How to Hire a Good Web Developer
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DEFINITION
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A Web developer, strictly speaking, builds and maintains websites.
However, a lot of people who create a site from start to finish --
designing graphics and webpages, figuring out the site map, then producing
the site -- call themselves Web developers, so it's a confusing term.
People who conceptualize and plan out the site are actually Web designers.
Developers are the people who use some form of HTML to build the actual
pages. A Web developer's other responsibilities could include optimizing
graphics for the Web and producing rich media such as Flash, streaming
media, or online audio.
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SKILLS
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Basic:
- Can hand-code HTML
- Can optimize graphics and webpages so that
they load quickly
- Can handle cross-browser optimization -- making
sure the site looks good on different browsers
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Advanced:
- Familiarity with JavaScript
- Photoshop
- Dynamic HTML (DHTML)
- XML
- Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
- Familiarity with CGI forms
- Can deploy dynamic Web technologies
such as XSSI, JSP, ASP, Dynamo, and Cold Fusion
- Familiarity with
SSI (server-side includes)
- Has a working knowledge of JavaScript
and CGI scripting. This will become increasingly relevant as
DHTML becomes
more widespread
and more
content is
generated using scripts
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EXPERIENCE
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Senior developers manage the overall building of the site and assign
junior developers
specific areas to build. |
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Junior:
- Has created at least one website
- Has updated content on an existing
website
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Mid-level:
- At least one year of experience developing and maintaining a
commercial website
- Experience with naming conventions and setting
up file structures (important for large sites)
- Can look at a
visual design and tell what it will take to implement it
- Can
tell at a glance how a page was put together or an entire site
assembled
- Knows what functions a given line of code performs
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Senior:
- At least two years of experience developing and maintaining
a large-scale commercial website
- Experience as lead developer or
project manager
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HOW TO SCREEN FOR QUALITY
- Candidates should be able to provide URLs of previous work. This
is the equivalent of a portfolio.
- HTML code should be clean and
well organized. You can check this by looking
at the HTML source code of sample URLs.
- Many Web development companies
screen job candidates with a standardized HTML coding test. Candidates
are given an image created in Photoshop
and asked to turn it into a Web page using only text-based editors.
- Get
references from previous clients or employers. Was this person
easy to work with? Did he or she produce a fast-loading, well-functioning
site?
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TIPS
- Looking at websites done for other clients is not always a good
indicator of a web developer's skills, since it's hard to tell
exactly what they
contributed to the site and how much it's changed since they worked on it. If
possible,
you want to see exactly what they contributed. Ask what role they played
in the project.
Did they build the entire site or just optimize webpages?
- Be wary of
self-taught folks who haven't worked in an agency or corporate
setting. They might not have the training or discipline to complete
jobs
on deadline.
- A degree in one of the following is helpful: computer science
or engineering, human-computer interaction (HCI), or architecture.
- Continued
education in Web programming, interface design, information design,
or multimedia production is also helpful.
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KEYWORDS
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Use relevant keywords to search Guru's database and find the talent
you need. These words commonly appear in the Guru Profiles of Web developers: |
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HTML, Web design, Web development, Web production, HTML, XML, DHTML,
CSS, dynamic Web technologies
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Back to Frequently Asked Questions |
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