Being its harder to find a programmer on byond these days, I'm trying to find a programmer outside of byond to work on said byond project.
What particular programmer specialty and skills should I be looking for when looking for a programmer?
Such as Java, C++ C##, etc etc?
Byond's Gangsta
You are basically asking someone to learn DM on your dime, and paying them for their existing expertise in a language they aren't going to use.
This idea is doomed to failure. Someone who knows C++/Java/Python might be well suited to learning DM quickly, but they are inevitably going to make mistakes that will cost them time and you money because DM's particular quirks are their own world.
If you yourself don't know DM very well, and don't act as a guiding hand, you are doubly setting them up for failure.
You are probably better off learning to program yourself, and there are plenty of folks around the community that would be willing to answer your questions and set you on a good path toward mastery if you are willing to put in the time.