How and Where You Can Hire the Best Offshore PHP Developers

Updated – 16.02.2023

Hiring a motivated PHP developer is always a challenge as finding out one’s true talent and resourcefulness is often possible only once he or she starts working for your company.

However, professional recruiters of Qubit Labs knows how to hire programmers or a team hassle-free and in full compliance with your company’s needs.

Do You Need an Offshore PHP Developer?

First, let’s get clear about what kind of specialist a PHP developer is.

This is a person able to develop programs, applications, and web resources with the help of the PHP. PHP engineers may be universal or specializing in software development/web development only. As in any other field of programming, PHP coders may be specialists of junior, middle, and senior levels.

So, you need to be perfectly sure about the level of expertise needed for your project since the senior developer salary may be times higher than the remuneration of a mid-level specialist.

Here is a quick snapshot on the duties of developers of each seniority level:

What Junior PHP developer should be experienced with:

• Time management, teamwork, effective communication
• Analytical thinking, strategic planning, problem-solving, multitasking
• Ability to write PHP code, conduct testing and debugging
• Implementation of front-end interfaces from design mockups
• Realization of technical solutions upon business requirements
• Collaboration with designers on code customization
• Solid knowledge of the server-side processes and programming
• Design of web page mockups and their transformation into functional pages

What Middle PHP developer should be experienced with:

• Over 2 years of PHP development experience
• A good command of HTML, CSS, JS frameworks, jQuery, and parsing XML
• OOP skills
• Practical expertise in MySQL, PostgreSQL, Kanban process, code refactoring, unit tests writing
• SOLID PHP principles knowledge
• English language proficiency
• Ability to work on projects of varying scale and size
• Ability to produce and update technical documentation
• Task estimation and timely completion, effective team communication, reporting to superiors

Senior PHP developer should be experienced in:

• 6+ years of practical experience with PHP, MySQL, and the LAMP stack
• Advanced OOP skills
• Practical expertise in work with Git, JS frameworks, Laravel, WordPress
• Advanced skills in heavy PHP resources’ customization
• Quick learning and adaptation to new technology
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science/Technology (mostly optional).

Which Apps Can Be Written in PHP?

So, is there sense in investing in and creating PHP resources, or are they doomed to becoming obsolete in the near future? Yes, PHP still remains in the top 10 languages of programming worldwide, as GitHub and TIOBE rankings suggest in 2020.

The GitHub rating suggests that PHP remained on its stable 4th place throughout 2015-2018, which implies its stability and points at the relevance of its use in today’s projects.

TIOBE’s experts gave PHP the 8th place in the February 2019 ranking (as compared to the 7th place in February 2018), which also suggests that the language is still popular and demanded globally.

The reasons for which PHP remains high in popularity and demand are as follows:

1. Its open-source, user-friendly nature
2. Universality and total flexibility of PHP hosting
3. Its perfect compatibility with a variety of Apache, IIS and MySQL interfaces
4. Its comparative ease for learning by beginners
5. Independence from platforms
6. High level suitability for the web development
7. Ability to host numerous helpful CMS platforms including Drupal and WordPress
8. Extendibility and a high level of control for the web developer
9. Low costs for development and maintenance combined with high performance and impressive reliability
10. Advanced OOP support.

All these benefits speak confidently in favor of PHP’s continued use in technology projects, which means that it’s high time for you to find a PHP coder for hire.

Offshore PHP Development Services

• Full Stack Development 

PHP is a well-known language for building websites. Working with frameworks like Laravel, Symfony, or Yii2 is typically required for full-stack development. Reducing the number of specialists involved in a project is the primary objective of full-stack development. This is why it’s the best choice for MVPs, startups, and other low-budget projects.

• Application Management and Maintenance 

Offshore PHP development services are the best option if you have a ready-made PHP solution or allow the integration of PHP-written components. This kind of service, in particular, aims to modernize an existing software solution, eliminate bugs found after it was released, manage configurations, make code and databases work better, make it faster, migrate data, etc.

