How to Hire a React Native Developer in Three Stages

If you need to build a cross-platform mobile app, you might be wondering how to hire a React Native developer.

Why do we think you’ll choose to build your app with React Native? Quite simply because, with this technology, you save money and can easily find developers and scale your cross-platform app. It also feels very much like it was built natively for Android and iOS. But to reap all these benefits, you need an expert.

As a React Native development company, Rubyroid Labs has built more than 30 apps for companies of different sizes and maturity levels. We’ve honed our expertise by working with all types of businesses, from daring startups supported by accelerators like YCombinator, to industry leaders like Volvo. Tap into our expertise — tell us what app you want to build and we’ll provide estimates.

However, if you want to consider other options first, we have you covered in that respect as well. Read this guide on how to hire a React Native developer that’s based on our experience.

Contents

1. 1. Before Hiring a React Native Developer, Prepare
   2. Check Out Reliable Sources
   3. Choose the Right React Native Development Company

Before Hiring a React Native Developer, Prepare

Your app idea is all you have at the very beginning. In your head, everything is simple and clear, so you can move straight toward hiring a React Native developer, right? Not quite.

A developer worth their salt will bombard you with questions. They have worked with an array of clients like you, each of whom had a different target, business vision and feature ideas. This has taught them to assume nothing but extract as much information as possible first.

And you need to prepare to answer those questions as you present your app idea to the developer.

Start by describing the problem you want to solve with the prospective app and its target audience. Then explain how the app is going to solve that problem, how it’s going to work and what will make it better than currently available solutions. This information will provide a basis for the minimum viable product (MVP).

Check Out Reliable Sources

After you’ve outlined basic requirements and specifications, the process of hiring a React Native developer may begin. And the first step of this process will be narrowing down the scope of reliable sources. We suggest the following options.

Clutch

Clutch is an independent B2B catalog where software development companies can list themselves. Company profiles feature skills (e.g. React Native development), rates, desired project budgets, portfolio and testimonials.

The testimonials are the most interesting thing because of how they’re written. A developer gives the Clutch team contact information of a client, Clutch interviews that client and puts together a testimonial. Alternatively, a client can submit a review on their own.

This platform is as transparent as it gets. Nevertheless, we advise caution while browsing profiles listed there. Always visit companies’ websites to check their real location and see how their testimonials align with their portfolio published on the site.

Upwork

Unlike Clutch, Upwork features profiles of individual developers. If you don’t feel like you have enough expertise in React Native to assess those individuals’ skills, seek out representatives of software development companies. They will provide you with several candidates to choose from along with guarantees a freelancer may not be able to offer.

General Search

You may also use your favorite search engine to find a developer. The only problem here is that, as opposed to independent platforms, developers curate the content of their websites themselves. So, be sure to check facts and trust your instincts: if something doesn’t feel right, keep searching.

Choose the Right React Native Development Company

As you browse catalogs and companies’ websites, you may get stuck in the multitude of choices. At this point, you should assess each React Native development company using the four criteria outlined below.

The Company’s Reputation

First of all, you’ll want to check out how long the candidate has been in the business. If the company has been providing React Native development services for several years, it must have a reputation. This is usually reflected in testimonials on independent platforms, social media presence, publications and other public activities.

A reputable company is unlikely to jump ship in the middle of a project. On the contrary, they will try to make it a success to support their reputation.

General and Specific Experience

There are two types of experience you need to check your candidate for: general and specific.

General experience refers to the company’s overall ability to deliver. If they’ve been in the market long enough, they’ve probably worked out best practices and tested those through multiple projects.

As for specific experience, you need to look for the industries they have catered to and apps they have built. Ideally, you want a developer who has crafted a product similar to yours. For example, if you want to build an innovative festival guide app, work with the candidate who has developed a festival guide app.

You may also prefer to work with a company that has experience with companies of the same footprint as yours and from the same region. If you’re starting up, choose the software development company that has worked with multiple startups from your country. They will know how to adapt to your business hours and pace.

You can learn about a candidate’s expertise from their portfolio and testimonials.

