How to Hire the Best PHP Developers
For a web development project to succeed, employers and hiring managers must be able to hire PHP developers who fit the business requirements and the company culture. To do this, they must have at least a basic understanding of PHP web development, PHP web applications and technologies related to it; this will serve as their guide in deciding how to hire PHP developers.
This post will help you find a dedicated PHP developer for you. Keep reading as we discuss some of the most essential information you need to know when hiring top PHP developers and when working on web development projects.
PHP, which originally stood for Personal Home Page, is one of the most widely-used and recognised technologies in web development. Its origin traces back to 1994 when Rasmus Lerdorf created a series of Perl scripts for the maintenance of his personal web page. At that time, he referred to this as “Personal Home Page Tools”. The next year, these tools were repackaged and published as CGI binaries which included support for web forms and database communication.
Since then, PHP has undergone swift development and refinement which led it to become one of the top scripting languages that many companies and organisations use, such as WordPress and phpBB (which use PHP to run a blog or a forum).
PHP is a powerful language that can generate images in a wide variety of formats dynamically. It can also access databases in a multitude of formats. Aside from working with databases and displaying information pulled from them, PHP is also able to perform system tasks in a scheduled manner.
Lastly, it is also important to note that PHP is the last word in the acronym “LAMP”, which stands for “Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP”. A LAMP installation is a common web server configuration that helps dedicated PHP developers create robust web pages and manage data efficiently by combining Apache with PHP and MySQL.
Why should you hire a PHP developer?
Businesses today are in continuously increasing competition with each other to create and offer applications that provide its users with the best value and benefits. With this, plenty of businesses choose PHP when building advanced web applications. So given this situation, the best solution is to hire dedicated PHP developers for your business PHP development projects.
Along with choosing this language, companies in the United Kingdom are hiring top PHP developers for their php development needs to help them get the most of the technology and customise the application according to their business needs.
Here are the benefits you get with a PHP web developer in your web development team:
Flexibility
You can only fully take advantage of the flexibility of PHP with a top PHP developer. A professional PHP developer can make use of frameworks such as Codeigniter, CakePHP, and Yii PHP to build stunning advanced web applications.php
You get to concentrate on your tasks
When you hire PHP developers or outsource the web development of your web application to PHP developers, you let those who are experienced in that department do their magic. In the same way, you also free yourself from tasks which are not in your speciality, giving you more time to concentrate on things you are good at. While the PHP developer works on your web application, you can work on your content, business strategies, or lead generation. Efficient and productive.
Create user-friendly applications
Highly-skilled PHP developers know very well how to manage PHP development projects and create applications that are not only visually stunning but are also user-friendly. From their experience and knowledge in the industry, they can offer you recommendations and suggestions as to what should and should not be implemented in your PHP development project.
Improve your SEO ranking
Websites that are developed using PHP are SEO-friendly, but not a lot are able to take advantage of this because they lack a professional who knows the ropes in PHP development. With a PHP developer in your team, you can significantly improve the SEO ranking of your site or application, and this can consequently increase your traffic and take your business to the next level.
Skilled PHP developers know PHP inside-and-out, enabling them to help you create better websites and applications based on your business needs. Instead of avoiding extra costs and being satisfied with a half-baked website, investing on experienced PHP developers incur a one-time cost but will definitely increase your ROI in the long run.
What kind of projects can a PHP developer work on?
Here are some projects that a PHP developer can work on:
Web Pages and Web-based Applications
PHP is actually used by over 82% of websites for server-side programming; it is also used in building over 244 million websites. So the need to hire PHP developers is essential. Moreover, PHP is also used to script web-based enterprise applications and a great number of Facebook apps. This is where expert PHP developers come in.
PHP developers using PHP are able to offer reliable solutions to achieve features such as a high degree of customisation, a highly-interactive user interface, and database system integration, among others.
Web Content Management Systems (CMS)
Web developers use PHP to support numerous databases such as MySQL, Oracle, and MS Access. It is also capable of using protocols such as IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), POP3 (Post Office Protocol), NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol), SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), and COM.
Because of these capabilities, PHP is among the popular choices for creating web content management systems (CMS). Web developers build CMS using PHP; this includes WordPress and its plugins, Facebook (user-facing portion), Joomla, Drupal, Moodle, Silverstripe, MediaWiki, Digg, and more.
eCommerce Applications
A web developer can utilise PHP frameworks such as Codeigniter and CakePHP. PHP developers are able to create eCommerce applications from small businesses to large enterprises easily and quickly. In fact, many of the widely-used eCommerce platforms have been created on PHP (e.g. OpenCart, Magento, PrestaShop, Zen Cart, AgoraCart, and Ubercart).
