Freelance programming is now highly common, as most companies and workers in the tech industry have long since embraced the remote way of work. With popular programming languages having an extensive pool of talent to choose from, it may seem easy to search for and hire the right developer expertise for your organisation’s software development team.

PHP Program is one such programming language, and while it’s home to a vast talent pool, businesses still need to do their due diligence to determine the calibre of skills and experience that may be needed to meet the unique expectations of their own projects.

In this article, we shed light on what PHP is, what it can do, as well as its advantages. Next, we break down what constitutes a competent PHP developer, and what your business team can do to hire the right candidates. Read on to know more!

Interested in hiring PHP developers for your business’s web and application development needs? At EFutures, our talent offers extensive experience with both local and international projects that span across numerous industries. Talk to us today for an assessment, and to find the best PHP developers for your business’s unique requirements.

What is PHP?

PHP is a server-side scripting language that is used to build websites, and in some cases, desktop applications. The PHP acronym stands for ‘Hypertext Preprocessor’, and is open source, allowing any developer to easily access it.

PHP is also highly versatile, as it can contain HTML, CSS and JavaScript code. PHP files are usually executed on the server side, with pages then displayed on the browser in HTML. Apart from building web pages and web applications, other popular use cases of PHP include:

• Reading data in forms,
• Reading, adding and modifying data in databases,
• Sending and receiving cookies,
• Encrypting data.

The advantages of PHP

PHP is a popular and versatile programming language, for a few good reasons:

• Open source, with an extensive community – PHP is fully open source, making it a great starting point for new web developers who are just entering the field. Add to this an extensive developer community that offers tips, advice and recommendations to build and fix code, which thereby makes PHP a highly reliable and sought after programming language for developers of all skill levels.
• Cross platform compatible – PHP can be executed across all operating systems as well as most web servers, again contributing to its versatility.
• Optimised performance – PHP is known to be faster in terms of building and optimising web pages in comparison to other programming languages, such as Ruby on Rails.
• Inbuilt debugging and security capabilities – PHP offers inbuilt debugging tools to fix errors within code with ease. Additionally, it also delivers inbuilt security functions to prevent SQL injections and cross-site scripting attacks, while a variety of security extensions can also be integrated to enhance protection for applications that are being built.
• Easy to learn – PHP offers a simple syntax that is easy to understand and grasp, thereby making it a great option for new entrants into the field of web development.

What makes a competent PHP developer?

While the technical skills that are required for a PHP developer are unique, the soft skills needed are typically the same as that for any other developer. As companies look to hire PHP developers for their web application development projects, here are some key requirements to keep an eye out for, when screening and assessing candidates:

• Prior hands-on experience coding with PHP, including a portfolio to show for it,
• For those that have no experience, a degree in computer science, or any other relevant course of study,
• The ability to constructively accept feedback, as well as solve problems,
• Communication skills that enable the articulation of thoughts, ideas or any other concerns,
• Working during odd hours may also be a requirement, especially for offshore PHP developers.

If your organisation already partners with a software offshoring company, they may most likely already have relevant PHP developers who are ready to begin work on your project. If not, your software offshoring partner can still do all the work of sourcing, screening and assessing candidates, while you can host interview rounds in person or virtually – to ensure they will be the right fit for the needs and objectives of your business.

The importance of knowing what your business objectives are, before hiring new PHP developers (or any other expertise, for that matter)

As with any other business endeavour, knowing what is specifically required in your business can subsequently provide clarity on what needs to be delivered via your website or web application – as well as the skills that are required to make all of this happen. While it may seem that your business needs are obvious especially in the case of a long-term and ongoing project, it is always sensible to conduct a business assessment before taking any big steps such as adding/modifying/removing application capabilities, revising product strategies and yes, hiring new expertise.

Even an assessment that is conducted briefly is better than not conducting one at all. Here, we provide a step-by-step list that you can follow, in order to get clarity about your business via an assessment.

1. Gather and discuss concerns with your team – by gathering relevant team members both from your business and software agency, ask questions around existing problems and bottlenecks. Alternatively, you can also discuss the specific reasons surrounding the hiring of a PHP developer, to ensure whether they are reasonably valid enough to justify your hiring decision.
2. Collate everything into a brief – note all feedback that was received during the discussion into a brief. This shall then serve as a point of reference for all other steps in this process.
3. Use your brief to build your job ad – in addition to mentioning the technical requirements that pertain to your PHP developer job ad, ensure you also mention any other requirements that are specific to your project, and which you expect your candidate of choice to meet.
4. Assess candidates on whether they will be able to meet your objectives – during the candidate assessment phase, try to determine whether your candidate(s) can meet specific demands that your project may have, in addition to technical and soft skills. This is particularly important if you wish to hire dedicated PHP developers, as they may cost more and require long-term commitments.
5. Start small – once you onboard your PHP developer(s), it is wise to start with smaller and bite-sized projects, including MVPs (in the case of a brand new rollout). This will not only help your team assimilate your new hire well, but will also determine the overall success of a new feature or MVP, and help you decide whether continuing it is worthwhile or vice versa.
6. Rinse and repeat – Make sure you have the right KPIs set in place to monitor the performance of your PHP expertise, as well as the impact they have had on the development team and the product as a whole. You can always reassess priorities with a new team discussion from this point onwards, to ensure everyone is on the same page about your organisation’s objectives (especially if they’ve changed).

To sum up…

If your organisation is looking to hire remote PHP developers, learning about what PHP is best for, its ideal use cases as well as the job criteria that candidates need to meet is important. This helps ensure the right candidates are hired for the role, and your business has expertise that can be relied upon in the long term.

As a server-side and dynamic scripting language, PHP is highly versatile for building websites and web applications, while also being adept at data encryption, reading cookies and reading data from assets such as files and databases. As a result, PHP is vastly popular, and PHP developers abound for your project, no matter how niche.

However, conducting a business assessment prior and assessing whether your PHP developer of choice can meet specific objectives is imperative to ensure the right expertise is hired and retained for the role. Furthermore, evaluate your developer’s performance through routine checks and through the monitoring of relevant KPIs, so any skill gaps can be met with appropriate coaching, in order to maintain competency as well as retain them in the interest of a long-term tenure.