How to Hire React Developer in 2023: A Step-by-Step Guide for Recruiters

The moment you search “How to hire react developer” on Google, you’ll get around 80,00,000 results:

The number of search pages itself is reflective of how popular this topic is among readers and developers alike.

On the data side of things, ReactJS developers are growing in demand and popularity:

• According to a recent Quess report, there’s an uptick in the demand for talents with reactJS skills. The report suggests that in Mar-Oct 2020, the role of ReactJS Developer witnessed a staggering 184% increase in the total number of open positions.
• Another recent report suggests that when it comes to web frameworks, around 65,000 developers prefer ReactJS as the second-most preferred framework.

Despite the widespread popularity of ReactJS developers, there’s increasing complexity and ambiguity in the ReactJS developer hiring process–a crippling concern we will tackle in this blog.

Here is a must read for recruiters- How much does it cost to hire a React Developer

Here’s a quick run-through of the key questions we’ll answer and the value-adds you stand to gain from this comprehensive guide:

• Why (and when) does your business need to hire React developers?
• What to look for when hiring ReactJS developers?
• How to hire React developers, the right way?
• Top-5 Technical and Non-Technical Tips to Hire the Best ReactJS Developers
• Top-3 Mistakes to Avoid while Hiring ReactJS Developers
• How much does it cost to hire ReactJS developers?
• Best Platforms to Hire React Developers
• The Bottom Line

Let’s dive in!

Why (and when) does your business need to hire ReactJS developers? 

Whether you’re a startup, medium-sized business, or a large-scale enterprise, there’s a raging need to hire React developers. Here are two compelling reasons:

1. It is the preferred choice by developers: As per the Enterprise JavaScript in 2019 survey, 63% of developers (out of 33,000 participants) claimed that they preferred to write code in React.

Developers particularly chose ReactJS because it provided programming tools to them that brought them joy and pleasure. They can build robust products and reuse components. Even Google Trends confirms that ReactJS is among the most popular programming tools:

2. It is widely used by established giants in their own right: According to estimates, around 10832 industry leaders are currently using React JS in their tech stacks, which includes the likes of Airbnb, Uber, Netflix, Instagram, Shopify, Facebook, Amazon, and Udemy. In fact, Netflix developers claimed to switch to ReactJS for three reasons: startup speed, runtime performance, and modularity. Since its release in 2013, the React community has increased to 1,14,416 developers.

So, the real question to ask here is:

“What can your business achieve with ReactJS web and app development?”

Here are a few of its benefits:

• Fast websites with minimal coding: With ReactJS, you can build engaging and high-performing web apps with minimal coding.
• Amazing rendering experience: React JS’ core strength lies in individual components, which automatically translates to an amazing rendering experience.
• Dynamic UI: React JS empowers developers to create interactive and dynamic user interfaces.
• Wide-ranging integrations: React JS effortlessly integrates with a number of popular tools such as Font Awesome, Firebase, Redux, Sentry, and WebStorm. As per experts, it can integrate with around 330 tools.

When to hire a ReactJS developer for startups, mid-sized businesses, and large enterprises:

The learning: From the developer’s perspective, ReactJS arms developers with a super-useful developer tool set and paves the way for quicker rendering as well as leveraging simplified scripting components. For startups and businesses, if you are looking to lower costs, drive speedy development, accelerate time-to-market, boost conversion rates, and achieve business goals, ReactJS is the way to go. Moreover, it enables your business to complete projects on time and within the stipulated budget.

React Developer Hiring Guide: What to look for when hiring ReactJS developers? 

In this section, we will deep-dive to understand how to hire a ReactJS developer at the junior, mid-level, and senior levels:

A. What to look for in a junior ReactJS developer during an interview

• Should have an experience of at least 1-2 years
• Should be familiar with the fundamentals of React and Angular
• Should know about HTML, CSS, BootStrap, JavaScript, Git, and RxJS and other crucial ReactJS Developer Skills
• Should have an intermediate or higher level of written and spoken English knowledge

B. What to look for in a mid-level ReactJS developer during an interview

• Should have more than two years of React JS expertise
• Should have a thorough understanding of HTML, CSS, BootStrap, JavaScript, Angular, Git, and RxJS
• Should be familiar with Node and other react development tools
• Should be comfortable with JavaScript (ES6) and TypeScript and Redux state management
• Should have extensive experience in developing mobile apps with effective UI and API endpoints

C. What to look for in a senior ReactJS developer during an interview

• Should possess more than five years of experience
• Should be able to create React-based UI using React JS and TypeScript
• Should be familiar with front-end environments, such as ES6, SASS, WebPack, and Unit Testing
• Should also be familiar with various development paradigms, such as MVC, MVVM, IoC, etc.
• Should be able to create RESTful services/APIs
• Should be able to communicate in English at an upper-intermediate or advanced level
• Must possess experience with other JavaScript frameworks like jQuery, Vue, and Angular

How to hire React developers, the right way? 

