Great web developers are waiting to be hired. Your company could seize upon the opportunity—but only if you’re willing to be patient, dedicated and a little creative.
Don’t scare away qualified remote web developers with a few poorly worded questions or a mistimed probe. Ask direct and concise questions that can help you understand the candidate.
Be sure to include the questions listed below to ensure you’re interviewing a remote web developer to the best of your ability:
1. Have You Worked Remotely Before?
Remote work is different from many traditional forms of work. For a company to properly manage a remote web developer, the web developer must have a solid understanding and knowledge of remote working environments.
If an exceptional web developer candidate hasn’t telecommuted before, it doesn’t bar them from the pool of qualified candidates. However, it is easier to onboard and retain remote web developers who have had the experience of working remotely beforehand.
2. Are You Familiar with Popular Web Development Frameworks?
Remote web developers, like any other web developer, must stay abreast of the latest trends and advancements in the web development field. To master their craft, they must keep a running knowledge of the latest tools, frameworks and web programming languages.
An experienced web developer should, at the very least, be aware of a large and robust framework such as Bootstrap. They should be able to explain how the framework works, why web developers use it (it’s much better to utilize a framework to save time, in most cases) and the drawbacks of utilizing a premade framework.
3. How Much Experience Do You Have with Web Programming Languages? Are You Familiar with Server-Side Languages?
Every web developer should be proficient in HTML and CSS. Scripting languages such as Angular.js, Express.js and JSON are important, too. JavaScript adds interactivity to websites. HTML acts as the skeleton and CSS acts as the design.
Preferably, an experienced remote web developer candidate will have three to five years of experience with these languages.
It’s also important to ascertain whether the web developer you’re interviewing has the ability to code the back end of websites. Do they know how to set up a database? Do they understand how to store values in a website’s database?
4. Which Content Management Systems Do You Use?
A content management system (CMS) helps streamline organizing, adding and managing content for a website.
One of the most popular CMS is WordPress. Web developers leverage CMS to utilize built-in structures and architectures to create dynamic blogs and alluring corporate websites.
Setting a website up with a CMS also makes it easier for writers, marketers and designers to tweak already-developed websites. They can add content without needing the web developer to intervene.
5. Are You Comfortable with Regular Phone and Video Meetings? Do You Have Experience with Telework Software?
Remote work has unique challenges. One of the most challenging aspects of working remotely is maintaining communication. Miscommunication can occur more easily for remote workers, so it’s important that you keep communication lines open and stress the importance of speaking clearly and confidently.
It’s much better if a candidate already has experience with telecommunication software such as Zoom, Skype or Slack. Knowing how to interact via these technologies will lessen the chances of miscommunication in telework environments.
Conclusion
How you conduct a remote web developer interview is entirely up to your organization. There are several methods for conducting technical interviews, telework interviews and startup interviews. Each one of them is effective in a unique way; very few are ineffective or harmful. Adding a few questions to your interview script could help make whichever strategy you employ more effective.
Ask remote web developers about their experience working remotely. Remember to ask about experience with certain telework software programs and telecommunication applications. On the technical side, be sure to ask about programming skill, familiarity with web frameworks and their experience with CMS.
Companies that seek to hire remote web developers should take note of the interview questions listed above. By asking these five questions, interviewers can gain a great deal of insight into a web developer candidate’s habits, passions and challenges.
Using these interview questions should make the vetting and hiring process easier for everyone, helping interviewers assess a candidate’s adaptability, experience and dedication.
