, the more productive they can be on day one and in years to come. Plus, when someone is already familiar with how things are done at your company, it’s easier for them to hit the ground running.
Step 5: Post your jobs
Spend some time deciding on which platforms you want to post your job. Take a look at sites like LinkedIn, Dribbble, Twitter, and GitHub and see what your fellow developers are using. Depending on your business and who you’re trying to reach, it might be worth considering posting jobs on local developer meetup boards as well.
Step 6: Hire carefully
There’s a lot of competition out there for Ruby developers, so you want to make sure that they’re as excited about your project as you are. Take time in your interviews to get a feel for their passions and interests, and try bringing up examples of projects that excite them.
Step 7: Get references and check them.
Hiring a developer and making sure he or she fits your company’s culture is as much an art as it is a science. Ask candidates for references from past employers and check them out. The more references you check, the better idea you’ll have of whether a candidate has succeeded in environments similar to yours.
Step 8: Put on the pressure in your first few meetings.
You’ve been interviewing developers for a few weeks now, and you’re finally ready to start bringing potential hires on board. It can be tempting to set up meetings every day in order to quickly narrow down your options, but I recommend taking a different approach.
Step 9: Get training underway.
Once you’ve found someone, make sure that your team gets trained on whatever system is being built. Don’t leave training up to chance—your business will suffer if employees aren’t up-to-speed. And remember, developers are only as good as their code; regular testing will help ensure nothing goes awry down the road.
Step 10: Keep track of progress and productivity.
It’s easy to hire a great developer, but it’s even more important to make sure you get great work out of that developer. Make sure you have clear lines of communication and keep track of how often you meet, talk and email. This is where post-it notes or apps like Todoist can be incredibly useful. You want your developers to feel comfortable asking questions or making changes — if they don’t feel like they can do that, they might start looking for another job.