Hiring the right ReactJS developer can make or break your business game. If the recruiter does not have any technical knowledge, hiring a ReactJS developer can get tricky. So, if you want practical tips on what to look for in a React developer’s resume, keep reading.

Step 1: Create an in-depth ReactJS job description

The first ask is to create a compelling job description to be able to attract high-quality talent. Here are a few important points to include in the same:

• A concise company overview
• Key job responsibilities listed out as clearly as possible
• Short and long-term expectations from the developer
• Qualification level required
• Skills needed for the job role
• Deep dive into the company culture, its ethos, and values

Your job description should accurately and simply reflect the job’s requirements.

Step 2: Prepare for the interview questions 

When prepping to ask the right kind of react interview questions, you need to consider both soft and technical skills.

Soft skills required:

• Team player and interpersonal skills
• Time management
• Project management
• Communication skills as constant communication is needed with developer teams and design teams to explore user interface concepts
• Ability to write clean code–one that adheres to strict guidelines and established best practices
• Willingness to learn new tools
• Problem-solving and troubleshooting capabilities

Tips for screening soft skills:

To gauge a candidate’s soft skills, consider questions that centre around their project management experience, communication skills, ability to work in a team, and perceived goals in professional life.

Technical skills required:

• Strong knowledge of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS
• Understanding of ReactJS and core concepts (think: JSX, Virtual DOM, and component lifecycle)
• Experience with ReactJS workflows (read: Flux, Redux, Create React App, and data structure libraries)
• Experience of working with Rest API
• Strong experience with data structure libraries
• Knowledge of Android & iOS app development
• Strong knowledge of a JavaScript testing framework
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field

Tips for screening technical skills:

When screening for the typical roles and responsibilities of a ReactJS developer, keep in mind the following duties. An experienced ReactJS developer should be able to:

• Use built-in React tools to build front-end functionality
• Create data visualization tools, reusable programming, and libraries
• Integrate design and wire-frames into application code
• Track and convert user interactions into valuable data
• Transform wire-frames and designs into high-quality code
• Work in a variety of browsers and devices with optimized components
• Demonstrate a good understanding of GIT, Sigma, CSS libraries, Adobe XD and other similar tools
• Build a responsive web-based UI

To make things easier for you in this react developer recruitment guide, here’s a checklist of questions to ask React developers at the junior, middle-level, and senior positions:

Step 3: Gather candidates and evaluate the portfolio

In this section, we will look at how to screen the quality of skills of a ReactJS developer. First things first, screen your resume based on the soft and technical skills outlined in the previous step. You should also separate out resumes that are well-structured. Additionally, make sure to highlight the experience and necessary skills to shortlist resumes. Here’s a handy checklist to consider when screening the resume for a React developer:

• Headline
• Objective statement
• Work experience
• Technical skills
• Education details
• Personal information
• Summary

Here’s another handy list of questions you can ask to distinguish a skilled ReactJS developer from an inexperienced one:

• What are the main limitations of ReactJS?
• What is the purpose of render() in React?
• What are the different phases of the React component’s lifecycle?
• How do you modularize code in React?
• What are pure functional components?
• What are Props in the context of React?
• How do you define a state in React and how is it used?
• How do you create an event in React?
• Why can’t browsers read JSX?
• How might React handle or restrict Props to certain types?

Step 4: Select and onboard

Based on the scores obtained in the screening process, you can shortlist the most suitable candidate. Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to focus on delivering a seamless, easy, and friction-free on-boarding experience when looking for react developers for hire:

6 key factors to keep in mind to ensure a smooth on-boarding:

• Start by sending them a welcome package.
• Next, you’ll want to send the paperwork and assist them in the data-filling process.
• Proactively provide access to your work tools and software to make things easy for them.
• As a thumb rule, assign a buddy or mentor to guide them through the on-boarding process. The mentor can also introduce the candidate to the team.
• Take out the time to demonstrate your company culture. You can do this by handing over your employee handbook, showing them a presentation on your company’s culture, and also showing recorded videos of previous all-hands meetings.
• Finally make sure to keep your candidate informed about their task and role for the first few weeks, details about the working hours, the coding standards prevalent, and your expectations as a manager.

