Hire Veteran Spring Engineers And Experts

On the list of the most popular programming languages, Java takes the fifth place — according to the 2020 Stack Overflow Survey, approximately 38.4% of professional developers use this language at work. And it’s hardly surprising. Java is a mature technology, known for years, and powering a vast number of different projects: from robust web apps to mobile apps to desktop software for developers.

Throughout the years, the community surrounding Java made the technology even more efficient by developing multiple solutions significantly improving the Java development experience. One of the leading technologies like that is the Spring framework.

Why hire Spring engineers for your next project?

Spring is the number one framework for the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition. 

It’s a robust tool, significantly simplifying and speeding up the development process of robust, enterprise-sized apps. Whether you need a reliable back-end for your web app, a microservices-based app in the cloud, software for an Internet of Things device, or even machine learning technology — it’s all possible with the combined power of Java and Spring.

The framework puts focus on a few major areas, such as testing, security, and API implementation. All these are crucial when developing modern apps, especially for enterprises, as they require a top-notch level.

And the best way to leverage the potential of the framework is, of course, to hire Spring engineers. Thanks to their experience and knowledge, you can get ahead of your competition and use Spring to the fullest.

How to find such experts and hire them fast? We dedicate the rest of our guide to this process.

NOTE: Please bear in mind that the “Spring” we are referring to in this piece is the Spring Framework, not Spring Boot. The latter is an extension to the former, useful when starting new Java projects.

The most important hard skills for Spring engineers

The first step in assessing whether your candidates fit your project well is to check whether they have the needed technical knowledge to help you out. While there are some areas of hard skills that you will need to consider on a case-by-case, project-by-project basis, there are also some that are applicable every time you hire Spring engineers.

1. Proficiency with Java
   
   Java isn’t necessarily an easy language to learn but when mastered, it showcases amazing potential. Make sure your new Spring engineers have worked with the language for years and know all its ins and outs so they can deliver the results you need fast.
   
   
2. Experience with Java EE
   
   The two major development platforms for Java are the Standard Edition (SE) and the Enterprise Edition (EE). Spring is running on the latter, so your new Spring developers should possess extensive knowledge of its capabilities. Of course, experience with .NET can be also beneficial, providing additional perspective on the development process.
   
   
3. Experience with Spring
   
   If you already ticked the first two boxes on the checklist — meaning your Spring developer candidate knows both Java and Java EE — there is a high chance that this one is just a formality. This is because Spring is surely the most popular framework for Java EE, used by the vast majority of Java EE developers. There are, of course, other options, such as Hibernate or Apache Struts — if your Spring engineers know these as well, the better for you.
   
   
4. Knowledge of other relevant programming languages and/or technologies
   
   You should also carefully review whether your new Spring engineers should be proficient with other languages than just Java. For example, if your goal is to develop a robust web app, your candidates should surely be knowledgeable in the main front-end languages: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. While their main interest will likely still be back-end development, knowing these languages will make their cooperation with front-end engineers more efficient. 

Crucial soft skills for Spring engineers

When you hire Spring engineers, an additional element you should consider is their soft skills. A specific set of those can significantly improve not only the efficiency of your new hire, but of everyone who will work closely with them.

The most useful soft skills for Spring engineers are:

1. Attention to detail
   
   So the delivered product is as issue-free as possible.
   
   
2. Research-oriented attitude
   
   So your Spring engineer always brings to the table innovative ideas based on the most up-to-date standards.
   
   
3. Approachability
   
   So they happily participate in brainstorming and collaborate well with their peers.

How to hire Spring engineers who truly fit your business?

There is one more element you should carefully consider when hiring Spring engineers (or virtually any other experts) — the company fit. You want to make sure that you onboard people who truly enjoy working at your company and at the same time bring unique knowledge to help you thrive.

The three crucial areas of company fit are…

1. Product fit
   
   There are many different projects that you can work on with the help of Java and Spring. For the best results, hire Spring engineers who have previously worked on products similar to yours so they can deliver results more efficiently.
   
   
2. Industry fit
   
   You can make the company fit even more powerful by looking into the industries your candidates have so far worked in. Those Spring engineers who have build products for companies similar to yours will have the knowledge of the unique obstacles standing in your way and know how to avoid them.
   
   
3. Company culture fit
   
   If you wish to improve the cooperation and innovation levels at your company, you might want to look especially closely into the company culture fit. The more your new hires will fit the culture you’ve already built, the better they will brainstorm and collaborate with their peers.
   
   How to review the company culture fit? First, look into the values that drive your business to success, e.g. the office culture (start-up vs corporate), the focus on diversity, or the style of management. Then, hire Spring engineers who share the same values as your business.

Hiring remote Spring engineers

The demand for Spring engineers is high — hence, you might sometimes find it difficult to find an expert in the technology in your local area.

The solution for it? Hire remote Spring engineers! Choosing this path has at least a few major advantages: 

1. You get access to top talents from across the world — you can hire truly the best of the best.
2. You can provide 24/7 technical support for your product easier — just hire Spring engineers from a few different timezones.
3. You can better optimize your costs — the global average salary of Java developers is more than twice lower than the average salary in the United States alone ($50k/year vs $120k/year).

Where to look for remote Spring engineers? We recommend especially the Central Eastern Europe region. Local developers there not only have lower salary requirements due to the lower costs of living but also are considered as one of the best developers in the world.

Top Spring engineer job interview questions

The best way to check your candidate’s skills and company fit is to run a well-planned job interview with them. Of course, its technical part should be run by an expert in Spring — if you are not such an expert yourself, we recommend asking for assistance from another Java developer, an IT project manager, or a software consultant.

To give you an idea of what kind of technical questions can be asked during such an interview, we list some of our favorites below.

1. What is the difference between method overloading and overriding?
2. Give an example of polymorphism.
3. What is a hashmap?
4. Give an example of immutable class.
5. What is Spring Boot used for?
6. HashSet, TreeSet, and LinkedHashSet — what is the difference between the three?
7. Are Swing methods thread-safe? Explain your answer.
8. What is the difference between notify and notifyAll in Java?
9. StringBuilder vs StringBuffer — what is the difference between the two?
10. What is the difference between a user thread and a daemon thread?

Who else will you need?

Hiring an experienced Spring engineer guarantees an amazing, well-performing technical backbone of your product. But you will need more experts on board to truly leverage your product’s potential.

And whether you require detail-oriented front-end developers, talented designers, precise machine learning engineers, or professional IT project managers and Product Owners — we can help you hire them fast. At Ideamotive, we run the industry-leading network of IT talents looking for new career opportunities.

Get in touch with us today and we’ll deliver you a tailored selection of experts, based on your company profile and any unique requirements you might have.