You might be tempted to follow the traditional recruitment path and look for candidates who have the most amount of talent with the programming languages that you require for your project. Logically, those with more experience are going to be preferred.

The problem is, with the nature of technology and the speed at which technologies change, it is very difficult to find candidates who have the experience you might be looking for. It’s one of the few industries with this problem and therefore poses certain challenges that are individual in hiring a developer for new technologies.

But, it’s not impossible. Below, you will find some inspiration and hints on how to improve your chances of finding the right developer for new technologies.

Become Familiar With The Link Between Programming Languages

This is not just the case in modern technologies. Look at most of our latest inventions and you will see how they have been based on older versions. In some instances, a developer has taken an existing program and made it user-friendlier for a larger audience. In other situations, a program has had an irritating feature that a developer has ironed out.

It’s important to appreciate the connection between different frameworks and programming languages. Take Elm for example. If you limit your search to Elm developers it is unlikely you will have much luck. However, Elm compiles to JavaScript, which opens the doors to a whole new group of talent. Those who have experience in JavaScript may have dabbled in Elm. By carrying out your searches this way, you are not limiting your options.

Find A Developer Who Can Be Of Use Today And In The Long-Term

Let’s say you are lucky in your search and have received applications from candidates who are well versed in new technologies. Unfortunately, this still isn’t enough. It is also necessary for your candidate to be able to continuously learn as new technologies come on the market and as your tech stack expands.

A good place to start is to look for candidates with a large range of programming language experience. In an ideal world, this experience will be with languages that are very different or unrelated. These types of candidates are potentially fast learners and this will serve you well in the future.

Remember to glance over their side projects too. A developer isn’t always able to choose the programming language in which they have to work with. However, in their free time, they are able to develop new skills with alternative languages.

What Excites Developers About New Technologies

Knowing why a candidate chooses to switch from one technology to another it provides insight into why they would want to change in the future.

In 2008, the first was first released. This caused a large percentage of developers to switch from Java to programs like Objective-C, causing its popularity to shoot up. While you must make sure your candidates meet the expectations of your role, it is also very worthwhile discovering what excited them when building a product and how this has changed over time.