How to Hire JavaScript Developers in 2023: A Full Guide

Creating a website or web application almost always requires using JavaScript language. That’s why the majority of websites, mobile applications, and desktop widgets all people use on a daily basis are based on this language. Hiring a well-qualified and talented JavaScript developer can be a problem. Experienced developers are quite difficult to find because the demand on web development services is high. Due to this fact, we’ve decided to create a full guide that can help you hire a JavaScript programmer. Searching for talented experts is a crucial part of the entire project since the success and quality of the product fully depend on the competence level of chosen specialists.

In this article, you’ll find JavaScript developer interview questions, roles, skills, etc. What’s more, we’ll discuss essential hard and soft skills for programmers, define hiring options and their costs in various regions for the end of 2021.

JavaScript is a scripting or programming language that allows you to implement complex features on web pages. While surfing through the net, you may open a website, and if the page is not static, the high chances are that this technology was applied. In practice, HTML and CSS structurize and define the style of the web solution, whereas JavaScript makes the elements interactive for the wonderful user experience. We face them in our everyday lives when refreshing the Instagram feed, using the search bar on eBay, playing video/audio material on the web page, displaying or hiding extra information by tapping the button.

Let’s briefly overview the JavaScript history and find out why these specialists are sought-after nowadays.

Taking back 10 years from now, the successful project required only having excellent backend developers. JavaScript was mainly applied by frontend experts, but its utility was not narrow. In contrast, vital work was fulfilled by backend builders. So in those times, you could do without these specialists.

Nevertheless, a significant function was absent in websites those days, which is an asynchronous page reloading. The solution for it was AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). It was a drastic change and enhancement in web development, after which web solutions were efficient, convenient, and fast like desktop applications.

As a result, JavaScript is now applied not exceptionally for frontend scripting, but for backend as well. Its expanded capabilities have the following beneficial characteristics:

• Lightweight scripting language
• Dynamic typing
• Object-oriented programming support
• Functional style
• Platform independent
• Prototype-based
• Interpreted language
• Async processing
• Clients-side validation
• Extended browser management

JavaScript is widely applied, and your solution, built with this programming language, may come in handy, like world-famous platforms we take advantage of. Here are some platforms used by many of us on a daily basis created with JavaScript:

Released in 2005, this video hosting has gained worldwide popularity. Nowadays, this web solution is the most famous one for posting videos and is the second resource globally by the number of visitors.

The creation technology comprises server-side scripting, user-side coding, and database solution. In this case, JavaScript is used to display dynamic web content.

This social network, beloved among an extremely broad audience, is another great example of JavaScript products. The key idea of this platform is the opportunity for people to share their news, ideas, jokes, thoughts, and opinions laconically, discuss various topics, post photo and video materials. In addition, fans can follow and receive updates from their favorite influencers; those are the main reasons you can find Twitter almost on every person’s phone globally.

Have you ever inquired how Twitter live Search operates? At first glance, a user types in a #hashtag or a keyword, and Twitter displays a live feed of results, with new tweets showing up continuously after the primary request results were rendered entirely.

The last, but probably the brightest and most popular illustration of JavaScript products is Google. It’s also a number one platform globally.

Due to Google’s prevalence, this search engine and other products built by Google comprise a diversity of JavaScript frameworks applied to these solutions. To illustrate, Angular, one of the JavaScript frameworks, is a great solution for customer facing solutions and websites like Google Cloud Platform and AdWords, and lots of other instruments.

At the end of 2021, JavaScript is applied as a user-side programming language by 97.6% of all the existing websites. It’s one of the most popular languages nowadays. Due to such an immense demand, the market offers lots of developers, that’s why this may be extremely difficult to choose the best ones. However, there are some countries which are famous for talented, responsible, and executive specialists. To illustrate, Eastern Europe, in particular, Ukraine, is full of competent JavaScript coders for hire.

JavaScript is a great language that can be used for creating full-featured web applications. There are various JavaScript developers for various tasks, and they are split into their responsibilities. So, let’s discuss JavaScript developers' roles more precisely.

It’s obvious that JavaScript developer roles and responsibilities are directly related, so their positions predetermine the tasks they perform. It’s high time to discuss what kind of responsibilities each kind of JS developer can have.

