The web development services market, encompassing the design and coding of websites, reached a value of $42.2 billion in the US in 2023, reflecting much faster growth than the overall technology sector. Accordingly, employment of web developers is projected to increase by 16% between 2022 and 2032 (compared to an average growth rate of 3% for all occupations). A significant contributor to this demand is the popularity of frameworks like Angular, an open-source JavaScript/TypeScript framework commonly used for single-page web applications (SPAs) and mobile applications. Angular has remained in the top five most-used web frameworks for multiple years in a row, making Angular development skills highly desirable.

Nowadays, many web developers start by learning front-end frameworks, which means that some candidates may be much greener than others. As a result, searching for top Angular developers for hire can be challenging, and it is crucial to carefully select the right engineer for your company.

Angular expertise is rooted in a deep knowledge of JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, and other front-end technologies. In this guide, we outline necessary skills, job description tips, and sample interview questions that will support your search for experienced Angular developers who will help you reach your business objectives.

What Attributes Distinguish Quality Angular Developers From Others?

A non-engineer hiring manager or technical recruiter may wonder, “What does an Angular developer do?” They work on all aspects of front-end development and should be adept in the following areas:

• UI/UX – Implementing new features and interactive functionalities is one of the most time-intensive aspects of a front-end engineer’s job. It involves close collaboration with designers and project managers to ensure a seamless user experience.
• APIs and Connectivity – To make an app fully operational, front-end engineers also facilitate connectivity across application services using application programming interfaces (APIs). APIs provide persistence and centralization to an app’s functionalities.
• Unit Testing – Front-end developers implement unit tests to verify that each code section performs as expected. Unit testing reduces costs, prevents bugs, and retains users once an app moves into production. Angular programmers commonly use Jasmine, Karma, Mocha, and Siesta.
• End-to-End Testing – End-to-end (E2E) testing is the final component in ensuring that applications behave as intended. Front-end engineers use E2E tests to ensure that the correct data flow is maintained during user tasks and processes. Some of the e2e testing tools include Cypress, Nightwatch, and WebdriverIO.

As you begin your search, identify candidates with extensive experience across these areas, with skill sets that include front-end technology (e.g., JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, and CSS), unit testing frameworks, and e2e testing tools. Pay special attention to developers’ mastery of standard UI (user interface) frameworks, especially ones that are commonly used. At the very least, you should expect Angular experts to have familiarity with Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, and Angular Material, in addition to Angular Directives, which extend the power of HTML.

After verifying front-end expertise, you should assess developers’ mastery of how Angular works behind the scenes. Candidates of all experience levels should be able to articulate how the most critical aspects of an application work together. They should also be familiar with the various technologies and methodologies required for app development, including the popular MVC (model-view-controller) design pattern.

Angular developers should be well versed in a multitude of technologies:

• HTML and CSS – Angular templates are written in HTML, and styles are written in CSS. To successfully build and debug views, candidates should understand basic HTML and CSS concepts like flexboxes, variables, spans, divs, and attributes. Web developers may prefer to work with a CSS extension language like Sass for improved syntax, added functionality, and reduced development time.
• JavaScript and TypeScript – Angular is written in TypeScript, a strongly typed superset of JavaScript. Since these languages code the primary application logic, TypeScript and JavaScript are essential technical skills. Look for solid experience with both languages, including design patterns such as dependency injection.
• RxJS – RxJS (Reactive Extensions for JavaScript) is a programming library that provides observable streams and is commonly used with Angular for tasks like HTTP requests. It facilitates asynchronous and event-based programs, so if your app requires either of these functionalities, you’ll want a candidate familiar with RxJS.

Aside from using Angular and its foundational languages and libraries, software engineers will also interact with supplementary technologies such as:

• Source control (or version control) technologies manage codebase changes and preserve previous working versions of code. Developers should be familiar with standard tools such as Git.
• Package managers install web development packages—both Angular and other libraries. Angular applications are dependent on functionality provided by third-party packages, and many developers work with npm (Node Package Manager) to install and maintain those packages.
• Command-line interface (CLI) tools provide functionality for the development of applications from a command shell. Look for candidates trained in Angular CLI, the standard choice for Angular development. Knowledge of Node.js is beneficial, as Angular CLI relies on Node.js for managing dependencies and running various development tasks.

Modern engineers must have technical expertise in many skills, and this is especially true in the case of front-end development. AngularJS developers make great candidates because this type of experience indicates a strong foundation and familiarity with the framework’s evolution and ecosystem. For comprehensive application development, familiarity with full-stack development is also valuable, as it enables developers to work seamlessly across both front-end and back-end environments.

How Can You Identify the Ideal Angular Developer for You?

To identify the developer best suited to your website, you must consider what stage of development your app is in, what your business needs are, and how much training your budget and resources allow.

