A Guide on How To Hire a .NET Developer

In 2022 .NET platform celebrates its 20th anniversary. For 20 years, the platform has proven itself as a reliable tool to build cross-platform applications. According to a StackOverflow survey, 36% of professional developers choose the .NET framework, making it the most popular framework. 

Currently, the job market is full of .NET developers. However, hiring .NET developers can be tricky. The high demand for .NET devs makes it harder to attract the best talent. Moreover, .NET programmers must have extensive experience in programming and .NET tools. 

In this article, we explain how dotNET technology works and how to hire professional .NET developers for your project. 

What Is .NET Technology?

.NET framework is an open-source development tool for building cross-platform applications. It was created by Microsoft in 2002 primarily for building Microsoft Windows applications. With time, the framework developed into a robust cross-platform tool.  

.NET architecture consists of several blocks: 

• Common language infrastructure (CLI). CLI allows developers to use several languages (C#, F#, Visual Basic) supported by the .NET platform. Developers can use the code written in one language in another and the .NET environment will compile it to a second platform-neutral language called Common Intermediate language (CIL). CIL, in turn, compiles machine-readable code during runtime. 

• Common language runtime (CLR). CLR is a virtual machine that executes the code of the .NET framework and compiles CIL into machine-readable code. The runtime also takes care of memory management, garbage collection, handling errors, security, and type safety. 

• Framework Class Library (FCL). FCL is a set of libraries and APIs available in the .NET framework. These libraries help to implement common functions such as database access, file reading, writing, etc.  

These components of the .NET framework make it so popular among developers. Besides, .NET provides support for most software development stages. 

.NET framework is suitable for projects that require a robust set of features including web and desktop apps and cloud infrastructure. .NET is also used in the Internet of Things projects, game development, and machine learning.

.NET Framework Advantages and Disadvantages 

.NET can handle a wide range of projects due to its interoperability, security, and performance. Here’s a list of key .NET strengths to consider: 

• open-source, 
• supports several languages, 
• allows building cross-platform apps, 
• consistent API,
• enhances developers’ performance, 
• provides built-in memory management and security features. 

Some of the famous companies that use the .NET framework include UPS, Stack Overflow, Microsoft Graph, and more. 

Although it’s a truly powerful tool, .NET still has several drawbacks: 

• lack of flexibility in working with modern database designs,
• hidden expenses such as Visual Studio license,
• vendor lock-in, 
• decreased runtime speed. 

.Net Developer Roles and Responsibilities

Now that you know what the .NET framework is, let’s discuss the .NET programmers’ roles and responsibilities. 

.NET developers take part in each stage of the software development process, which imposes the following responsibilities on them:

• analyze customer requirements and needs of end-user, 
• estimate project timeline, 
• write quality code using programming languages supported by .NET,
• test and deploy apps and systems, 
• maintain and improve the existing codebase,
• create documentation at each stage of the software development lifecycle, 
• collaborate with other developers to build consistent design and architecture. 

What Are the Main Tech Skills of a .Net Developer?

.NET developers should have enough experience to cover your project needs. You can hire junior, middle, or senior developers based on your project size, team size, and project requirements. Common tech requirements for .NET developers include but aren’t limited to: 

• .NET programming concepts, 
• object-oriented programming techniques, 
• at least one programming language supported by .NET (C#, F#, VS),
• experience using .NET, 
• knowledge of web development languages and tools (HTML/CSS, JS, ReactJS, etc.) 
• knowledge of architecture styles (REST, RPC),
• familiarity with agile methodologies and SDLC.

Keep in mind that the .NET ecosystem is extensive, if a candidate doesn’t know a specific component of the .NET framework, they can quickly catch up if they have enough experience. with the .NET platform.

The Best Way to Hire a .Net Developer

Employing developers can be time-consuming. If you want to hire the best talent, you should prepare for a long ride. We recommend the following steps to make the hiring process more smooth. 

Outline your project’s goals

Before recruiting  any developers for your project, you should clearly understand your business goals, define product features to implement, and allocate your budget. With this information in hand, you’ll be able to choose the most suitable tech stack for your project and find developers with corresponding knowledge and skills. 

Create a detailed job description 

Prepare for talent hunting in advance. A detailed job description will help you to attract the right specialists, narrowing down the global talent pool. You should put in a job description job responsibilities and expected skills, describe day-to-day tasks the employee will encounter, and outline the perks you offer. We recommend getting inspired by job descriptions for similar positions to come up with ideas on how to stand out from the competitors and win top-notch specialists for your team. 

Prepare for the interview 

At some point in the hiring process, you’ll have to interview the candidates to ensure they have enough skills and experience to handle your project. If you know little about the code, you can explore candidates’ portfolios to find out what they can do. Don’t hesitate to reach candidates’ former employers to get references. If you already have tech specialists on your team, engage them in the recruiting so they could ask specific questions. 

Finally, pay attention to the soft skills of the candidates. It’s sometimes easier to teach candidate-specific technology and build professional relationships than deal with tech-savvy people with complicated personalities. 

Develop a talent pool

A talent tool is a database of candidates who are interested in working with you. Building a talent pool will help you with future hires, once your team will need it. So, save the information of people you’ve found interesting but who weren’t hired and keep in touch. Your talent pool may consist of sourced candidates, unsuccessful candidates, passive candidates, and those who were interested but not ready to join your team (living abroad, other specific reasons). To make the talent pool complete, Include current and former employees in it. 

Thanks to the Internet, you can find ideal candidates from anywhere. Some places to consider are:

• professional job boards such as Indeed or LinkedIn,
• social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook),
• freelance platforms (UpWork, Fiverr),
• and dedicated platforms for developers (dev.to, Microsoft .NET community).

You can also set up an advertisement campaign to attract passive candidates. 

If you want to save time on searching and filtering developers by yourself, you can delegate this task to a professional recruitment agency. IT recruitment agencies such as Talentica can help you find IT experts for your project superfast. The agency has an extensive talent pool of vetted developers. You only need to outline your expectations for the candidates, and the agency will set you up with the right candidates within two days. 

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a .Net Developer?

According to Indeed, the average annual salary of a .NET developer in the United States is USD 98,908. Depending on the developer’s skills, the average salary may vary from USD 75,000 (entry-level) to USD 115,000 per year (senior .NET devs).   

Employing developers offshore may be cost-effective for startups or small businesses. For example, .NET developers from Eastern European countries such as Ukraine make USD 25,000 per year on average. The Latin American market should also be considered, as developers from there are skilled, and their average base salary is USD 15,000 per year. 

Conclusion 

.NET platform can handle a bunch of exciting projects from robust web applications to IoT and game development. If you’ve decided to hire a .NET developer, it’s a winning strategy. Our agency is always ready to help promising projects to find and hire great IT specialists. If you have any questions, please, contact us.

Faq

• How do I hire .NET developers?

  If you want to hire a professional .NET developer, you can search for candidates on job boards, on social media, or in developers' communities. Or you can give that task to a professional IT recruitment agency such as Talentica. Talentica can help you meet with top-notch developers super fast and provide professional assistance at each stage of the hiring process.

• Are .NET developers in-demand?

  .NET programmers are in high demand nowadays. .NET framework remains the most popular tool for building cross-platform solutions for more than three years in a row, according to the Stack Overflow annual survey.

• Is it hard to find .NET developers?

  Finding experienced .NET developers is hard enough. .NET devs’ community is about 5 million professionals, however, the competition for the best of them is high. If you want to attract exceptional .NET experts, you should stand out from other companies.