Since the moment it was created in 2011, Kotlin has become one of the most efficient and in-demand programming languages out there. Today you almost can’t imagine creating a new app for mobile platforms without a Kotlin developer. In this post, you will learn some valuable tips about hiring options, interviewing processes, and ways to keep costs down.
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Kotlin and its advantages
First of all, let’s talk about Kotlin itself and the reasons why you need to implement it in your app’s development. About three years ago Google announced Kotlin as a preferred option for all Android applications development. Since this moment, language’s popularity grew at a rapid speed. Today Kotlin is ranked the 6th most popular programming language and according to research, about a third of new coders start to learn Kotlin as the starting point in web development.
Kotlin has numerous advantages. It has relatively easy syntax, that requires almost two times fewer lines of code than Java will need for executing the same task. Kotlin is able to share its code across Android, iOS, and traditional websites and is a preferred option today for multiplatform development. Another great feature is the open-source nature of Kotlin which allows it to become more efficient by the moment and helps developers to sharpen their knowledge every day.
All of this makes Kotlin extremely popular. Every day hundreds of new coders create profiles on job-finding sites for freelancers or begin to surf Linkedin in hope of finding work. With a pool of talent being so large it’s hard sometimes to hire exactly the right professional for your project.
Start of the hiring process
In the very beginning, you need to write a detailed plan for your future app, decide on all the features and consult with your team on the budget. Only then you will have a clear understanding of the size of your future development team, how much expertise you’ll need from your programming engineers, and which hiring option will fit you best.
You can try and find a perfect candidate yourself. The cheapest option will be hiring a freelancer, but finding one with enough experience and skill will take much of your time, and controlling them through the whole process if you don’t have a dedicated project manager for the project, will be a headache too. Also, you can try and find a Kotlin developer on Linkedin or through your own professional network. If your budget allows, you can always hire a headhunter or delegate to find a coder for an HR department. You will need to remember that in-house hiring is pretty expensive due to additional costs and higher salaries.
An outsourcing agency is another great option to hire expert Kotlin developers. Their services include finding a perfect candidate for your project, helping with communication and control over the whole development process, dealing with legal issues, and sometimes even testing the final product for bugs. Outsourcing agencies work with foreign talent most of the time due to lower rates of professionals offshore. You can try to cut a middleman and find a dedicated developer or the whole team abroad, but it can be dangerous sometimes due to scammers and you can experience some trouble with language barriers and different time zones.
Interviewing and confirming skills
When you find a specialist that matches all your requirements, you’ll need to conduct an interview to confirm their skills. The best and easiest way will be reviewing works from a portfolio or giving a test task to ensure an engineer’s qualifications, but you might want something extra just to be sure. It is recommended to do a little research on a candidate. Review their social media accounts, name-search them on the most popular job-finding sites and check their presence on sites like GitHub and Linkedin. There you can find some of their previous work and take a look at the type of code you will receive.
During the interview, you will need to find out whether the developer has experience in Java and Java virtual machine. It matters because Kotlin is based on Java and both codes can perfectly coexist in the same app. Also, candidates have to be familiar with Android Studio and SDK and have a good understanding of Linux, LMX, and RESTful APIs. Good knowledge of designing basics and app architecture principles will work to their advantage too. All of this you can find out with help of another Kotlin developer or simply by searching online for some popular interviewing questions and preferred answers to them
Soft skills to look for
Soft skills are constantly underestimated during the hiring process, but it is recommended to pay close attention to them too. Work ethics, an ability to follow your app’s blueprint, and deliver a result on time will play a crucial role down the road. During the interview, try to find out whether developers follow the newest trends in Kotlin’s development, registered on websites for coders, and participate in professional conferences. As we mentioned earlier, Kotlin is an open-source language, and being up to date with all the newest additions will help to deliver quality and clean code.
Communication skills are extremely important too. An ability to bring new ideas to the table in an effective way, listen to others and be open to feedback is what you look for in a Kotlin developer. With foreign professionals try to evaluate their English knowledge and cultural fit in your team to avoid any unpleasant events during your working relationships. Of course, during the interview, it is almost impossible to learn everything you need about a candidate, but you can search for reviews on job-finding sites from previous employers and take a look at social media accounts.
Conclusion
Today you simply can’t ignore Kotlin due to its rising popularity and variety of excellent features. Having skilled Kotlin developers in your team is vital in creating your own app. Finding one and ensuring a long and lucrative partnership can be a fairly hard task, but with some tips from this post and little online research, you can hire the best specialist in no time.