So you’re ready to hire some full-stack developers.
You’re not the only one. According to our 2020 Developer Skills Report, full-stack developers are the most in-demand talent pool out of all the developer roles.
With so many companies vying for the best developers, competition for recruiting talent in the tech space is tough. And part of standing out as a great place to work for developers is understanding who your candidates are and asking the right questions.
With that, let’s dive right into everything you need to know for hiring full-stack web developers.
What is a Full-Stack Developer?
First, let’s define and take a look at the makeup of a full-stack developer.
A full-stack developer works with both the front and back ends of a website or application. They can tackle projects that involve databases, building user-facing websites, and working with clients during the planning stages of this process.
Common Full-Stack Developer Skills
- Code Quality
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Node.js
- Problem Solving
- React
- REST API
- Technical Communication
To learn more about developer skills, check out our Ultimate Hiring Guide to Developer Skills & Roles
18 Full-Stack Developer Interview Questions to Use in Your Next Interview
General Questions
- What would you say was your best implementation experience?
- What are 5+ ways you could optimize a website to be as efficient and scalable as possible?
- What is your checklist for doing code-reviews?
- Walk me through a production issue you troubleshot in the past 12 months.
- What strategies would you pick up for measuring the success of a new feature?
- What considerations would you have for choosing the storage for the application?
Problem-Solving Questions
- When presented with a new project, how did you select the tools and technologies involved?
- How would you prevent a bot from scraping your publicly accessible API?
- [For lead engineers] If you are tasked with doubling the production scale of a system consisting of multiple components and services, what would your approach be in the span of three months?
- How do you perf tune your applications? What is your approach to improve throughput, latency? (discuss tradeoffs, use cases, examples)
- How would you debug and resolve a site issue?
- How would you find if the deployment is inconsistent?
Technical Communication Questions
- What is your favorite programming language and why?
- Say you had to write an endpoint for checking if a resource exists. What path and method would you use?
- List three key things to consider when coding with SEO in mind.
- What is the difference between a blue/green deployment and a rolling deployment?
- Explain the difference between REST and GraphQL
- How can you share code between files?
Download the full checklist here:
For Further Reading on Hiring Full-Stack Developers
Take your knowledge a step further with this Full-Stack Developer Hiring Guide.
For more information on the average salary of a full-stack developer check out Full Stack Developer Salary: 5 Big Things to Know.
And if you’re a fan of origin stories, check out The Strange Politics of the Full-Stack Developer.
