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Welcome back to our tech-savvy blogs! And yes, we are talking about PHP again. In our previous article on PHP, we talked about why choose PHP for web development. So here we will be continuing that streak and talking about how to hire the best PHP developers for your web development.

Sounds like a good deal, right?

Now here’s the thing. PHP is certainly one of the most in-demand programming languages on the web at present. It has been there for a while now, and the demand seems to be evergreen. Consequently, PHP is the ultimate pick of every online business when they need a robust, customizable, and scalable application or website. 

But guess what? The ultimate success of projects lies in hiring the right PHP developers who have the ability to nurture good results aided with optimum skill. 

Now here’s the trick. There is a huge pool of PHP developers in the market. So hiring the best from this lot is a daunting job. Don’t you think so? The worst of it all is if you want to hire a PHP developer, but you yourself ain’t a non-technical person. I can imagine the trauma here!

In addition to all these, there are various other elements that impact the hiring of PHP developers, like, experience, technical capabilities, funding, and so on. So let us help you out!

I am guessing that you may have stumbled upon this article while searching for answers to questions like,

• “What questions do I ask in a technical interview?” 
• “Where can I hire a good PHP developer?”
• “What skills do I check for while hiring a good PHP developer?”

And the list goes on!

So let’s cut to the chase and start from the very basic. Here we go!

Who is a PHP Developer?

In the simplest terms, a PHP developer is a kind of web developer who has the ability to write, test, as well as maintain code for programs, web pages, and applications. A good PHP developer may leap a bit forward and work on complex projects. Now, this bit demands a decent amount of problem-solving and analytical skills. They should also have a working knowledge of major PHP frameworks like Yii, Laravel, Codeigniter, Symfony, Zend, Kohana, Joomla, CakePHP, etc.

Take a look at the checklist of in-demand skills that PHP developers must have–

• SQL / MySQL
• HTML and CSS
• Working knowledge of JavaScript
• Control systems (SVN / Git)
• Experience with PHP frameworks like Symphony, Laravel, YII2, etc 
• CMS like Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, etc
• Working knowledge of object-oriented programming or OOP.

Pause a bit.

Are you having trouble with hiring the right PHP developers? Why don’t you reach out to us at TheCodeWork? We have the perfect tech team to help you out! 

The key benefits of hiring PHP developers

Now have a quick look at the commercial benefits of hiring PHP developers:

• The commercial development of a website is done effortlessly by hiring PHP developers. I will tell you why! Well, the time and money that is involved in the development process of a website are much cheaper when compared to languages like ASP.NET, JAVA, etc.

• With the dense pool of PHP developers all around, the competition has led to developers providing low-cost development charges although the quality of works stays intact. 

• Scalable and user-friendly websites are built with PHP. That’s a prime focus right here!

Also read: Why Choose PHP for Web Development in 2021-2022?

Hire best PHP developers

PHP is one of the important software languages for web development. I am sure you agree with me on this. It is influenced by the languages C, C++, Perl, Python, and many more. PHP happens to be a server-side scripting language and is used in most software organizations these days.

Guess what? At present, PHP is installed on more than 240 million websites. Can you imagine?

With such global demand, most of the students are pursuing courses on PHP and want to enter corporations with this specialization. 

Here are some tips for the recruiters to follow nowadays to get some of the top PHP developers in their respective companies are as mentioned below:

• Hiring a PHP Developer is not an easy task, so the recruiters should check that they are experienced and they are skilled PHP programmers. 

They should be able to handle all kinds of needs and requirements needed in the company with their sound technical knowledge. On the PHP projects, they should be able to implement their skills and felt comfortable talking to some of the clients, and observe the client’s quality of work he maintains. 

• Some of the major pointers that the recruiters concentrate on when they hire PHP developers are enhancement, website integration, and maintenance.

• Also, some of the basic applications such as shopping carts, web calendars should be able to be developed by the PHP developers with the help of customized e-commerce applications.

• Additionally, basic multimedia applications and social networking applications also hold value in this domain. 

• Some of the professional PHP developers should have perfect knowledge of integration and Content Management System Development.

Hey, wait. There’s more.

Compulsory steps while hiring PHP developers

Check out these compulsory steps that you should follow in each and every interview while hiring PHP developers. 

• Proper investigation should be made on how many years the candidate has worked in the PHP field. You should also evaluate within how much time they can complete their projects. I mean, that’s important, right?

• They should have additional knowledge of other languages such as AJAX, MySql, HTML, XHTML, Zend, etc. See, this is more like a bonus pointer. Look out for it.