Frontend JS Developer:

• Create a user-facing part of an application
• Ensure high performance on mobiles and desktops
• Write tested, idiomatic, and documented JavaScript, HTML, and CSS code
• Know how to deal with JavaScript frameworks which are helpful for working on this programming language: ReactJS, Angular JS, VueJS, MeteorJS, etc.
• Apply JavaScript libraries like JQuery and LESS (Leaner Style Sheets)
• Are competent in working with WordPress, Magento, and Joomla, which are widely used Content Management Systems
• Use particular CMS (Content Management System) for Ecommerce that builds storefronts, like Shopify and WooCommerce
• Conduct UI tests and get rid of bugs
• Cooperate with the backend developers in the process of building the RESTful API

Backend JS Developer:

• Gather technical requirements
• Integrate user-facing parts with server logic by applying programming languages like Python, Perl, Java, Ruby, PHP, .Net
• Know how to apply 2EE, Nginx, Apache, IIS – solutions for static content management
• Handle Git, Subversion (SVN), and Concurrent Versions System (CVS) – version operation software systems
• Work as part of a team developing applications and services
• Code, test, and operate Node.js based services
• Have expertise in building products for macOS X, Windows Server, Ubuntu, Linux, software systems
• Launch and maintain the product with Content Management System
• Integrate APIs
• Work with private cloud providers, like Amazon Web Services
• Conform with security regulations

Full-stack JS developers:

• Are sufficiently skilled in developing both frontend using HTML5, CSS3, and backend with Java, JavaScript, PHP, C#, Python, Ruby, Perl, and other languages
• Cooperate with frontend frameworks and libraries, for instance, AngularJS, REACT, JQuery and LESS
• Create databases with SQLServer, Oracle, MongoDB, and Redis
• Work with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript in order to implement server-side logic
• Build design prototypes and providing UI/UX design services
• Design architectures

According to the roles we have discussed above, a good JavaScript developer must have certain technical knowledge and skills. Let’s figure them out.

Frontend engineers create websites utilizing such technologies as HTML5 and CSS3. They are used in order to create dynamic user interactions. In addition to those two, frontend developers should know such frameworks as AngularJS, ReactJS, VueJS or others. Furthermore, in order to make the workflow smoother, engineers need to know Web pack.

The main backend platform based on JavaScript language is Node.js. It’s extremely powerful in combination with Express.js, Koa.js, and other frameworks. In order to create, integrate and manage databases, JS developers should have experience with SQL or MongoDB. GraphQL or REST are important for building an API, so your engineer should have experience at least with one of these technologies.

As you know, these developers are able to work with frontend and backend. Thus, they need to have experience and knowledge of all web development services that were mentioned above. That’s why full-stack developers have been working with JavaScript for some time and are able to perform all JavaScript roles.

This process is indispensable if you want to hire JavaScript expert. It’s significant to mention that every top-notch software development company will offer you to choose specialists for your project and check their expertise yourself. Brand-new technologies and the high accessibility of outsourcing companies allow you to do this remotely without losing the quality performance.

During the interview, it’s important to test the knowledge of a candidate. There are two PDF files with questions for you to check the JavaScript expertise of candidates and their social abilities. Furthermore, there are JavaScript developer skills that every specialist should have.

Let’s discuss them more precisely.

• Excellent self-management. A great specialist is able to properly organize the workflow, fulfill the tasks in the right order and divide the time on each one to successfully meet deadlines.
• Customer orientation. This business philosophy implies prioritizing the requests of clients. A great specialist will overview the problem that should be solved by the product from the eyes of consumers to understand their pains and needs and build an efficient solution.
• Problem-solving. Every developer faces problems, so it’s important to look at them objectively and find a solution. Such an approach allows the team member to cope with all the arising challenges and meet both client’s deadlines and requirements.
• Creativity. Sometimes it’s necessary to view things from a different angle and come up with a less obvious solution. Thus the final product will comprise unique opportunities and include more complex and sophisticated features.
• Work in a team. Usually, JavaScript developers work on one project with others as a team, so this kind of experience is important. Each member should have well-developed communicating skills to be able to clearly state and formulate the thoughts and ideas so that they are correctly perceived by the rest of the team.
• Follow trends. The world is changing, and an ability to keep up with the newest coding languages, applications, devices, etc. allows creating more competitive products. Being aware of the latest tech tendencies increases customer engagement and satisfaction, and attracts a broader audience with the most up-to-date outstanding solution.

