Everything you Should Know About Hiring PHP Programmers

PHP is a go-to technology for many purposes. This year, the technology has solidified its place in the top 10 of most popular programming languages among developers as per StackOverflow. From a business standpoint, it is by many renowned companies to create robust web services: from Facebook and WiKi to Slack and WordPress. Given the popularity of this technology, your need to find and hire a PHP coder in 2023 is more than justified. This guide is aimed to help you with that.

PHP programmers for hire: Key skills

What skills should you look for in PHP programmers for hire? The portfolio of a typical PHP coder entails the fundamental skills of a software programmer, plus specific skills pertaining to the PHP technology that let them write clear code in this language.

When you hire a PHP programmer, take into consideration that the candidate in question should be good at analyzing website requirements, working with databases, fixing bugs, and implementing various website performance improvement methods.

Another important aspect is their experience with PHP frameworks. A seasoned PHP developer for hire should have a demonstrated ability to work with Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter, and other frameworks.

Besides that, modern programming is impossible without the knowledge of OOP (Object-oriented programming), a paradigm that PHP follows.

Also, Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) is an important principle to follow that simplifies debugging, so ensure your potential PHP coder for hire knows how to comply with it.

How to identify a solid PHP developer for hire?

A common concern is how to separate the wheat from the shaft and hire a PHP developer you can rely on? During the interviews, you should pay attention to the qualifications we list below.

An in-depth understanding of the language. PHP is an intricate language, and solid PHP programmers should have a working knowledge of its inner workings. That way, they will be able to write clean, well-rounded, and easy-to-maintain code.

Configuration file creation. When you hire a PHP developer, check if they have experience creating configuration files, which is a common method to store information related to your website or application, such as database connection information.

Hands-on experience with PHP technologies. Such frameworks as Laravel and Symfony reign supreme in PHP development. These frameworks accelerate the speed of software development and provide essential tools and libs you can use for your project.

Expertise in debugging. When you hire a PHP coder, make sure they are expertly skilled in debugging, as finding and fixing errors is essential.

Database skills. PHP often goes hand-in-hand with MySQL. Thus, your PHP coder for hire should have a solid grasp of SQL queries and offer ways to optimize them for better performance.

Experience with basic PHP functions. Ensure your PHP developer for hire is familiar with basic PHP functions. These functions are crucial for performing common tasks, such as accessing files and interacting with databases.

Comprehension of other programming languages. When you hire a PHP coder, they should be familiar with other languages besides PHP, for example, JavaScript, a key front-end technology. This will let them be more successful at creating robust, modern web solutions.

This list of qualifications you should look for when you hire a PHP web developer is far from being exhaustive. With that in mind, it's best to carry out an in-depth screening of all candidates to evaluate their experience and skills to understand whether or not they are a good fit for your project.

Where to find PHP programmers?

Now that you know what skills to look for when you are hiring a PHP programmer, you can dive into several repositories of tech talent.

Freelance platforms

Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr are the go-to places when it comes to finding PHP coders for hire. These repositories typically offer detailed portfolios of developers you can review and make a decision to recruit them for the job.

Freelancers are notoriously known for juggling many projects at the same time. It means that you can rarely be solely dedicated to your goals and stay as available for communication as you may need.

With freelancers, you can also forget about working during common business hours, so your team may find it challenging to cope with irregular communication. If these aspects are crucial for you, it’s best to hire PHP programmers via other means.

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Networking

You can use such networks as LinkedIn, Indeed, or Glassdoor to hire PHP developers for your project. When using one of these platforms, you should create a detailed job description, indicating the specifics of your project and role as well as the company values, goals, and mission. Platforms like these are popular among those PHP developers for hire who are looking to join a stable company with a competitive salary.

Hire a PHP coder via outstaffing firms

Another approach is to hire PHP programmers via providers. As you may know, firms that help you access experts overseas are called outstaffing companies. Typically, they are located in such hubs of tech talent as Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America – the most common spots to build remote teams. HireTop is one example of such a company. We can take up your task of hiring a PHP programmer and match you with relevant talent located in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, or the Baltics. With our approach, you can skip the step of building a team locally. Instead, you can set up one in a low-cost location with us taking care of team retention and administration.

