5 TIPS on how to check Magento developers from outsourcing

You’re starting a new e-commerce project, but you don’t have any free resources at the moment. So you decide to take advantage of the opportunities offered by outsourcing. Do you know how to check Magento developers for your tasks? In the article below, we present 5 important tips that will allow you to thoroughly check everyone you want to include in your project.

Lack of capacity is one of the two most important problems faced by many software houses. Often the developers employed there are in one of two modes: either they work in one project and have no time for another, or… they do nothing, because there is no new project.

While the former is perfectly fine for your business, the latter will have considerable costs associated with the salaries of employees who, colloquially speaking, “lollygag” in anticipation of new tasks.

Such a situation is unacceptable for a software house owner. Fortunately, we have a solution for you – outsourcing developers. This service will allow you to hire Magento experts only for the duration of a given project. No need to look for additional work for them after its completion.

But how to do it wisely so as not to regret later?

As we have many years of experience in outsourcing employees, we will be happy to share five tips with you, thanks to which you will choose the perfect people to entrust them with work on an e-commerce project.

How to check Magento developers from outsourcing

TIP 1: Start with a checklist

The first step towards building a great team of developers from outsourcing is to precisely define your requirements. Ideally, you should use a checklist that includes such elements as:

• the issue of availability of developers (how many hours a week you need them, how you’ll manage them, how you’ll
• respond to greater or lesser time requirements for the project),
• developer requirements (level of knowledge of Magento platform in terms of backend and frontend, working methodology, etc.),
• the means of communication and settlement of tasks with the developer (including the method of task valuation),
• access to necessary tools, working environments,
• design workflow,
• a set of good practices for working on e-commerce projects based on Magento.

Preparation of a checklist containing all the necessary points of cooperation with the developer will not only improve the stage of acquisition, but also the later implementation in the ongoing or just started project work.

TIP 2: Conduct a technical interview with the candidate

The second tip that is worth implementing when acquiring developers from outsourcing is to have a technical interview on your side. Why is this so important?

For example, to check the candidate not only for their knowledge but also for the way they work. It has happened more than once that a candidate sent by an external agency (referred to there as a Real Magento Star), despite having a lot of knowledge, did not fit the style of work prevailing in our agency. He openly rebelled against internal procedures and standards, which resulted in the end of cooperation after a few weeks and the necessity of recruitment from the beginning.

Getting to know the candidate in advance, asking him about his working methods and expectations can save you a lot of time spent on starting the process of searching and implementing developers again.

TIP 3: Check if the developer also knows about e-commerce

A programmer can be a real Magento whiz, born to create the most complex code. However, if you take up a job in the e-commerce industry, it is worthwhile for him to know about it too. At least in the basic area.

Therefore, in addition to purely technical knowledge during the recruitment process, it’s important to check more widely the knowledge of Internet sales. Does the programmer know what product types are? Does he know the difference between grouped and bundle? Does he know what RMA is?

These and other questions related to e-commerce will show if the candidate is a person who knows what kind of project he will be working on. This knowledge, combined with his programming skills, will provide value to the team, and, in translation, also the whole project.

TIP 4: If the developer is a full-stack developer, he should be interviewed by two developers

A full-stack developer looks good on paper, but if you need such a person in your project, check his or her skills both on the front and backend.

For this purpose it is best to use two developers. The first one, specializing in the backend, will check the backend knowledge, the second one – a frontend expert – will be able to test the candidate’s frontend skills.

Why is it not worth using only one developer in such a situation? Because he will not be able to reliably assess the candidate’s skills. If you have a backend whiz on your team with little knowledge of the front end, when testing a full-stack developer candidacy, they will not be able to tell if they really know the front as their CV says.

TIP 5: Don’t trust the first impression

At first glance, a candidate may seem like the perfect person for your project, but we advise you not to trust the first impression.

Situations in which, despite the first positive feedback, the programmer eventually turned out to be a demanding person, hard to work with, have happened to us far too often. The solution to this problem was to organize one more recruitment stage, in which the candidate was additionally verified by the Product Manager. The PM conducted an interview to check the candidate’s knowledge in terms of actual project needs and it was only on the basis of the interview that we made the final decision concerning cooperation.

How to check Magento developers and build a great team of professionals for your e-commerce project through outsourcing

Outsourcing of software services is an increasingly popular trend in the e-commerce industry. Thanks to it, when running a software house you don’t have to take care of a constant flow of orders from customers, but build a qualified team of Magento programmers for specific projects.

However, to achieve the intended results you have to conduct an appropriate recruitment process. That’s why we hope that by using the above five pieces of advice you will be able to gain the best candidates who will guarantee you and your clients full satisfaction with the quality of work.