• Website Redesign

PHP is the backbone of the vast majority of websites, as we mentioned earlier. Therefore, if you want to enhance your website, hiring offshore PHP developers will assist you in overcoming this obstacle most quickly and cost-effectively as possible. You can also find out more about our PHP web development outsourcing services.

Where Can I Hire Offshore PHP Developers ?

It depends on how you manage your team, what project you want to complete, and available resources:

Job Sites

The easiest way to get into direct contact with PHP coders across the globe is to search for relevant PHP developers’ resumes on the job sites.

If you want to find developers in Ukraine you can post your vacancies on Dou, Rabota, or Work.ua sites, which are popular locally.

You may find a helpful list of programmers job sites here.

The bonuses of such recruitment include the direct contact with candidates and the ability to find affordable rates, while the minuses of this model include its lengthiness and cost of time you waste on resume reviews and interviewing.

Freelance

You may also find PHP coders at freelance platforms. The largest international resources for the freelancer search include:

Freelancer.com

It’s a huge global platform where you can find proper talent for any work that can be completed distantly.

To date, it boasts over 14 million completed projects and over 30 million trusted users collaborating on the platform to find specialists or get hired.

Upwork

Upwork emerged as a symbiosis of two large freelance platforms – Elance and oDesk.

Here, both businesses and independent professionals collaborate on a range of projects.

As of 2019, Upwork has over 12 million registered freelancers from all corners of the world servicing over 5 million clients.

You may also use the option of limiting the job to only U.S. or only UK candidates.

Hubstaff Talent

This platform is a relatively new actor in the freelancing market; it’s 100% free and does not take any commission from clients or freelancers, which is a significant bonus for users.

However, Hubstaff also does not feature any internal work; it only helps clients and workers get in contact with one another, while communication and collaboration takes place directly.

The benefits of this approach include a vast choice of specialists worldwide, but the major disadvantage is that in most cases, you will be able to hire only a freelancer, while most tech companies still prefer to have in-house coders for easier management and coordination of the development project.

Project-based Outsourcing

This type of collaboration with PHP programmers presupposes outsourcing of a project to a developer or a team outside the company’s main staff.

Such a model is suitable for short projects in which the product/outcome matters much more than a team completing it.

However, the minus that every employer should take into account is the illusion of choice; while you select the outsourcing company, it still has a ready team to work on the project, so you don’t have an opportunity to compile a team according to your preferences and requirements.

Hire Offshore PHP Development Company

This mode of recruitment is more suitable for long-term development projects.

Coders are hired specifically for the client’s project needs and in compliance with specific project requirements with full regard to the candidate’s soft and hard skills.

The only disadvantage of this hiring model is that it requires time to find PHP developers fitting a specific set of requirements.

However, this minus quickly pays off: all clients report it is much easier and more enjoyable to work with custom-recruited teams.

What Skills Offshore PHP Developers Should Have?

PHP engineers with varying levels of expertise may be required for your project, depending on its complexity, deadline, and budget. Therefore, we recommend that you determine the technical skills of a PHP specialist based on their level of expertise: middle, junior, or senior.

• Junior Offshore PHP Developer

Knowledge of PHP, HTTP, REST, MVC, SOLID, and fundamental patterns are the minimum requirements for a junior PHP position. Additionally, your candidate should be able to test and debug written program code while working with PCM frameworks like Laravel. Creating design layouts for web pages, implementing front-end interfaces from design layouts, and understanding fundamental server processes are additional valuable skills.

• Middle Offshore PHP Developer

Mid-level specialists should have at least two years of experience. They ought to be proficient in object-oriented programming, HTML, CSS, JS frameworks, jQuery, databases like MySQL and PostgreSQL, and XML parsing. Writing unit tests, refactoring code, and writing and optimizing technical documentation are critical hard skills.

