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Everybody who tries to hire .NET developers soon meets the fact that it is not just about looking through the resumes. Just like with software engineers of other specialties, the recruitment person should know exactly what to look at and make sure that they’ll become truly valuable for the overall success of the team. 

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You won’t let yourself lose a potentially highly-skilled candidate, as you don’t want to hire .NET programmers who’ll be inconsistent with your team and will waste your precious time as well. Having the applications and CVs, it’s up to you to decide which one of the programmers is good enough, to have a technical interview and this article is here to help you to hire a .NET developer.

So there’s a question: what is the proper way to estimate .NET developer skills, to find the candidates who perfectly match your vision. As a custom software development company oriented on the Microsoft Technology Stack we know how to solve this issue. Let us assist and show you, what is important in this technology, and how fast and effectively bring in the candidates as the final result, hire a developer capable of being a valuable addition to your .NET development team.

WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW FOR THE RECRUITER TO HIRE .NET DEVELOPERS?

what recruiter know to hire software developers
A recruiter should be familiar with the structures, frameworks, tools, etc. to understand what you are searching for. To be on the same page with the developer.

As like in Java, the language knowledge (here it is C# mostly) isn’t enough. To hire .NET developers, the recruiter should know something about the frameworks and libraries, like Entity Framework or ASP .NET MVC, at least because any big enterprise application is built on their foundation. You should not also refuse to hire .NET programmers who are not familiar with some point from the list of requirements. Frameworks are similar somehow, so if he is sophisticated in one of those, he can flawlessly switch to another one, because he is familiar with the principles and ideas behind it.

Nonetheless, hire a .NET developer with commercial experience is the thing that brings real profit for the employer.

The knowledge from the university, but with the lack of practice, will not bring something useful to the enterprise coding. Of course, when you hire .NET developers and looking for juniors, you should take the education to your consideration. You may ask for examples of programming projects with an open-source code.

HOW TO CONFIRM .NET DEVELOPER SKILLS ON THE INTERVIEW?

The IT recruiters use different hiring methods to estimate skills, judging the CV and technical interview. You’ll find useful tips below on how to hire .NET developers, what’s more important — qualified developers.

Technical interview of ASP .NET programmers based on the CV

.NET howto hire .NET programmers
Microsoft has started developing .NET Framework in the 1990s. It was originally named the Next Generation Windows Services.

When you hire a .NET developer, you may find useful information in the CVs. But for that, you have to be able to read it. You should be familiar with the structures, frameworks, tools, etc., to understand what you are searching for. To be on the same page with the developer. The first step to understanding may be the glossary, like the one given below.

.NET Framework versions .NET 1.0 – .NET 4.5.
Languages C#, Visual Basic .NET, F#, C++ .NET
Web frameworks ASP.NET MVC 1-6, ASP.NET Web Api, ASP.NET Web Forms
Desktop frameworks WPF, Windows Forms
Communication frameworks WCF, ASP.NET Web Api, Web Services
IoC Containers Castle Windsor Container, Unity, Structure Map, Ninject, AutoFac
ORM Entity Framework, nHibernate, Linq2SQL, ADO.NET
C# unit testing frameworks nUnit, SpecFlow, MSTest, xUnit
C# build tools TFS, Team City, Jenkins, Cruise Control .NET

Possibly, if you aren’t a technician you may be a bit confused by all these abbreviations and technical names. But do not worry, taking a bit deeper with the basics of this sphere will let you be on the same page with the specialist.

IMPORTANCE OF .NET CERTIFICATE FOR PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMMING SKILLS ESTIMATION

what to know about the certificates
Too many certificates can raise a red flag for the recruitment professional.

The certificate — is a questionable topic in the ASP .NET development sphere. Some organizations and professionals say that this is nearly the best indicator of high-level skills. On the other hand, some say that these exams barely demonstrate any practical skills and represent only a theoretical side when you hire a .NET developer. But we certainly can say that certificates should not prove knowledge. Many good ASP .NET programmers do not have one because of not willing to waste time passing the test to acquire the certificate. The others, who do not have enough commercial experience, try to lift up their market value, obtaining a certificate by passing the exam for it. A quite surprising fact, but when someone wants to hire ASP .NET developers, too many certificates can raise a red flag for the recruitment professional.

Obviously, the certificate availability is better than its absence. But the recruiters should keep in mind, that this “feature” is more like “nice to have” when you hire ASP .NET programmers. But still – commercial experience and recommendations are the best indicators of programmers’ skills. Definitely, Microsoft certificates are the most valuable when it is about software engineering. They can be split into the following list:

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist or MCTS

MCTS  is used as the entry point for the Microsoft certificates. Certain Microsoft technologies are approved through this test, like WPF, SQL Server, SharePoint, Windows Server, etc.