Top 5 Technical and Non-Technical Tips to Hire the Best ReactJS Developers 

• Technical proficiency: They must possess the required technical skills such as in-depth knowledge of CSS styling strategies & React fundamentals, hands-on experience in using version control systems, and well-versed with JS build tools.
• Adjacent technology expertise: They should be proficient in JavaScript, ECMA script, and adjacent technologies as well as frameworks that are compatible with React.
• Excellent planners: They should be able to plan tasks as well as sprints efficiently and stick to the agreed upon deadlines
• Testing knowledge: They should have a basic understanding of testing tools (think: unit testing, integration testing, end-to-end testing, etc.) and frameworks
• Interpersonal skills: They should demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills such as effective communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and open-mindedness.

Top 3 Mistakes to Avoid while Hiring ReactJS Developers

• Hurrying up the pre-screening candidates process: Make sure to have one-on-one phone calls to verify the information and gauge candidate’s interest as well as fit for your company.
• Hiring candidates solely based on resume: Do not hire candidates solely based on resume, make sure to conduct an experience-based test to assess their skills.
• Getting candidates to perform an antiquated whiteboard test: Never ask candidates to solve whiteboard problems on the spot. This puts them under unnecessary pressure and puts your company in a bad light.

How much does it cost to hire ReactJS developers?

The salaries of ReactJS developers will vary from country to country. The typical costs can range between $25 to $90 per hour. Note that various parameters such as cost of living, seniority levels, experience, geography, projects, awards, etc. can influence the salary range.

Here’s a lowdown of the typical costs of hiring as seen across various developed countries:

How to Hire React Developer: Best Platforms to Hire 

There are numerous platforms on which you can find quality ReactJS development companies and developers. These include (but are not limited to):

Platform 1: Job posting websites

Job posting sites such as Indeed and Monster double up as effective platforms to attract quality talent. You can find full-time and part-time ReactJS developers across a variety of sectors and domains. Plus, these job posting websites help save on time and effort as the candidates end up applying for the job positions you’ve posted, themselves.

Platform 2: Freelance websites

Contrary to popular opinion, Freelance websites such as Upwork, Freelancer, and Toptal offer access to a high-quality talent pool, particularly for smaller projects that need to be delivered within eight weeks or less. You’ll find skilled experts on these sites with affordable rates. Furthermore, these freelance websites do a thorough check of the candidate’s background and verify the skills and experience. Additionally, you can view:

• the number and success rates of the candidate’s previous projects
• customer reviews
• ranks of the most successful freelancers in a specific domain

Platform 3: Uplers 

The Uplers  allows you to get access to a qualified talent pool of ReactJS developers. With UTS, you’ll have instant and continuous access to India’s top tech talent, which includes ReactJS developers. What makes this model revolutionary is the thorough evaluation of talent via a customized vetting process. Here’s how it works:

• The company reviews each talent’s technical, functional, and communication skills. Currently, only 3.5% of the talent qualifies post-assessment, ensuring clients get their hands on the best ReactJS developer talent available in the market.
• Once the assessments are complete, Uplers Talent Solutions schedules an interview with a global company to take the deal forward.
• Every candidate undergoes a thorough and customized vetting process, which includes technical, functional, and communication rounds. 

With Uplers, you can access qualified talent, without doing the grunt work. Moreover, you’ll get to choose from a ready pool of pre-screened ReactJS developers to take your project (and vision) forward.

Platform 4: Social media platforms

Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Meetup, Jobcase, and AngelList work swimmingly well too. You can post vacancies and look for experts with the relevant skill sets. In some cases, a LinkedIn profile can be more informative than a CV itself.

The Bottom Line

There’s no doubt that ReactJS has emerged as a popular open source java script library to build user interfaces. This is especially for single page applications- be it for mobile or the web. However, hiring the right kind of React developer can turn out to be a game-changer for your project.

To ensure that you end up hiring quality talent:

• Look at the project scope
• Consider the talent’s coding experience
• Make sure that they have the knowledge of the latest tools and a good understanding of user experience design 
• Make sure they possess the necessary soft skills outlined in this blog
• They should be able to understand your vision on paper and bring to life with their intuitive coding touch

Otherwise, you’re setting up your brand to fail, even before the project even takes off the ground. Remember the important tips outlined in this comprehensive react developer hiring guide and hire the best ReactJS developer for your company. You will not only benefit from increased revenues and achieve business success but will also be able to avoid common mistakes made while hiring ReactJS developers and move with strategic precision–a win-win for all.