When you decide to Hire Next.js Developers for your product, you quickly realize that not all candidates are equal. The framework has evolved massively since the Pages Router days, and many developers still live in that old world. This guide cuts through the noise and gives you a precise, technical hiring framework to identify engineers who genuinely understand the App Router, React Server Components (RSC) , and Edge Functions, so you stop paying for developers who Google everything on the job. Why the Knowledge Gap Is Wider Than You Think Next.js 13 and beyond introduced a mental model shift, not just a syntax change. The App Router is not simply a new file convention. It is a full rethinking of how data fetching, rendering, caching, and routing coexist in a React application.…