• Senior Offshore PHP Developer

Senior PHP professionals must have a minimum of six years of experience working with PHP, MySQL, the LAMP stack, Git, MV* patterns, JS frameworks, Symfony, Laravel, WordPress, or Drupal. The candidate’s familiarity with Python and Node.js, AWS, NoSQL, and Docker, will be a significant advantage. Additionally, they must be able to configure extensive PHP resources and possess advanced OOP skills.

Soft skills are roughly the same for each of the three types of PHP specialists: the capacity to collaborate with others, a desire to expand one’s knowledge and abilities, diligence, etc.

How to Hire Offshore PHP Developer: Step-by-Step Instruction

It is process, and the success of its outcome depends on taking a set of concrete steps:

1. Compose the job description (requirements on the experience, technology knowledge, and the number of needed developers)
2. Stipulate the team structure (i.e., the number of programmers, whether a project manager is needed, or the client will manage a team on his/her own)
3. Choose a vendor based on your requirements (such as time zone, country, work terms)
4. Sign the contract and NDA
5. Get acquainted with your recruiter and account manager (these may be two separate persons or one specialist)
6. Explain to the recruiter which developer you are looking for (i.e., soft skills, professional knowledge and experience)
7. Stay in touch with the recruiter and conduct a regular review of PHP coders’ resumes
8. Hold job interviews
9. Hire the candidate
10. Conduct the onboarding meeting to introduce the new team member to the team and get him/her up to speed.

20 Interview Questions for Offshore PHP Programmers

As soon as a number of job candidates are found and the time to interview them and make hiring decisions comes, you’d rather prepare for this seriously.

The job interview is the best opportunity to find out more about each candidate, to assess their true competence, and to understand whether they are the right fit for your development team.

Here is a short list of guiding questions that may help you out:

1. What is PHP?
2. With which programming languages does PHP share commonalities?
3. What do you like PHP for?
4. What limitations of PHP do you know and how do you usually address them?
5. What does PEAR stand for?
6. Which tag is most commonly embedding PHP into HTML?
7. Which types of errors happen in PHP and how do they differ from one another?
8. Is PHP an OOP language?
9. Can maximum execution time be set in the PHP script?
10. How can you export data from PHP into Excel?
11. What is the difference between “get” and “post” commands?
12. How can error reporting be activated in PHP?
13. What do you need to use the image function in PHP?
14. How can you display text with a PHP script?
15. Can you connect to a MySQL database from a PHP script? How is this done?
16. How can you check whether the given variable is empty?
17. Can you remove HTML tags from the data?
18. How do you initiate a PHP session?
19. Can you use the COM component in PHP?
20. Can you destroy a cookie in PHP?

Keep in mind that these are only some initial questions to check the candidate’s general knowledge of PHP and his/her attitude to the programming language.

You can add a series of more specific/more advanced questions depending on the seniority level of the candidate and give them some practical coding problems/tasks to verify their competencies or use a PHP online test.

How Many PHP Developers Are There In The World?

It goes without saying that recruitment is much more convenient in locations with an abundant supply of specialists.

It may be cheaper to hire a PHP coder in a small country or city, but if you are directed at growth and expansion, the choice of proper specialists may be limited some time soon.

According to LinkedIn estimates, the following countries are leaders in the PHP coder supply:

• Ukraine – 9,014 specialists
• USA – 8,796 specialists
• UK – 5,162 specialists
• Germany – 2,544 specialists
• Canada – 2,337 specialists
• Australia – 1,906 specialists

Other countries can boast a much smaller number of available PHP coders (e.g., there are only 819 PHP experts registered on LinkedIn in Israel; 367 experts – in Switzerland, 300 experts – in Sweden, etc.).

So, we recommend taking a closer look at the markets with a more abundant talent supply and to select the host country with a perfect combination of education/expertise and pay rates.

How Much Does Offshore PHP Developer Earns?

We all want to save costs and get a perfect employee for a reasonable pay. But what rate is reasonable for each seniority level? Here is a quick snapshot into the geography of  coder salaries:

You can find updated numbers for 2020 year in our Research on most popular outsourcing countries (+salaries)

Also read: Updated numbers for PHP developers salary in Ukraine.