Image Processing and Graphic Design
Aside from building web applications and content management systems, PHP developers can also use PHP for image processing and graphic design. Through the integration of image processing libraries such as GD library, Imagine, and ImageMagick, PHP developers can rotate, crop, resize, create thumbnail pictures, add watermarks, and generate output images in multiple formats with PHP.
GUI-based Applications
PHP developers can also utilise PHP to create desktop GUI-based (graphical user interface) applications. Tools such as PHP-GTK 2, DevelStudio, and ZZEE PHP GUI allow scripting in PHP, which, in turn, is compiled into .exe that is capable of running on its own.
What skills and qualifications should you look for when hiring PHP developers?
Ability to work with PHP applications
PHP developers must be someone with a strong working knowledge of PHP frameworks and applications. This should be one of your standards when seeking PHP developers for your business, there is a good chance that the PHP developer you will hire will be able to handle most (if not all) the PHP tasks you have.
Here are some frameworks you should take note of:
PHP Frameworks:
- Your PHP developers should know about CodeIgniter.
- Web developers should be familiar with Yii.
- PHP developers should know Zend.
- Web developers should be familiar with CakePHP.
- PHP developers should be familiar with Laravel.
- Web developers should know FuelPHP.
- Your PHP developers should be familiar with Symfony.
PHP CMS Frameworks:
- PHP developers should be familiar with Drupal.
- Web developers should know Joomla.
- PHP developers must be familiar with MODx.
- Web developers should know WordPress.
Easily adaptable to changes in PHP
A PHP developer who is eager and passionate about keeping up with the latest applications and program updates is often a great addition to the team. Especially since technology is a fast-changing industry, having PHP developers who are aware of changes—and are able to adapt to it—will be beneficial not only to your team but also to your business.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills
Communication skill is a vital skill to have in any industry. Whilst your PHP developer is mainly tasked with writing codes and coming up with solutions (which can be done individually), your developer will have to communicate and collaborate with teammates and colleagues from other departments every now and then. These skills play an important role in your project’s success.
Project management skills
When screening the candidates, it is also necessary to look for time management and organisational skills. PHP developers with these skills are helpful in giving inputs and suggestions when talking about deadlines and the best possible project duration. It will be beneficial for your team to hire PHP developers who can commit, manage, and deliver tasks within the time frame you set.
The ability to work and learn independently
Whilst cooperation and collaboration is important in a web development project, it is also equally important for PHP developers to know how to learn and work independently. Especially if you’re a small business, having PHP developers who are able to work well in a team and in a solitary environment can significantly benefit your business.
During the interviews, you can ask questions such as, “How do you approach personal development?” or “What do you do when you come across a project in a technology you aren’t familiar with?”
A PHP developer who is self-reliant and can manage learning on his/her own, despite lacking in the skills you are looking for, may just be the better choice rather than moving forward with a PHP developer who doesn’t have the ability to learn and work independently, despite having the necessary skills.
Hiring a Software developer in the Philippines
For a web development project to succeed, employers and hiring managers must be able to hire the right person who fit the business requirements and the company culture. And this comes with a lot of nitty-gritty process especially if you are hiring through the different job posting websites.
First is you need to consider the job type and description that you are looking for. For your tech project, you need to determine what will your company need so you don’t waste your time searching for the right candidate. You can sort by relevance depending on the things that you need. You also need to consider the job specializations that you are looking for.
There are available PHP developer jobs out there. Especially if you are outsourcing in the Philippines, you can see that most job type posted on job sites are located in different parts of the country especially in the National Capital Region, Pasig City, Quezon City and Makati City. Notice that these areas are concentrated with the biggest tech companies here in the Philippines such as Octal Philippines Inc, SysGen RPO Inc, and Fitera Systems Inc. Other companies posting for PHP developer jobs come from several BPO companies and eCommerce platforms. And commonly, aside from job type and descriptions, location, job functions and job specializations, the amount of salary is also available. This could be up to 50k per month, depending mostly on the job type and job specializations.
Now as for the job sites with the job type and job specializations that you are looking for, there would be a lot to choose from. Since a lot of programmers and software developers are looking for work especially now with the pandemic, most people are looking for work from home jobs. And through these platforms, you can also post the details of what you are looking for as the right candidate for your tech company. However, it would take you a lot of time and patience so that the right candidate would apply to your post.
In the Philippines, you can find the right software developer for your software development needs by posting on job sites. However, with a lot of competition out there that are looking for the same job type and description, you will have a hard time finding the perfect candidate in time and with the right credentials. And with a lot of job type posts for software developers, the chances of applicants finding your post is like looking for a needle in a stack of hay. So the best way for you to find an expert software developer for your business is through an outsourcing IT company. In this way, it saves you a lot of time, money and effort in doing your own job type posts for each job site. You will be also sure that the one you will hire is someone that has been screened by the outsourcing company and for you to screen for yourself to gauge whether that person is fit for your company.
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