How to hire a front end developer

How to hire a front end developer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step front end developer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a front end developer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new front end developer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a front end developer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your front end developer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a front end developer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect front end developer also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of front end developers.

   Type of Front End Developer	Description	Hourly rate
   Front End Developer	Web developers design and create websites. They are responsible for the look of the site... Show more	$32-59
   Mobile Applications Developer	A mobile application developer is responsible for designing programming applications for mobile devices according to clients' specifications and business demands. Mobile application developers must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as computer system commands to develop efficient scripts and smooth navigation of operating systems... Show more	$36-62
   Java/J2ee Developer	Java developers are in charge of the design, development, and management of Java-based applications. Whereas, J2EE or Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition developers are responsible for developing web and software enterprise-internet level applications... Show more	$33-56

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • JavaScript
   • Front-End
   • Html Css
   • UI
   • HTML
   • Java
   • GIT
   • CSS
   • C #
   • API
   • WordPress
   • User Experience
   • JSON
   • PHP

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage Linux web and database servers.
   • Used SVN as source control management giving a huge speed advantage on centralize systems that have to communicate with a server.
   • Manage social media including Facebook advertising.
   • Interact with java controllers (JQUERY, Ajax, and JSON to write/read data from back end systems).
   • Receive business logic specifications and design documents, and translate them into HTML, CSS, JSON files, JavaScript code.
   • Gather data from API / web services via AJAX- JSON calls and updating the DOM within the result sets.

   More front end developer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the front end developer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A front end developer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a front end developer in North Dakota may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level front end developer. Additionally, a front end developer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average front end developer salary

   $92,147yearly

   $44.30 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level front end developer salary

   $68,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average front end developer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$118,538	$57
   2	Washington	$106,046	$51
   3	Oregon	$97,093	$47
   4	District of Columbia	$96,764	$47
   5	New Jersey	$92,838	$45
   6	New York	$92,534	$44
   7	Virginia	$91,543	$44
   8	Pennsylvania	$89,248	$43
   9	Texas	$89,069	$43
   10	Utah	$88,795	$43
   11	Arizona	$88,191	$42
   12	Massachusetts	$87,638	$42
   13	North Carolina	$85,363	$41
   14	Maryland	$84,358	$41
   15	Minnesota	$83,472	$40
   16	Illinois	$81,753	$39
   17	Georgia	$81,332	$39
   18	Ohio	$80,880	$39
   19	Colorado	$79,119	$38
   20	Missouri	$77,037	$37

   Average front end developer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Lifetime	$134,581	$64.70
   2	Apple	$131,650	$63.29	26
   3	Atlassian	$128,102	$61.59
   4	Platfora	$126,930	$61.02
   5	Palo Alto Networks	$125,400	$60.29
   6	Benjamin Moore	$124,509	$59.86
   7	Quantifind	$124,397	$59.81
   8	Barclays	$124,361	$59.79	2
   9	Reddit	$123,773	$59.51	1
   10	SoFi	$122,178	$58.74	1
   11	Homes.com	$121,838	$58.58
   12	Adobe	$121,429	$58.38	1
   13	BGC Partners	$120,598	$57.98
   14	Stitch Fix	$120,064	$57.72
   15	NetApp	$119,984	$57.68
   16	Intuitive Surgical	$119,913	$57.65
   17	Splunk	$119,884	$57.64
   18	BNY Mellon	$119,818	$57.60	3
   19	Joby Aviation	$119,594	$57.50	1
   20	Amazon	$119,242	$57.33	79

4. Writing a front end developer job description

   A good front end developer job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a front end developer job description:

   Front end developer job description example

   Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is seeking a Front End Application Developer to join the Instructional Application Development Team in the School of Arts and Science IT Group. The position is part of a talented software development team that works on mission critical cutting-edge online education and instructional technology applications.
   Among the key duties of this position are the following:
   Assists in the design and building of the front end architecture for all our systems. Responsible for estimating resources, skill requirements, time requirements, identifying tools and technologies and participating in proof of concepts during initial phases of the projects. Analyzes high level system specifications, business requirements and/or use cases. Converts information into the appropriate level specifications and system design plan for the development team. Works with both the development team as well customer/stakeholders to gather requirements and discuss priorities.
   
   Minimum Education and Experience
   
   Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience. A minimum of two (2) years of front end application development experience.
   
   Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
   
   Hands-on knowledge developing SPA using frameworks like Angular 2+, Angular material design, jQuery, NodeJS, Grunt as well as strong knowledge in html,css,javascript etc. Must have experience with design software such as XD, photoshop and illustrator. Hands-on experience in responsive design for mobile applications. Must be able to provide hands on software development experience as well as working experience in java development. Knowledge of Relational Databases, SQL and ORM technologies (JPA2, Hibernate). Familiarity with Version Controling system such as GIT / SVN . Hand-on expereince using MVC and Restful application architecture . Experience developing web applications using at least one popular web framework ( GWT , Spring MVC etc) as well as experience with test driven development Experience in creating UI/UX design documents and working with customers in gathering requirements for various projects.
   
   Overview
   
   Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a leading national research university and the state of New Jersey's preeminent, comprehensive public institution of higher education. Established in 1766 and celebrated a milestone 250th anniversary in 2016, the university is the eighth oldest higher education institution in the United States. More than 70,800 students and 27,000 faculty and staff learn, work, and serve the public at Rutgers locations across New Jersey and around the world.
   
   Rutgers University-New Brunswick took root over 250 years ago. We are the state's most comprehensive intellectual resource-the flagship campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, as designated by the Association of American Universities. We are the region's most high-profile public research institution and a leading national research center with a global impact.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find front end developers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your front end developer job on Zippia to find and recruit front end developer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting front end developers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a front end developer applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new front end developer

   Once you've found the front end developer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new front end developer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a front end developer?