As an IT recruiter looking to hire Android developers, there are several things you need to know in order for the process to be successful and to boost your chances to find the best fit for your organization.
Here is everything you need to know about Android and how to hire Android developers.
What is Android?
Android is an operating system that was created in 2003 and in 2005 was acquired by Google. The public beta was launched in 2007 and in 2008 the first Android smartphone was announced.
It is built on top of Linux and is design with mobile in mind. Everything you see on the display of an Android device is part of the operating system. And every time you receive an email, record a video, or play a song, the operating system processes the information to be put in a readable format.
Must-have skills for an Android developer
An Android developer must have expertise and knowledge in several areas, including:
- Java or Kotlin: Kotlin is the second official language for Android application development. Developers must know extensively at least one of the two official programming languages for Android. And since Java is the most popular, it is a must.
- Android SDK: This is a collection of libraries and tools that are necessary for the development of Android apps. A corresponding SDK is released with each new version of Android.
- Android Studio: This is the integrated development environment that developers use, and comes with in-built support for most Android SDKs.
- Experience with APIs: Most of the time the application will have to work with other services. Your Android developer needs to know how to work with APIs to fetch data from other services.
- Backend knowledge: The Android developer needs to have at least a basic backend knowledge to understand how the architecture should be set up to contribute well.
- Databases: The app will most likely have to handle a lot of data which means that it needs to interact with a cloud-based database. The developer needs to know how they work, and how to integrate them into the app.
What questions to ask the Android developer during a phone interview
Here are several good questions you should ask the Android developer during a phone screening to make sure they are a good fit.
- What is the biggest Android project you have worked on and what was your contribution? – This question will help you to evaluate the scale they have previously handled and what can you expect for your current project.
- What Android libraries and frameworks you use? – The answer will help you evaluate the experience and knowledge of the developer.
- How do you detect memory leaks in Android apps? – There is a useful tool within Android Studio called Android Device Manager that leps to find memory leaks.
Use a screening test to evaluate the skills of Android developers
A screening test will help you access the candidates’ skills and whether they are the right fit for the role. You can customize the assessment depending on your particular requirements – whether they need to know Java or Kotlin, know databases, etc. By selecting the right questions for the assessment, you can receive relevant data for the developers’ skills.