Hard skills are vital for a job. They include the expertise important for a candidate to work successfully. So, they have to be job-specific and are typically listed in job descriptions. Hard skills are usually gained through formal education or training programs, including short-term training classes, online courses, as well as on-the-job training. We’ve prepared the PDF file where you will find some questions and answers to interview and hire JavaScript programmer successfully.

There are some of them:

• How do you structure your CSS and JavaScript to make it easier for other developers to work with it?
• What is function hoisting? Let’s discuss the two ways of creating a function.
• What are the differences between one-way data flow and two-way data binding?
• Explain the difference between Relational DB vs. NoSQL.

Questions to Check Candidate’s Soft Skills Good soft skills are also important because they allow candidates to be effective in the workplace. There are so-called ‘interpersonal’ skills. For example, in the PDF below, you will find questions to check such skills as:

• Conflict management
• Creativity
• Decision making
• Teamwork
• Response to specific actions

The modern IT market provides a lot of opportunities to find and hire a perfect JavaScript developer who will be able to fulfill all requirements and objectives of your project. There are several popular options: hire a freelance JavaScript developer, create your own in-house team, or look for an outsourcing web development company. Of course, each of these options has advantages and disadvantages that are important to consider beforehand.

JavaScript developers that work for themselves are usually called freelancers. There are special websites that provide an opportunity to hire such developers. A freelancer is a good option if you are quite qualified and can interview specialists yourself to find out the level of their knowledge. On the other hand, you may face a lot of bugs in your final product and just waste money.

Pros:

If you consider to hire JavaScript freelance developers, your expenditures will significantly decrease since this option has the lowest cost. Moreover, they are quite good at doing some specific small tasks.

Cons:

The first thing to consider is your inability to check the code if you are not a qualified developer. As a result, this may lead to bugs in the future. One more drawback is the tendency among freelance developers to fail deadlines. It’s often the case that freelancers live in other countries, so you have different time zones, and it becomes difficult to communicate as well as manage the development process. Furthermore, you are not fully protected. It means that your project can be put at risk if the developer disappears.

There are several platforms where you are able to hire a freelance JavaScript developer — for example, Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, and Codementor.

Making a decision, it’s important to consider in-house development. It means that your JavaScript developers work in your own office and you are able to control the process.

Pros:

Speaking about long-term cooperation, you may be sure that your employees try to do their best to achieve your company’s goals. In comparison to freelancers who cannot be fully involved in your business, your in-house developers are always motivated to do their best. Moreover, an in-house team of developers can make changes or fix the product faster, which is also a benefit of outsourcing companies.

Cons:

The main problem of employing in-house developers is that the hiring process is often time-consuming. You need to find developers, interview them, and even then, there is a chance that they cannot join your team right away. In addition, you need to bear in mind that an experienced and qualified specialist requires a lot of money. It will be necessary to pay the salary even if you haven’t had tasks for them for the whole month. Furthermore, there are always some extra expenditures, such as benefits, packages, payment for office rent, taxes, purchase of hardware and software licenses, whereas outsourcing companies require paying exceptionally for fulfilled work with no additional outgoings.

There are some services that can help you to hire a developer for your own team:

• Indeed
• Glassdoor
• LinkedIn
• Dice

Option to hire a dedicated development team becomes more and more popular nowadays. Outsourcing companies provide you with a high-quality product and a well-reasonable price. It happens because you are able to choose a reliable vendor from different regions. For example, Ukraine and Asia provide attractive prices as well as good development. How does outsourcing work? You can hire JavaScript developer from another country. These programmers work for software outsourcing companies and may become a part of your team. The main task is to find a vendor that you can rely on.

Pros:

The biggest advantage is that a software outsourcing company is able to give you an experienced and well-qualified JavaScript developer in a short period of time. Besides, if we compare in-house and outsourced software development, you don’t have to conduct any interviews with the second option. As a result, you are able to start developing much faster. Moreover, outsourcing allows you to change the size of your team depending on your project requirements. One more benefit is the ability to choose the country where JavaScript developer rates are lower, but their hard skills are high. Besides, you pay only for work done, that’s why this option has the most efficient value for money.