If you have an existing development team and plan to add new product features or maintain web apps (e.g., fix bugs), junior developers with one or two years of experience will often suffice. However, certain project goals will mandate the hiring of more senior developers (whose pricing is higher). Such goals may include:

• Analyzing and removing performance bottlenecks (e.g., change detection or implementing pipes).
• Making big-picture infrastructure or design decisions (e.g., launching a complex high-performance application from scratch).
• Implementing ideation and training around team standards (e.g., setting best practices on testing and code quality).

If you are planning such a project, you will need a senior developer with five or more years of experience. They will cost more, but developers at that level should have additional cutting-edge skills beyond front-end. They can ultimately save you money by delivering high-quality projects on time. Search for candidates with a track record in application life-cycle management, high-level code design, advanced reactive programming and observables, application state management, back-end integration, code optimization, AWS Amplify, and team management or coaching.

Additionally, soft skills are crucial for a well-rounded developer. Strong communication skills are essential for effective teamwork and ensuring that business requirements and project needs are clearly understood and met. Problem-solving abilities are also vital, as developers must be able to diagnose and resolve issues efficiently to keep Angular projects on track. Furthermore, look for candidates experienced in Agile methodologies, as they promote iterative development and collaboration.

Angular vs. React

You may be curious whether your project requires a dedicated Angular developer or if an engineer with related front-end skills or experience in other popular frameworks or libraries, such as ReactJS, can successfully work on your app.

The main difference between these two front-end technologies is that React is a library, while Angular is a full-fledged framework. In other words, React offers more flexibility, but Angular is a more comprehensive tool. Your decision to hire an Angular versus a React developer depends on your project requirements. Many React skills offer a solid foundation for Angular concepts, so a strong React developer may be a suitable candidate for particular projects. React developers may understand basic Angular concepts but will not know all the nuances of its features—so you’ll need to budget for an initial training period.

The Ongoing Popularity of Angular 6

Despite being an older version (2018), search trends indicate a continued interest in Angular 6. There could be several reasons for this search interest despite the release of newer versions. Angular 6 introduced several noteworthy updates that enhanced functionality and improved performance. Some of these include:

Angular Elements: With Elements, developers could package Angular components as web components and use them in non-Angular projects. Many teams used this feature to integrate Angular components into existing infrastructure.

RxJS6 Compatibility: Angular 6 updated its dependency on RxJS to version 6, which had better performance and a cleaner API.

Tree Shakable Providers: Tree-shakable providers enabled unused code to be automatically removed during the build process, allowing developers to enhance performance and reduce the size of their applications.

Service Worker Updates: Angular 6 improves the service worker functionality introduced with Angular 5. Service workers run in the background, handling network requests, caching resources, and delivering push notifications. They are an essential component of progressive web apps (PWA), which provide a more app-like experience on the web.

Angular CLI Improvements: The Angular CLI was significantly improved and introduced the ng update and ng add commands, which simplifed the process of adding or updating libraries and dependencies.

Because Angular 6 was so popular, many projects incorporated it into their front ends. While many applications have moved on to more modern versions, legacy projects still require updates and maintenance. Developers might also choose to stay with Angular 6 due to compatibility issues with specific libraries, dependencies, or enterprise environments that have not yet transitioned to a newer version.

How to Write an Angular Job Description for Your Project

In addition to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and TypeScript, job descriptions should mention that significant front-end experience in building user interfaces, interacting with APIs, and testing is required.

You may customize your developer requirements based on your application, team size, development needs, preferred hiring model (e.g., full-time, part-time, or on a project basis), and project complexity. Based on your use case, you should list other developer qualities, such as experience with performance bottlenecks, libraries (e.g., RxJS), plugins (e.g., Nx), languages (e.g. PHP, Java), building real-time applications, or testing frameworks (e.g., Jasmine, Jest, Cypress).

To attract and retain the best developers, ensure your job description lists all the benefits you offer, such as competitive salaries, healthcare, retirement plans, professional development opportunities, and flexible working arrangements. Highlight any unique perks, such as remote work options, wellness programs, or team-building activities. Additionally, emphasize that your onboarding process is thorough, designed to integrate new hires smoothly into your in-house team and align them with your project requirements, ensuring they have the support and resources needed to succeed from day one. If you will be hiring remote developers, time zones can be an important consideration; make sure that work hours overlap for developers in different regions. For companies that require the applicant to sign an NDA, it is helpful to note that in the description.

What Are the Most Important Angular Interview Questions?

When assessing Angular developer skills during the interview portion of the hiring process, not all questions need to focus on Angular-specific topics. Asking generally about front-end development can also be illuminating.

You may start with questions testing developers’ front-end expertise, covering key areas such as code design and testing:

When working on application architecture, how do you design your code?

There is no single correct answer here. Instead, you should get a sense of a developer’s thought and development process from their answer. They should consider a variety of factors:

• Code organization and requirements for new libraries or modules
• Code reusability
• Structure of the business logic and state

Assess a candidate’s answer to determine how thoroughly they plan their designs.

What is the difference between unit tests and end-to-end tests?