Earlier, many kinds of MCTS certificates used to be, which has often led to mess, so Microsoft has reworked the certification scheme, and now they promote MCSD, mentioned below. That means that MCTS certification will dissolve in the nearest future. Nonetheless, even being outdated, its availability is appreciated for the candidate when you’re trying to hire ASP .NET developers.

Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer or MCSD

To hire .NET programmer, the first thing to check is MCSD. IT proves that the programmer has the full-stack competence to create multi-structured applications. Consistently they should pass a few exams on certain technologies. Here are some of them:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT SHOWS .NET DEVELOPER SKILLS

You should pay attention to some points in the candidate’s resume:

  • The candidate is proving that you are dealing with the professional not as a single person, but as the one who can be a great addition to your existing .NET development team.
  • Work experience in large projects, including big volumes of data: this means that the candidate is probably aware of how to solve the issues which may appear in large software development projects.
  • Participation in the programming conferences or meetings: this is the indicator of the programmer’s interest in his area evolution and his own growth and help you to hire ASP .NET developers for the project.
  • Participation in the open-source projects: as we mentioned in our previous article, this is a valuable “nice to have” feature, endorsed the overall candidates score you hire .NET programmer. It demonstrates the developer’s interest and at least mid-level skills.

TECHNICAL INTERVIEW OF .NET PROGRAMMERS

Making confident opinion on candidate’s skills reading CV only is quite difficult when you hire .NET developers. That is why the technical interview is required for the recruiters: to measure not only the numbers on the paper but to estimate person as well.

Interview questions to Hire a .NET Developer:

how to perform coding test to hire a developer
These questions will help you to find out, how to hire .NET developers for the project, how the developer estimates his own decisions, how he makes a conclusion and how good he learns of his previous experience.

Q: What was the most engaging project you have participated in? Could you, please, describe it and explain why is it so attractive?

This gives you the idea on the complicity of the projects, that .NET programmer participated in, and, of course, his preferences (Interface, database, algorithm, etc.)

Q: Could you, please describe the difference between [e.g.WebForms and ASP .NET MVC structures?

When you hire .NET programmers, check his ability to explain the difference to a non-technician with easy words, that shows his communicative experience with the business staff. Moreover, the ability to explain shows a good understanding of the area.

Q: What’s the difference between managed and unmanaged code.

This question allows clarifying the candidate’s understanding of the CLR (Common Language Runtime), a compelling part of the .NET framework.

Q: Could you please explain what is JSON data and how .NET programmers work with JSON?

JSON is the abbreviation for JavaScript Object Notation. This is the way to organize and store data in the way to access and read it. Being a text format, JSON does not depend on the programming language used.

Q: Do you like to take part in the deployment, design or analysis of the project, or you prefer clear concentration on the development of fine explained tasks?

The choice of the first option shows his preference for Agile projects. The second one – his intention to work in the projects with strict frames. Based on these indicators, you’ll be able to hire .NET developers for the project and make sure he is able to work with the other team members without any flaws.  

Q: I have noticed, that you mentioned X structure in your CV. How do you think, is that a good choice?

Such a straight question gives the candidate the possibility to show off his skills in some areas. You will see, how the candidate makes his personal decision and warrants his choice.

Q: Think of that, how would you solve the project task, that wasn’t a good solution? Is there any other way to make this a success? What have you obtained from that experience?

These questions will help you to find out, how to hire .NET developers for the project, how the developer estimates his own decisions, how he makes a conclusion and how good he learns of his previous experience.

Technical interview with an online coding test

coding test to hire .NET programmers
Not showing for the coding test rarely happens

Online coding tests can be a nice skill estimation tool to hire .NET developers. Depending on the company’s approach to the test, it can be the main tool to measure candidates’ skills or be a side task alongside the Skype interview, for example. But still, more and more organizations make the online test as the main instrument on hiring a specialist. The reason is that it gives the recruiter significant advantages:

  • The most important feature is programming skills which are required to be seen.
  • The verified candidates will not consume the time of the rest team developers in the future,
  • The candidate, which is ready to participate in the coding test, shows his readiness to assist you in the hiring process, and this has a positive impact on him.

This is why not passing the coding test rarely happens.

IN CONCLUSION

technical interview to hire ASP .NET developers
Making confident opinions on the candidate’s skills reading CV only is quite difficult when hiring .NET developers.

So the answer to the main question: how to hire .NET developers – is to understand them and their specialty. If you are a recruiter, it is highly appreciated for you to obtain at least basic skills and knowledge of this area. And if you are the technician, who hires developers on the last stage, it is useful for you to remember, that not only highest-skill is important to the developer. But his personality is important as well, to be the best-matching part of your team.

Urgently need professional .NET development team? Look for the .NET software development company. Existek is a custom software development company with extensive expertise in .NET development. Feel free to contact us to discuss your requirements. Also, you may visit our Dedicated Development Team Page to learn more about our experience in setting up high performance dedicated development centers in Ukraine and hire dedicated .NET developer in counted days.

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