A PHP programmer for hire: In-house or Remotely?

When you're hiring PHP programmers in 2023, it often boils down to two options: to build a local team or add remote team members. Well, it depends on many factors, the most essential being project specifics, timeframe, and budget. From a standpoint of a company that delivers remote teams, let us shed light on a few pros and cons of this approach.

Pros of hiring PHP developers remotely

You will get access to vast repositories of tech talent. In this day and age, skilled developers are scattered around the world. So, going beyond your usual radius of candidate search can help you expand your team with the best talent. For example, in Eastern Europe, you can access over 1 million software developers with solid experience and high English proficiency. HireTop can help you access this pool of tech talent and add engineers with the needed skill sets to your team.

Cost saving. Offshoring zones, to which Eastern Europe belongs, offer lucrative rates for developers that help Western businesses optimize their software development costs. This is a significant benefit that makes companies choose remote PHP coders for hire over in-house specialists. For example, on average, a developer based in the US earns $74,229 annually, according to Payscale data. In Eastern Europe, their counterparts make 2-3 times less while having the same set of skills and backgrounds. Besides that, when hiring a PHP programmer remotely, you will lower your team administration and retention costs, for example, rent, IT infrastructure, employee payroll, and bonuses. Those are usually taken care of by the vendor. At least, that's what we do at HireTop.

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Flexibility. Remote teams boast an incredible level of flexibility where you can add more team members or dissolve the squad with ease. For instance, you can start with 1-2 engineers to see if the approach works for you and later expand your team. So, if your business needs instant scaling, remote developers can be the solution you're looking for.

Increasing the speed of software development. Hiring PHP coders remotely can help you develop and deliver your product faster. This approach also lets you ensure non-stop delivery, especially if you set up your team in a time zone with a significant time difference from your headquarters. In such a case two teams can contribute 8 hours each per day.

Challenges of hiring PHP developers remotely

Language barrier. Mutual understanding is essential for every team. Speaking English confidently among all team members ensures everyone stays on the same page and leaves no room for misunderstanding. Eastern European developers speak English as their second language on a decent level. Be sure that your provider of PHP developers for hire in this region will check the English proficiency of every candidate they provide since it's an important condition of landing a job contract with a Western company.

Culture clash. Most companies emphasize the values and culture aiming to add people who share those. When hiring PHP programmers with us, you can be sure that we will provide candidates who value integrity, strong work ethics, openness, and other virtues. We will analyze your needs and ensure to provide you with PHP coders for hire who are a good fit in terms of your company culture.

Autonomy. Many companies aim to hire PHP programmers who would have a great deal of autonomy when it comes to their work. When looking for candidates who have higher levels of seniority to pull off such a responsibility, we check their portfolio for proven leadership experience. It can be critical if you plan to expand your remote unit and require someone to step into a leading role in your remote unit.

Why hire a PHP programmer in Eastern Europe?

Eastern Europe, a region we specialize in for hiring PHP developers, has become a hotbed of outsourcing. It offers a positive business environment, vast pools of tech talent of all calibers, and hiring skilled programmers without overspending.

If you plan to hire a PHP programmer in the US, the UK, or the EU, you may be faced with the soaring costs they charge. At the same time when you hire a PHP developer in Ukraine, Poland, or the Baltics, their hourly rate may not exceed $50 per hour. Here are some other reasons to hire a PHP web developer in Eastern Europe:

Adequate English proficiency. Developers from Eastern Europe may have an accent but generally maintain a high proficiency (B1-C1 in international standards), which is sufficient for international collaboration.
Focus on formal STEM education. Lots of universities in the region offer Western-quality education where students gain applied knowledge of programming languages and frameworks as well as OOP principles.
Large networks of PHP talent. Easter Europe is a powerhouse of tech talent that entails more than 1 million IT specialists and is annually replenished by new graduates. Hiring a PHP programmer in Eastern Europe can be a profitable option, and we at Hiretop can help you with that.