How much does it cost to hire an offshore Django developer?

Django is a high-level, open-source Python framework that allows to create secure and easily maintainable websites. With this framework, it is easy to develop the web application and its design as it was created by experienced engineers who aimed to allow developers to create their own features without writing code from scratch. As it is open-source and free, this framework has a big community of developers, easy-to-understand documentation and is in the top 10 most popular frameworks as of 2021.

Developers use Django for website development as it is:

• Secure. The Django framework helps to reduce the number of mistakes made during the development process. Moreover, it protects the website from many kinds of vulnerability such as clickjacking, cross-site request forgery, and SQL injection.
• Compete. Django provides all the necessary and needed functionality that developers may need to create high-quality software. Such an approach ensures that everything will work well together.
• Portable. Being written in Python, this framework is easy to use on different platforms and systems, such as Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Django is a web framework that allows developers to focus on the unique features of the website. It is also used in the following ways:

• Web application development. Django is a highly-structured framework with all the needed features included that allow for building an efficient and modern web application with less code.
• Unique features development. Django has the basic code that helps not to write everything from scratch but focuses on the unique features of the application.
• Scalable development. When developing an application that developers will need to smoothly update, add new features, or replace some functionalities, then Django is the best choice.

Below you can find some of the useful and popular tools used by Django developers.

• Django REST framework. This tool works with Django standard models that create powerful REST APIs.
• Django GUID. It is a library that creates a unique request ID for each log output of the request.
• Django Debug Toolbar. With Django Debug Toolbar, developers can see variously detailed debug information about the request.
• Sentry. This tool helps in checking the running software for bugs, crashes, and other issues.
• Django-baton. It is a Django admin application based on Bootstrap 5 and developed with Python, HTML, and JavaScript.

A Django developer is an IT specialist whose main responsibilities are to develop applications and implement Python code using the Django framework. It is possible to find engineers with knowledge of Django among Python developers and full-stack developers as it is one of the most popular frameworks.

There are three levels of seniority among Django developers; junior, middle, and senior engineers.

• Junior Django developers
  Junior developers are at the entry-level or have up to two years of experience. They have basic knowledge of Python programming language, Django framework, and front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript). Junior engineers take part in the development process, but they have basic tasks to work on and are managed by senior developers. They also work in teams with more experienced programmers where they acquire new skills.
• Middle Django developers
  Middle software developers have from three to five years of experience, which requires them to have advanced knowledge of Django and some other frameworks (Flask, CubicWeb, Dash, etc.). They also know more than one programming language, its libraries and are able to create powerful databases. Middle engineers are skilled enough to provide their own software solutions and take advanced tasks to work on.
• Senior Django developers
  Senior software engineers have more than five years of experience. These developers have deep knowledge of the Django framework, know more than two programming languages and their frameworks, and can integrate databases into one system. Senior web developers also have strong communication, collaboration skills as they often play the role of team lead and manage junior software developers.

A Django developer is required to do the following tasks:

• Write reusable, readable, clean, and efficient code.
• Create and maintain low-latency, high-availability websites, and web apps.
• Implement security and data protection.
• Integrate data storage solutions.

When looking for a Django developer, search for engineers with the following skills:

• Experience with Python and its frameworks (Django, Flask).
• Understanding of ORM (Object Relational Mapper) libraries.
• Knowledge of front-end development technologies, such as JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3.
• Experience with back-end development.
• Familiarity with SQL, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.
• Experience with application deployment technologies (Docker, AWS).
• Understanding of code versioning tools (Git, Mercurial, or SVN).

When hiring Django developers, you have three the most common options: freelance, in-house, and outsourcing hiring models.

• Freelance Django developers
  Freelancers are a good option for short-term projects or when you have some simple task that you can send to a third party to do. This hiring model allows you to hire developers quickly and begin working on the project right the next day. It is also a cheap option as their hourly rates are often lower compared to other types of developers. Although, the quality of the product may be poor as it is quite hard to find freelancers who will perfectly match all your requirements, such as skill set and experience. Moreover, this hiring model is unreliable because freelancers often have more than one project at once, and they can switch to more interesting ones in a day.
• In-house Django developers
  You should hire in-house developers in cases when you are at the stage of core development, or you need a development team in your company on a regular basis. These engineers are more dedicated to the company and more motivated to make high-quality products as they are a part of the business. On the other hand, this hiring model is the most expensive one as you don’t only pay monthly salaries but also supply them with the needed gadgets and tools, pay bonuses, and taxes.
• Outsourced Django developers
  This hiring model has two types of hiring–outsourcing and staff augmentation. The outsourcing model is a good choice if you have an idea and want to hire a dedicated development team with developers, QAs, designers, and a PM who will work on its implementation. It is also possible to find an outsourcing agency that has wide expertise in your field and can provide a team of engineers with relevant experience and skills. Staff augmentation, in contrast, provides the ability to find and hire one or several skilled engineers. It is a fast way to scale your in-house team with developers of the same level of expertise, and it is a cost-effective solution as you only pay for their working hours. These hiring models open you a wide talent pool with skilled and experienced software engineers with the ability to hire them at lower costs. It is because outsourced programmers live in countries with lower costs of living that also influence the average salary of developers.

A well-written job description helps to find the best-matching candidates faster as developers can easily find what skills you need. If some of them already have an experience in the same as your business field, they can come up with useful software solutions. Thus, you should not only mention your requirements but also describe your business. Here’s what you should write in your job description.

• Write the job title and shortly describe the developer’s role.
• List important tech and soft skills.
• Write what responsibilities the developer will have.
• Point out the project’s development stage (core development or maintenance).
• Describe what expectations you have of the project.
• Write about the field your company works in (the developers with job experience in the same field can come up with appropriate solutions for your project).

To check the developer’s expertise and tech skills, you can ask them the following questions:

• What are models in Django?
• What are views in Django?
• What is Django Rest Framework(DRF)?
• What databases are supported by Django?
• What is django.shortcuts.render function?
• What is Django Field Class?
• What is the difference between Django OneToOneField and ForeignKey Field?