• Having a decent design sense is also a blessing in disguise, don’t you think?

Where to find the right PHP developer?

Hiring the best PHP developers is the priority for your business. I am sure you agree with me on this!

Now to hire the right PHP developers, ask some questions to yourself first. Like, 

• How urgently do you need to hire a PHP developer?
• How many PHP developers you require for the project?
• What is the level of experience that you are seeking?
• Will you be okay with hiring remotely working developers?
• What is your allocated budget?

If you have answers to all these questions, then take your time and search for PHP developers on websites such as Freelancer and Toptal. These websites have a huge amount of organic traffic from developers that visit the sites to share resources, knowledge and engage with like-minded people. 

Now here’s the bonus part.

If you want a more authentic and established pool of developers to choose from, do reach out to us at TheCodeWork. We offer full-time product development services in the Mobile and web development domain for startup ventures and businesses. 

Check out our list of PHP development services at TheCodeWork itself. 

Technical questions to ask while hiring PHP developers

There are a lot of “technical questions” suggestions on the internet for PHP developers. However, why don’t you take a look at what our team prefers to ask during such interviews? Here, take a look!

1. What would be the approach if you are stuck on some issues and there’s no solution available in the documentation. Please specify the steps.
2. What are the steps you take to estimate a given task?
3. Explain a microservice architecture.
4. Error types in PHP.
5. SOLID Principle with real-life examples

Tips to hire PHP developers

The questions that we suggested till now will certainly help you evaluate the interviewee’s technical abilities. However, check out these added tips for results. I know you want that. So let’s have a quick look here.

1. Do not ask any clichéd questions

The problem with clichéd questions is that the answer is never organic. It is always like a prepared speech. So let’s avoid that. Here are some questions that you can avoid:

1. What is PHP?
2. Who is the father of PHP?
3. When did PHP first release?

Turn your focus on questions that can test the skills of the candidate. Like, 

1. Ways to set cookies in PHP.
2. Encrypting data with PHP.
3. Experience in delivering web services.

Questions like these will help you evaluate the technical skills of the candidate. You would want that, right?

2. Ask questions about their previous projects 

No matter how experienced your interviewee is, always discuss their previous projects and assignments. Ask for a brief description and eventually drop down to the details. I will tell you why this is important.

See, discussing how they dealt with their previous assignments, will you give an insight about their workflow and if they are a good fit for your projects. 

You may also check out or ask for their portfolios, case studies as well as client testimonials to assess their technical skills and experience. See how it works? 

Trust me, this will save you time and make the whole development loop faster and more efficient. 

3. Test their knowledge base as well as learning skills 

Being able to adapt and learn is a major skill in today’s world. Don’t you think? With the speed at which tech trends are evolving, no one should stay put when it comes to skills. So make sure that whoever you hire, must have the ability to learn and adapt. 

4. Look out for good communication skills

When hiring PHP developers, communication is definitely not the prime skill set that you are looking for. I get that. But do keep that as a priority.  

On various occasions, the developers need to communicate the details of their to non-technical people of the team or even with the clients themselves. In times like these, if the developers fail to have a proper conversation with the client, then it can be a major setback.

You agree with me, don’t you?

Now talking of the outsourcing companies, besides communication skills, do check if they are okay to work your tools of preference. Trust me, this is important. 

5. Evaluate the attitude

“Hire for attitude, train for skills” 

This phrase was coined by Herb Kelleher. It may be a simple one-liner but has a huge influence on successful recruitments. 

See, the thing is, you may discover someone who is remarkably good with PHP development. However, if he/she lacks the essential soft skills like a confident personality, interpersonal skills, or an appetite for learning, it can act as a hindrance to workflow. 

Also, throughout this entire procedure, make it a point to clarify every doubt that arises in your mind. Have clarity about the type of developer that you want to hire. If you want to hire a freelancer or outsource developers from a firm, draft an agreement that includes details like the set timeline, cost-breakup, milestones, etc. 

The non-disclosure agreements, as well as the terms & conditions, have to be crystal clear to avoid complexities in the future. 

I mean, prevention is better than cure, right?

Overview

PHP developers have versatile skill sets to build a high-end and scalable website. They can incorporate dynamic graphical applications to yield cool effects on websites. How amazing is that?

Wait, here’s another fun fact.

Websites built with PHP are almost impossible to hack. So get on with the PHP tech stack and start building your web application. 

So without any further adieu, reach out to us at TheCodeWork and hire the top-notch PHP developers with over 8 years of experience and updated working knowledge.

Till then, happy hiring!