However, most developers don’t limit themselves to one area of expertise. With React Native, you can build any cross-platform app, and a company with a colorful portfolio can do the job well.

Take Rubyroid Labs, for example. We have developed apps in industries ranging from real estate to healthcare, for clients across four continents, including startups, midsized businesses and large corporations. Chances are, we’ll be the right choice for you, too. Write to us to learn more.

Hard and Soft Skills

Once you’ve chosen a roster of candidates, you’ll need to interview them. You’ll need to find out how much of a match the developer is for your needs.

Start with hard skills, a.k.a. technical expertise in technology. Ideally, you need a team that can do business analysis, user experience (UX) design, quality assurance (QA) and back-end development.

However, the main hard skill you’ll need is expertise in React Native. If you trust the candidate development company enough, you can rely on them to handpick programmers with matching skills.

That’s what we do at Rubyroid Labs. But we also invite our clients to interview the developers we’ve selected for them. If you want to interview your candidates, here are some of the standard questions to ask, along with possible answers.

Q: What is React?

A: React is an open-source JavaScript library. You can apply it to build user interfaces (UI) for web and mobile applications.

Q: What sets React apart from other JavaScript tools?

A: In mobile development, JavaScript tools like Angular and Vue are frameworks. This means they draw on out-of-the-box elements and standard approaches. And React is a user interface (UI) library, not a framework. In comparison to frameworks, it allows developers more flexibility in customizing apps.

Q: What is JSX?

A: JSX is a JavaScript dialect. Code written with JSX looks like HTML or XML code and is compiled to JavaScript before changes kick in for the end-user.

Q: What stages comprise a React component’s lifecycle?

A: It has three stages:

1. Mounting.
2. Updating.
3. Unmounting.

Q: What is Redux? What parts does it consist of?

A: Redux is a framework pattern that uses a unidirectional data flow. It is comprised of three parts:

• Actions
• Reducers
• Store

Speaking of soft skills, look at your business situation. If you’re in startup mode, search for curiosity and open minds. But if your project is part of corporate development, you’ll probably need to work with people who can adapt to the way your company operates.

We’ve previously written about how to choose the right software development company for your project. Check the blog out for specific advice not related to React Native.

React Native Developer Rate

The last, but certainly not least, important factor you need to consider is the price tag for building your app. React Native developer rates in the B2B catalog Clutch range from below $25 to over $300 per hour.

Unsurprisingly, the lowest tier consists of companies located in South Asia, where low living standards are a competitive advantage. This region traditionally has many developers, but common programming skills there remain lacking. We’ve had a chance to fix code written by fellow developers from that region more than once.

However, the under-$25 list also features companies located in the USA, Australia and Western Europe. But if you take a closer look, you’ll find out all they have in one of the listed countries is a single representative.

As the rates grow, the genuine geography changes toward developed countries. But even those React Native companies often have offices in the developing world, which may suggest you could find the same development quality at a lower price. More or less, Clutch reflects the overall state of the React Native development market. Lesson here? There are two:

1. Avoid the lowest bidder.
2. You may be overpaying for middle-person services if you choose the highest bidder.

We have delved deeper into prices in a blog post about Ruby on Rails developer rates. Its key points hold true to React Native, so be sure to check it out.

At Rubyroid Labs, we offer React Native development services at $30–$60 per hour, which is a step-and-a-half above the cheapest on Clutch. We can afford to do so because things cost less in our homeland than in yours, while still providing expertise that’s worth every penny. Let us know what kind of app you have in mind and we’ll get back to you with price estimates.

Ready to Hire React Native Experts?

The process of finding the right developer match for your project includes several stages. Even before you try to hire React Native experts, you need to give your vision a shape that they can read. With that done, you browse reliable sources and create a pool of candidates. Finally, you vet them one by one and decide who’s the best fit for the job.

Vetting developers is probably the most complex part. It requires that you have expertise in React Native to correctly assess the skills and experience at the table. Alternatively, you can choose a reputable, transparent company and entrust them with putting together your mobile development team. Rubyroid Labs is one such company, so don’t hesitate to contact us.