How To Find And Hire Expert Java Developers? (A Complete Guide)

Are you looking to hire Java developers? OR Are you a Java developer looking for a job? This article is your complete guide when it comes to what companies look for when hiring Java developers. Keep reading!

No matter what new programming language is trending right now, there are always some universal programming languages that are in use today and remain the core heart of programming always.

One such language is Java. If you are familiar with programming you would have heard about the Java programming language and know that Java developers are always in demand. Java is what you call the lingua franca of the IT industry. It is the #2 globally when it comes to job openings, which means recruiters are always hiring Java developers.

World-famous companies hire Java developers to build outstanding mobile apps and websites.

Here are more interesting facts about Java:

1. 35.35% of the developers use Java as of 2021. (Statista)
2. Java is the #1 language for microservices. (Oracle)
3. There are currently 45 billion Java virtual machines globally. (Oracle)
4. Java is the #1 language for DevOps, AI, VR, Big Data, Continuous Integration, Analytics, Mobile, Chatbots, and Social (Oracle)

However,  despite being the most renowned language, one thing that recruiters and firms always complain about is they find it difficult to hire an expert Java developer.

In this article, I’m going to show you how to just do that with tried and tested hiring techniques.

No matter whether you are looking to hire an individual developer, a team of developers for building your product from scratch, or augment your on-site team with expert developers, this article will help you find the best developers out there.

Read on to discover how you can use this knowledge for hiring and retaining the most skilled Java developers.

What Should Companies Look For While Looking To Hire Java Developers?

Before discussing the process for hiring Java developers, you should beware of common terms used in the Java programming language to better assess the developers’ skills. To do that you can check out the official glossary of Java terms by Oracle here.

Top Java Developer Skills

To further break down the checklist for hiring developers we will discuss three levels of Java developers based on their experience and skills.

What should you look for when hiring for a junior Java development position?

Typically, a developer with experience of 0 to 2 years falls into this category. A suitable hire should be good at writing clean and readable Java code. They must have a good knowledge of Java, Servlets, Servlet methods, and parameters. 

Here’s a checklist against which a junior Java developer should be assessed:

• Knowledge of Java/J2EE
• Understanding of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) analysis and design patterns 
• Familiarity with Enterprise Java Beans (EJB)
• Strong grip on Data structures and algorithms
• Know-how of java based web services
• Practical knowledge of Relational databases, SQL, and ORM
• Concepts of JVM and Memory Management
• Understanding of multithreading and synchronization

Remember that the years of experience is just a general conceptualization, there are developers with fewer years of experience but good skills, and vice versa.

What to look for when hiring a senior Java developer?

For hiring a senior Java developer, you should look at someone with 3 to 6 years of experience in Java programming. An experienced Java developer should write optimized code that is readable and clean. They must possess a strong understanding of OOP concepts and deep knowledge of J2EE. They should also be good at error handling and debugging techniques.

As this senior development role requires writing complex SQL queries, a strong candidate should have hands-on experience with query handling. As memory-related problems are quite common, a great Java developer should have a good understanding of runtime and garbage collection.

Here’s a popular meme among Java developers related to garbage collection:

Checklist for assessing a senior Java developer:

• All the points in the junior checklist
• Knowledge of Java/J2EE
• Understanding of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) analysis and design patterns 
• Familiarity with Enterprise Java Beans (EJB)
• Strong grip on Data structures and algorithms
• Know-how of java based web services
• Practical knowledge of Relational databases, SQL, and ORM
• Concepts of JVM and Memory Management
• Understanding of multithreading and synchronization
• Expertise in code optimization
• Expertise in serverlet methods

What skills should I look for when hiring for the Java Architect role?

Keep in mind that this is the most senior role when it comes to coding in Java. So, you should always look for experience in terms of years. A Java programmer with experience of 5+ years is a perfect candidate for this role. They should be highly skilled in handling multithreading, class fundamentals, exceptions, and data types. Also, they should have a deep understanding of J2EE, Hibernate, and Core and Session interfaces. Their skills in design patterns and SQL should also be exceptional.

Checklist for assessing a Java architect:

• Knowledge of Java/J2EE
• Understanding of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) analysis and design patterns 
• Familiarity with Enterprise Java Beans (EJB)
• Strong grip on Data structures and algorithms
• Know-how of java based web services
• Practical knowledge of Relational databases, SQL, and ORM
• Concepts of JVM and Memory Management
• Understanding of multithreading and synchronization
• Expertise in code optimization

To further break down, hiring a Java developer for specific application architecture, the developer should also be capable of additional skills. Here’s a brief description of these skills:

Hire A Developer For Java-based Web Applications

If you want to hire a junior developer for a Java-based web app, the candidate should know service-oriented architecture or web services such as SOAP, microservices, and REST. They should also be skilled in web technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, JSP/Servlets, markup languages such as XML, and web frameworks (Struts and Spring).

Hire a Java Developer for Network or Distributed Applications

A developer for network or distributed systems should have a deep knowledge of sockets such as RMI and RPC and protocols i.e. IP, HTTP, FTP, etc.

Hire a Java Developer to Work on UI

For hiring a developer you should check if they have expertise in triggers, cursors, stored procedures, and querying using SQL. 

Where To Find Top Java Developers?

When looking to hire tech talent the best way is to look into tech communities where a lot of potential talent communicate. Two such communities are Stack Overflow and Github. Other than that you could also contact software companies that offer IT staff augmentation services. These companies have exceptional tech talent at their disposal and they also offer some additional benefits as well.

For example, InvoZone offers the following facilities to its clients:

1. Access to a large pool of Tech talent including Java developers
2. Fast recruitment process
3. Let you work with developers directly
4. Free project manager for constant support and communication
5. Predictable costs

Interested in hiring a Java developer? Just fill in this form and our experts will get in touch to answer all your questions.