Poland

The average PHP developer salary in Poland ranges from $15,000 annually for entry-level specialists, while mid-level programmers make approximately $24,000 yearly. Senior-level PHP developers can earn up to $35,000. 

Ukraine

Salary for PHP developer ranges from $11,000 to $26,500 annually based on experience. Entry-level developers usually earn around $11,000 while middle-level PHP specialists can get from $15,000 to $18,000. As for Senior specialists, they earn approximately $26,500 yearly. 

Romania 

In Romania, junior-level PHP specialists make from $9,000 to $13,000. Mid-level specialists get $19,000 on average, while senior level programmers’ salaries can go up to $28,000. 

Germany

PHP developers’ rates in Germany are considerable, with junior PHP coders charging from $52,000 to $56,000 on average, and the middle-level PHP coding rates constituting $64,000-65,000.

Expect to pay more to a senior-level programmer; here, such specialists charge $72,000-$78,000.

UK

If you intend to hire a PHP engineer in the UK, be ready to pay them $20,000-$33,000 per year (price fluctuate considerably depending on the city of the coder’s residence).

Middle-level PHP programmers cost $31,000-$62,000 here (with the highest rates in London), while the senior-level PHP programmers earn $42,000-$55,000 per year on average, with the London rates again standing out significantly ($98,000 per year).

Israel

Israeli PHP programmers charge highly competitive rates, and a junior-level PHP specialist may cost your company around $20,000 per year.

Middle-level PHP expertise is valued at $40,000-44,000 here, while senior-level specialists charge times more, around $58,000-$61,000 per year.

Canada

Canadian PHP coders charge from $22,000 to $35,000 for the work of junior level, while middle-level specialists cost $48,000-$52,000 per year.

You can also find a senior PHP engineer in this country for $66,000 (in Montreal), but in other cities, their rates exceed the $70,000 threshold.

USA

The U.S. rates of PHP programmers also range broadly depending on the geography.

In NYC, a junior-level PHP coder may cost you $40,000 per year, while a programmer in San Francisco may charge $64,000 for the same work.

The same situation is observed with middle-level PHP salaries ($81,000 charged by Chicago coders and $120,000 by San Francisco specialists) and senior-level specialists (here the rates range broadly from $119,000 per year in Seattle to $180,000 per year in San Francisco).

Mexico

If you are a junior-level PHP developer in Mexico, you can earn around $7,000 annually. As for mid-level, such specialists get $10,000 yearly, and senior-level programmers get about $15,000. 

Brazil

The average PHP developer salary in Brazil varies from $7,500 for entry-level specialists. to $17,000 for more experienced PHP specialists.

South Africa

The salary for PHP developer in South Africa ranges from $13,000 to $30,000 based on experience and skills. Junior PHP developers earn around $13,000 per year. Middle-level developers get about $20,000 yearly, while senior level specialists can earn $30,000.

Australia 

Php developer salaries in Australia start from $80,000 to $130,000 based on experience. Entry-level developers can easily earn $80,000 annually and mid-level specialists approximately $100,000 per year of their work. Seniors earn more than $130,000 there.

As you can see, the highest rates are charged by PHP developers in Germany (and many other European countries that this research did not cover), the UK, Australia and in the USA.
When considering these salaries, please bear in mind several factors that affect the PHP development rates:

• Location
• Number of developers in the country (the fewer, the higher they evaluate their work)
• Experience and development skills
• Mode of recruitment (freelancers may charge lower rates, but hourly payment makes it impossible to estimate the project’s budget precisely. So, if you hire a specialist with the help of an IT staffing vendor, you may be totally confident about the pay rate).

Qubit Labs is at your service with competent recruiters, a solid expertise in tech experts’ recruitment, and a ready package of time- and cost-efficient solutions for all kinds of businesses.

Let’s compile your dream development team together, in record time and within your budget!

Contact us today to get detailed consultation on all questions and to start a productive partnership on PHP developer recruitment.

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