5 things we look for in developers

Hiring a new developer for the team is not something we do lightly — and we like to think the strength and quality of our team reflects the rigour of our hiring process. It's not quite at the level of Google's, but here are the qualities we're looking for at the interview stage...

1. Being self-taught 

Technology never stops evolving, so we expect the same from our developers. Standing still simply isn't an option: all the members of our team must show a capacity and a passion for learning new skills; otherwise they'll fall behind (and so will we). What's more, this should be something they do off their own bat without any prompting from us. Landing a job isn't an excuse to stop learning and developing.

2. Opinionated about technology, but not too opinionated

As one of our developers we expect you to bring ideas and opinions to the table — just don't hold on to them to the exclusion of everything else. It's always the case that every decision path has its own pros and cons, and we like to see people who can weigh those up. Can you articulate your side of the debate and put it across to the team without being dogmatic? Then we'd like to hear from you.

3. A history of overcoming adversity

If there are places in the world where software projects are straightforward and easy, we've yet to find them (or hear about them). We love hearing developer war stories, because it shows those individuals have been getting stuck in and not sitting on the sidelines. You're going to be doing a lot of problem solving in your time here so we pay close attention to tales of your previous experience.

4. Able to explain complicated things simply 

Making the complicated simple is software development in a nutshell, so we expect our developers to excel at it, whether that's working on a batch of code or contributing to a team discussion. Here at D4 we run a distributed team, but that doesn't negate the need to all pull together and collaborate effectively as a group, so we like to see solid examples of how you can do that once you come on board.

5. Rational under pressure

The best time to judge the abilities of a sailor is during a storm — which is a roundabout way of saying we're going to throw some hard stuff at you, and watch how you respond. Being a developer is all about solving problems you've never had before, so we need you to thrive rather than panic. Being calm in the midst of a maelstrom is more than an added extra — it's essential to the progress of the team and our projects.