​Questions to ask while hiring a developer

When it comes to developing a website, you can pick from plenty of tools and frameworks these days. PHP remains a top choice for web development worldwide, the availability of newer technologies and tools notwithstanding. A majority of websites are powered by some derivatives of PHP- as it is. Naturally, there are plenty of custom PHP development services. When you decide to use PHP for developing your website, choosing the right agency or developer is necessary.

Ways to evaluate a PHP developer well

Nowadays, you can find PHP developers offering their services almost everywhere. There are freelance PHP developers, and there are veteran PHP development outsourcing agencies too. You have to know how to screen the available contenders. This will ease the section process, eventually.

Listed below are the questions you should ask a PHP developer for proper assessment. 

 

• What is your tenure in the PHP web development sector?

When you interview a PHP developer, you have to check his/her experience level. A developer with decade-long experience in the industry or longer is likely to do a good job. Such a PHP developer is also expected to offer professional services, and you should not have to worry about the quality of applications in the future. This is applicable for developers offering freelance services and those who are working with an agency.

 

• What is your PHP development portfolio like?

Any PHP developer can say lofty things about his/her experience and brag about achievements etc. How do you know the truth without checking out some of his work samples? In fact, the top PHP developers list their work sample links on their websites. You have to check out the websites and PHP web applications developed by him/her. Check out how safe, fluid, and functional the applications and websites are. Check if the apps and sites render flawlessly and they are free of bugs.

 

• What other technical skills do you have?

It is natural that a PHP developer will have extensive knowledge of the programming language. However, you need to check the additional skill sets of such developers. These developers should have experience working with top PHP-based frameworks like CodeIgniter, Symfony, and Laravel. It is even better if he has worked with PHP-based CMS tools like WP. You also need to check if the developer is well versed in other online tools and technologies like ASP.Net, JavaScript, and C#. This can be useful when your web development needs are extensive.

 

• How do you ensure your PHP websites and apps are secure?

PHP is not an unsafe web development platform as such, and the newest release, aka version 8, is deemed more secure than the predecessors. However, veteran PHP developers deploy additional measures to ensure the apps and websites made by them are secured well. They look for possible security loopholes and address any such vulnerability in the development and testing phase. This can be done by using third-party extensions sometimes. In any case, you have to know what measures are used by the PHP developers for enhancing the application security level prior to hiring.

 

• How do you resolve hurdles faced in the development stage?

Any PHP developer is likely to come across some hurdles during the application or website development stages. There are many options available to resolve such hurdles. Typically, the ace PHP developers resort to the huge online community and resources. They also interact with their industry peers sometimes to find resolutions to these problems. 

 

• What is your pricing model? 

Every PHP developer will charge you for offering his/her services. However, the rates may vary a lot, and not every developer follows the same approach for charging the clients as it is. There are some developers who will charge you per hour for their services. Then there are others who ask for a fixed price per package, regardless of the number of hours required for executing that project. The top-notch developers will explain to you details about the charges at the beginning.

 

• What type of support/ maintenance service do you offer?

Just getting a website developed by an ace PHP developer is not enough! You will need robust and reliable support services, too. You never know when the website or application develops a snag, or it needs maintenance. In such situations, the support offered by the developer saves the day. So, find out details about support services offered by a developer. The top developers offer multi-channel support for their customers. You have to check if the charges are feasible for your budget or not. 

 

• What are the clients you have worked with?

It is not only about assessing the technical skill of a PHP application development professional that you need to verify. It is also necessary to learn about the types of clients he/she has worked with. It makes sense to hire a PHP developer who has the experience of working with clients hailing from the same sector as yours. Sometimes, you need to figure out if a developer has the experience of developing complex and large-scale web applications. You should be able to learn about the clientele from his website-generally. Check out what the clients say about the developers as well. 

 

• What is your knowledge of the database?

PHP offers good compatibility with Database applications, and that is why it is used a lot to build database-driven websites. So, you need to know if a PHP developer you are considering for your project is well versed in handling database systems or not. A developer with expertise in database systems like MySQL and Oracle should be preferred over others. Typically, most PHP developers are proficient in handling MySQL queries.

 

• What is the timeframe you can offer for my project?

Every PHP developer will offer you a timeframe for project execution. Within a deadline, they will complete developing the app or website and deliver it to you. Within that time span, they are going to develop the website, test it a number of times, deploy safety measures and make necessary customization, etc. The timeframe will vary from open project to another, for sure. However, veteran PHP developers make an approximate calculation involving various factors and offer the client's time frame accordingly. 

 

• What is your favorite PHP framework/derivative, and why?

Over the years, many platforms and tools have been made using PHP. The popular ones include Magento, WP, Symfony, and Laravel. The advantages of using these tools include faster execution time, reduced coding, additional and inbuilt features, etc. You should ask a PHP developer which ones are used by him and why he prefers those frameworks/tools over the other options. 

Summing up

To hire the best PHP Development Company or developer, assessing various factors is important. You can use the aforementioned questions and check out the responses given by the developers. The top and reliable developers will answer all these queries in detail, using examples. In any case, this can't be done in a hurry. You should keep enough time for interviewing PHP developers and choose a contender after careful evaluation of all vital points. 

About Author:

Abhishek Jain is the head of marketing at Imenso Software, that is a renowned software development company in India & it offers high-quality IT services that evolve with corresponding business trends and technology.