Hiring Drupal developers is not as easy as it seems to be. However, you can ease your tension if you do it properly. Make sure that you check whether the professionals you are planning to hire know all about mobilizing Drupal. It is essential as today most developers have to work in mobile web development projects.

1. Hiring Drupal Developers – Easy Or Not Easy?
If you think a good man is hard to find, you should try looking for a good
Drupal developer! The competition is fierce for experienced Drupal
developers, and as development manager, the task of tracking them
down usually falls on my plate. Athough there are many ways to attract
talented individuals, it is still a challenging process. Here are a few things
that I look for in Drupal developers, and the resources that I recommend
to our clients when they are looking to add some Drupal muscle.
Hopefully, this advice will also be helpful to individuals who are looking
for a job and want to stand out from the crowd.
Separating the Wheat from the Chaff
I often have the enviable position of having a large and talented pool of
applicants. This is definitely the best problem to have in the hiring game.
But what if you only had time to look at four factors about each
candidate? My four would be...
Education
I always look at the applicant's education. A computer science degree
from a reputable college or university is hard to replace. Even though
most Drupal developers will never spend a lot of their time thinking
about design patterns, writing machine code, or doing calculations in
binary, they will have to consider things like orthogonality, decoupling,
OO principles, etc., if they are going to ascend to the level of an
architect. Experience can fill in a lot of these gaps for the liberal arts
graduates among us, but it is a huge plus if your candidate has a
computer science degree. If they have a dual­degree in Fine Arts and

2. Computer Science, stop reading this article and hire them immediately.
For project managers, look for PMP certification or Scrum certification,
plus a ton of experience to back it up.
Experience
There is no substitute for Drupal experience. Trust me: you would not
want to have hired me as a Drupal developer immediately after I passed
the Zend certification! PHP experience, even years of PHP experience is
great, but it does not substitute for Drupal experience, and the best
Drupal experience comes when developers participate in the community
and contribute code back to various projects.
Some of the obvious things to look for are participation in Drupal.org's
issue queues and discussion forums. If they maintain their own modules
or other projects on Drupal.org, you can easily see the quality of their
code and how they work with other developers in the community when
issues arise. High levels of engagement with the community also mean
your applicant is likely to know and follow best practices and will be
more plugged in to the architectural mores of the rest of the Drupal
developers that come after them.
Writing Skills
Does their cover letter indicate that this person is a good writer? When
evaluating Project Managers, there is no substitute for a writing sample
related somehow to requirements, whether a Software Requirements
Specification, Vision Document, or a collection of user stories. Good

3. writing derives from clear thinking, and it also indicates an attention to
detail. This is a good thing in a programmer, and an essential quality in a
Project Manager. Seeing lots of grammatical errors and misspellings in a
cover letter should be an instant disqualification. I know only one person
who is somehow an exception to this rule, and, he may represent one of
the best hiring decisions I have ever made.
Video
Ask for an optional introductory video from the candidate, describing
why they want to work for you. I find this is a great way to get a first
impression of what your candidate might be like, and it only takes 2­3
minutes. Tons of intangibles are conveyed here, and it is a great way to
see if your candidate has a sense of humor, and a creative approach to
problem solving, in this case, the problem of making a video for their
potential employer. Candidates that do not want to take the time to
submit a video, may not be as committed or interested in the position.
Final Say
Obviously, there is more to hiring someone than writing up a decent job
description and clicking a few links as a background check. Hopefully, the
tips and tricks mentioned here can augment your normal selection
processes and help you snag great drupal developers.