Cons:

Locating in different countries, you may face the time zone problem, so you can find it slightly more difficult to control the development process. Yet, it’s the job of a project manager who will provide you with the progress report on your request, and you can overview it at any time convenient for you. One more possible drawback is the language barrier. On the other hand, there are a lot of ways to solve all these issues. Nowadays it’s easy to communicate via emails, messages, calls, etc. Moreover, the entire outsourcing team usually has fluent English, so this issue is sometimes absent at all. Experts are able to follow your schedule and communicate when it’s comfortable for you. As you can see, the challenges you face when applying to outsourcing vendors may be easily overcome.

You can find a lot of websites that provide the rates of the outsourcing companies to find the most suitable ones. Here are the top 3 most reliable services where you can find credible companies and hire JavaScript developers for your project:

• Clutch
• GoodFirms
• It Firms

In order to sum up this part, we can say that the most reliable ways to develop software are hiring an outsourcing company or creating an in-house team. As for freelance developers, it’s better to cooperate with them only if you have technical knowledge.

When it comes to rates, they are different for each JavaScript developer hire option (e.g., freelancers, in-house teams, dedicated developers). Moreover, it’s important to contemplate that specialists’ rates can vary according to the country of residence.

According to Codementor, freelancers tend to count working hours that’s why we provide you with this list.

As you can see, the median hourly rate is from $61 to $80. The most expensive developers live in North America and Australia. So, drawing a line, let’s count how much a freelance JavaScript developer from Europe or Africa will cost you. Taking into consideration that the developer will work eight hours per day, the daily price varies from $488 to $640.

If you have decided to create an in-house team of developers, the first question for you to answer is how much money you need to pay them to stay competitive. According to the statistics that were taken from Indeed, let’s discuss the average salaries for JavaScript developers in the USA and the UK. So, the average JavaScript programmers rate in the US is approximately $112,000 per year.

Junior developers can earn from $41,000, while the most experienced and qualified specialists make up to $215,000 a year. In England, hiring an in-house JavaScript developer is cheaper. Their hourly rate is £28, which leads to £45,000 every year. In the UK, junior JavaScript developer salaries can start at £25,000 while senior JavaScript developers get up to £70,000 per year.

If you want to find out the rates of specialists from other countries, you may use the platform Indeed in order to know developers’ rates.

Looking through worldwide JavaScript developers hourly rates, there is an opportunity to notice one tendency. North America and Australia have more expensive engineers while Asia and Eastern Europe are still the cheapest places.

So, it’s high time to discover the cost of hiring JavaScript developers in outsourcing companies. According to the platform GoodFirms, it’s possible to highlight the rates of outsourcing companies from different countries.

Cleveroad is a software development company that has accomplished 170+ successful projects and has a wide experience in a great diversity of domains like healthcare, education, and retail. We offer a broad spectrum of benefits for clients:

• Transparent and detailed project estimate which you may receive absolutely free
• Three cooperation models suitable for every business idea: dedicated team, fixed price, time & materials
• Top-class performance with ensured quality control on all the development stages
• A brand-new tech stack and innovative product building methods
• High-qualified team members with a verified expertise

The JavaScript language is one of the most popular among Cleveroad developers, who are extreme. Our specialists are competent and experienced in working with this programming language. JS allows engineers to implement custom client-side scripts. Moreover, cross-platform engines like Node.js are used to write server-side code in JavaScript. This technical language provides a lot of frameworks like AngularJS, ReactJS, etc. Using these frameworks gives an opportunity to reduce the time and effort required for creating JS-based sites and apps. Here are some visual examples of the latest projects developed by Cleveroad.

• Project idea: oMap is a search-and-discovery platform that provides the connection between businesses and customers in Poland.
• Development team: 3 web developers (1 for back-end development, 2 for front-end), 2 Android developers, 2 iOS developers
• Project developing time: 4 months
• Tools used for web development: JavaScript, Angular JS, Node JS, Passport.js, Sequelize.

• Project idea: Ayoo Dance was made in order to give dancers a place where they can show their skills and communicate.
• Development team: 2 iOS developers, 2 web developers (back-end & admin panel), UI/UX designer, 1 QA engineer, project manager.
• Project developing time: 9 months
• Tools used for web development: NodeJS 8, JavaScript, Express 4, MySQL, Sequelize.

To sum up, hiring JavaScript developers requires some technical experience as well as an understanding of JavaScript developers’ hourly rates, interview questions, and so on. We are an outsourcing company that has been working with JavaScript development for more than ten years. You are able to check our awards and find out that Cleveroad is one of the top outsourcing development companies in many countries according to Clutch.co.