Unit tests are focused tests that run on small pieces of code to verify behavior and prevent bugs. Writing and executing unit tests can be done quickly, and applications will typically have many unit tests across multiple app surfaces. E2E tests, on the other hand, simulate user scenarios and verify app data flows. They are more comprehensive than unit tests and, as such, require more time to execute. Angular can pair with unit testing tools like Jasmine, Karma, Jest, and Mocha, and E2E testing tools like Protractor, Cypress, Nightwatch, and WebdriverIO. Experienced candidates will be able to discuss testing, as well as the entire software development life cycle.

Next, to ensure developers have adequate high-level knowledge, test their understanding of how Angular applications work:

What are the most critical aspects of an Angular application?

Candidates should describe the following basic concepts—you may probe for specifics if needed:

• Components – Angular uses a component-based architecture, with each component translating into the user interface elements seen on a webpage. In code, each component corresponds to a class that defines its functionality and an HTML template that defines its view. By default, Angular applications have at least one component, the root component. This piece helps the application start by linking the component hierarchy to the page document object model (DOM).
• NgModules – NgModules are the functional units of code that make up an Angular application. An app is like a puzzle where each piece (or module) works together to deliver the complete picture (or app functionality). Modules organize related code and may include workflows, features, pipes, or services. Components are also grouped into NgModules. Angular’s root module (AppModule) is essential to any application, as it initializes the app environment, loads necessary components, and launches the app. Simple apps may only require the root module, but additional feature modules are necessary to support more complex applications.
• Services – Services are classes that organize reusable business logic that is outside of the scope of specific views. In other words, services offer functionality that can be shared across components via dependencies. The Router is an important example of a service; It facilitates in-browser navigation among different application views by mapping them to paths. Using the router service in an application is as simple as importing the Router NgModule. Angular guards and resolvers also manage route changes and activations; familiarity with these features is a bonus.
• Index pages – On the server side, the index.html page is a single-page application’s default page that is loaded in the browser. The index.html page links the root component and module to the webpage, performing rendering.

An answer that fails to mention components, modules, services, and the index.html page indicates that the candidate is inexperienced and may lack fundamental knowledge.

Finally, end the interview with questions that assess a developer’s coding abilities and understanding of the framework’s features:

What life-cycle hooks are available in Angular?

Angular apps have life-cycle processes from initiation to the end of the application. The most crucial life-cycle hooks are:

• ngOnInit: called at component initialization.
• ngOnDestroy: called when the component is destroyed.
• ngOnChanges: called when an attribute changes.

Additional change detection hooks for components include ngDoCheck, ngAfterContentInit, ngAfterContentChecked, ngAfterViewInit, and ngAfterViewChecked. Developers who understand these hooks may be especially high-quality candidates.

What are Angular pipes, and why would you use them?

Pipes are functions that can be used in template expressions to transform output values. Pipes are declared once but used throughout an application. They can change how data appears to a user (e.g., date formatting). Using pure pipes may also boost an application’s performance. Top-notch candidates will be able to describe pipes, as well as situations where they can be used.

What strategies would you use for Angular state management?

There are many state management libraries to choose from, such as NgRx, Akita, and NgXs. State management may occur at the application, module, or component levels. Candidates should understand the difference between these application states.

What happens when you don’t unsubscribe from an observable?

Failing to unsubscribe from an Observable is one common source of memory leaks. There are multiple ways to destroy an Observable and solve this issue, such as using the async pipe or annotations, or manually unsubscribing at the end of the component’s lifetime. Avoiding memory leaks should always be a consideration because they will cause a decrease in application performance, and as a result, scalability.

Consult Toptal’s 10 Essential Web Development Interview Questions guide if you need additional resources for interview preparation.

Why Do Companies Hire Angular Developers?

Angular developers can serve a majority of front-end needs, including web and e-commerce sites, as well as mobile app development. The framework is feature-rich, has a wide range of tooling options for front-end UI and testing, is supported by Google, and achieves effective reactive programming.

Angular specialists serve larger projects well due to the framework’s scalable architecture and modular organization, as well as its library offerings. Companies benefit from the framework’s standardized structure and decoupled components, which allow for fast application development speeds, straightforward testing, and maintainable code. Also, keeping an app codebase up to date is simple due to its consistent release schedule.

Angular is also ideal for development projects that will grow in the future: Startups can use it to lay the foundation of an application, so that the app can grow with the business. If you’re at the start of your web development journey, hiring Angular developers is especially practical—the Angular framework offers strong community and educational resources, streamlining developers’ learning trajectories.

Whether you are working on a small or large application and want to hire dedicated Angular developers at the junior or senior level, the right expert can bring a project to life, delivering an elegant and effective user interface. By screening candidates for front-end and Angular fundamentals, determining advanced skill requirements, and refining your job description and interview questions, you can identify the best fit—and watch as users delight in a smooth and user-friendly website experience.

The technical content presented in this article was reviewed by Vojtech Machacek.

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