Hiring Software Developers: What to Look For?

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As a hiring manager or CTO of a Software Development Manager, you need to understand what are the key quantifiable attributes of good software developers. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to decide who will be a great programmer and who won't, but here are some common traits that tend to be associated with good programmers.

INTEGRITY

Your prospective employee should be someone with strong ethical standards and experience in working with honest people. We are not talking about a person that never lies or cheats, but somebody that won't steal money from the company or do things to deliberately harm it. The qualities you are looking for here are honesty, fairness, and a sense of responsibility.

MATURITY

A great software developer will be somebody that is reasonable, focused and self-disciplined. They should also be able handle criticism in a positive manner and have the ability to work towards common goals with other team members. Someone who is immature may lack these qualities and more than likely have difficulty fitting in with a team.

STRONG COMMUNICATION

A great developer should be someone that is able to communicate effectively in writing and speech. This will help them share their ideas more clearly with team members, as well as express the reasoning behind decisions when reviewing requirements for a project. Communication is key when you are managing software development projects and you need somebody that can clearly express their thoughts in written form as well as verbally.

LISTENING SKILLS

Your software developers should be able to listen effectively and empathize with users in order to deliver the best possible products. The ability to listen deeply goes hand-in-hand with effective communication skills. Good listening skills may not seem very important when coding alone, but actually makes a huge difference when in team work.

CREATIVE THINKING

Creative thinking is the ability to come up with innovative ideas that solve real world problems. All solutions can't be found from using some off-the shelf software libraries or a website like Stack Overflow, so you need someone who has this creative flair and resourcefulness to find solutions for you.

PROCESS ORIENTATED

The software developer should be someone that is process orientated, which means they can work effectively within a workflow, understand where the bottlenecks are likely to occur and what future problems may lurk on the horizon. Process orientation is essential if you plan to develop large software applications and need to become familiar with methodologies like Agile or Waterfall.

The above list is not exhaustive but indicates some of the main qualities to look out for during an interview. Good software developers should have most of these qualities, which means they are likely to be good team players and also responsive to feedback from clients. If you are looking to hire software developers, then these attributes may help you in making the final decision.