A guide to hiring Django Developers in 2025

As specialist recruiters in the Python and Django community, we don’t just find developers for our clients. We help them refine their hiring processes to attract and secure the best talent available.

Through daily conversations with candidates and hiring managers, the one thing that stands out is that the companies with the best hiring processes are always the ones who make the best hires.

Why Do Companies Struggle to Hire?

First of all, we need to look at why some companies struggle to hire. Salary levels aren’t always the deciding factor when hiring developers. More often than not, it’s having a poor process that prevents companies from securing top talent. If you’re struggling to hire, it’s worth looking at your approach.

Below are some key do’s and don’ts to improve your hiring success:

Reviewing Candidates

Review profiles quickly and take action. Don’t sit on profiles waiting for more options just in case... 24 hours is plenty of time to look at a CV/Resume and progress/reject where relevant.

Try to book calls with the candidates who meet most of your requirements - Don’t reject profiles without speaking to the candidate if possible.

Effective Interviews

Focus on both technical skills and cultural fit early on - Don’t leave culture interviews for the final stage, this could mean all the other stages were a waste of everyone's time.

Sell the position and your company at every stage. Don’t only ask candidates why they want to work for you as you will get a generic answer about your company. Instead ask the candidate what other applications they have with interviews and how your role/company compares to the competition and you'll gauge how committed the candidate is to finding a role.

Move candidates onto the next stages immediately if successful. Again, don’t wait to complete all interviews before progressing candidates. If someone passes a stage move them forward.

Use technical testing as a discussion tool. Don’t rely on a pass/fail technical test - this is not reflective of doing the job on a daily basis. (This point is discussed again later)

Prioritise Hiring

Have multiple team members capable of interviewing. Don’t rely on one key decision maker’s calendar availability.

Try to be flexible with interview scheduling, including outside normal hours where possible. Try not to ask candidates to take time off work to interview

Ensure the final interview includes all decision-makers. Don’t schedule extra interviews after the “final” one! Final should mean final.

Make a quick decision and extend offers within 24 hours. Don’t take days to “collate feedback” as this could reflect negatively on the candidate's experience. You should try to make this as exciting as possible.

Offer within your range and at the upper end of the candidate's expectations. Nothing is more deflating than receiving a low-ball salary offer. It leaves a sour taste over something that should be a great experience.

The 30-Day Sprint to Hiring a Python/Django Developer

A well structured, efficient process can help you hire a developer in just 30 days (or quicker) if you are prioritising the hire and your team understands the need to move quickly.

Treat this as a 30 day sprint!

We have recently completed a 3 stage interview process from application to offer within 10 days. Securing an excellent developer a role with our client.

Here’s how:

1. Candidate Identification (Day 0-10)

Advertise your role, attract candidates and build a shortlist of those you want to interview.

Send invitations for interview to all those who meet your requirements as you go.

Reject candidates who don't meet your expectations.

2. First Stage Interviews (Day 7-14)

This is your chance to get to know the candidate, assess their communication skills, and understand how they would fit within your team culturally.

Initial interviews should take no longer than an hour and have specific sections as break points where you can comfortably end the call if you do not intend to progress the candidate.

If a conversation goes well, why not end by explaining the next steps and what they should expect from the Technical Stages

3. Technical Testing (Day 14-21)

Rather than a pass/fail system, use the results as a discussion point.

Offer flexibility in how candidates complete their assessment. Some of the best developers will not do well in certain situations. improve your chances of making a hire by being flexible.

Some ideas that work for this stage:

• Presentation of a personal project and showcase your coding style.
• Takeaway test with review call.
• Paired programming session - encourage communication throughout
• Bug Fix - share a real life bug from your project and ask the candidate to work through it
• Design a new feature for your product.

Get creative, this stage of the interview is the best place to show the candidate what it would be like to work for your company.

4. Final Interview (Day 21-28)

All decision-makers should be present. This stage finalises the cultural and technical fit, setting the stage for a swift offer process.

Discuss all of the areas you are not sure about from the first two stages.

Give feedback and ask for theirs too.

5. Offer and Acceptance (Day 28-30)

With a quick decision made after the Final Interview extend offers within 24 hours. However, if you have several people at final stage, make sure they all know when a decision will be made.

Make sure an offer is attractive. Explain all the benefits clearly and highlight anything that has come up during the conversation that will help convince the candidate to take your offer.

Give a timescale for a decision and be available to discuss anything to help your chosen candidate make their choice.

Community Engagement: The not so secret way to hire great Django Developers

Finding top Django Developers isn’t just about posting job adverts and working through the hundreds of applications. it’s about actively engaging with the community. Here’s how we do it at Foxley Talent and how you and your engineering team can do it too:

Attend and Sponsor Django Conferences

Conferences like DjangoCon US and DjangoCon Europe can put your company name in front of hundreds of highly engaged developers.

Sponsoring these events raises your company’s profile and depending on what level you take you could have a stand/booth at the conference where people will come to speak to you!

Submit a talk to the conference as speaking, can help you build credibility with the audience and it's common to share a slide with your company profile and current jobs at the end of your presentation .

Leverage Local Meetups

Events like Django.Social and local Django meetups are a great opportunity to connect with developers outside of a formal hiring setting.

See what is happening near you, offer to sponsor or host an event if you can. This could result in real life developers visiting your office and picturing what it could be like working there…

Post your Adverts in the Right Places

Where you post job ads matters. Here are some of the best options:

• Python Software Foundation Job Board – High visibility so expect a large volume of applicants.
• DjangoJobs.net – A focused Django job board, though results may vary and you will have to pay a premium for the advert. Also try djangogigs.com
• Django Discord (#we-are-hiring channel) – A great place to share job postings.
• LinkedIn & Django Job Seeker Groups – Direct engagement with job-seeking developers. We run the Django Job Seekers Community group with ~10k members. Sharing jobs in here can reach a wide audience.
• Django News Weekly Newsletter – You can sponsor adverts or editions to reach a global Django audience of over 4,000 developers. Subscribe to the newsletter here. There is also a Django News job page where you can share and sponsor job adverts
  
  

Building a Strong Social Presence

The best hires often come through networking, not job boards. 50% of our recent placed candidate came through our personal networks. It's worth the investment of time - but you have to be consistent with it.

Here’s how to strengthen your social presence:

✅ Update your LinkedIn profile to reflect your hiring goals and company culture.
✅ Post regularly about your work, insights, and open-source contributions.
✅ Engage with your network to stay visible when you do need to hire.
✅ Grow your network by adding Python/Django developers consistently.
✅ Take a similar approach on other platforms like Reddit, Twitter/X and Mastodon to expand your reach. Or even start a YouTube channel and share on there too.

Work With Foxley Talent!

Finding the right developers is time-consuming. In a recent search for a remote Python/Django Developer in the US, we received over 1,400 applications but shortlisted only the top 4. The person who was hired came from our network having met them at DjangoCon the year before!

At Foxley Talent, we know how to help you hire the best Python and Django talent efficiently and effectively. We offer three core services to simplify your hiring process:

• Talent on Demand – A bespoke retained search to find the best developer(s) for your business.
• Talent Search – Real-time insights into the Python/Django job market and active candidates.
• Contract Support – Short to long-term contractor placements to help you scale when needed.

If you want a free review of your hiring process or job specifications, reach out to us at hello@foxleytalent.com or download our Talent on Demand Guide here: ToD Guide