In the fast-paced world of web development, finding the right talent is akin to discovering a hidden gem. When building robust and efficient web applications, having a skilled Laravel developer on your team can make all the difference. Laravel, a renowned PHP framework, has gained immense popularity for its elegance and efficiency in simplifying complex web development tasks.

This blog will provide the secrets of expert Laravel developers, explore the key traits and skills to look for, common pitfalls to avoid, and the invaluable benefits they bring to your company.

As one of the world’s top best MVC-based PHP frameworks, Laravel is utilized by 1,723,068 live and historical websites, according to BuiltWith. Over 33.7 million live websites use PHP, and Laravel powers 743,470.

At Infigic, we believe in turning possibilities into realities. Whether you’re a startup with a groundbreaking idea or an established business seeking to revamp your web presence, our Laravel development services are tailored to meet your unique needs and exceed your expectations. Hire a Laravel developer from Infigic for complete Laravel services. 

What is Laravel?

Laravel is a PHP web framework that is open-source and was created and maintained by Taylor Otwell. It was designed as a more advanced alternative to the CodeIgniter framework, drawing heavily on architectural patterns from Symfony.

Laravel, a popular PHP framework, enjoys widespread adoption, with approximately 44,323 companies incorporating Laravel into their web development projects. The financial success of Laravel is estimated to generate an impressive annual revenue of approximately $5.7 million, a testament to its popularity and utility in web development.

Laravel serves as a robust PHP web application framework for the development of web applications and APIs. It offers a comprehensive set of tools and features that greatly simplify and expedite the process of building scalable and dependable web applications. Notably, the framework’s user base skews toward a male majority, with 74.68% of Laravel’s website visitors being men.

The framework saw a significant surge in popularity following the release of version 3. This release introduced several noteworthy features, including Artisan, a command-line interface, support for database systems and migrations, and the introduction of a packaging system referred to as bundles.

When it comes to the choice of operating system, Laravel coders show a preference for macOS, with 38.86% favoring it over Windows.

What are the benefits of hiring a Laravel developer?

• Expertise in Laravel Framework: Laravel is a popular PHP framework known for its elegance and robust features. Hiring a Laravel developer ensures that you have someone with expertise in this framework, which can significantly speed up the development process.
• Faster Development: Laravel provides tools and conventions that simplify everyday web development tasks. A Laravel developer can leverage these features to build web applications, saving time and resources quickly.
• Scalability: Laravel is well-suited for both small-scale and large-scale projects. A skilled Laravel developer can design and build scalable applications that can grow with your business needs.
• Security Features: Laravel comes with built-in security features to protect against common web vulnerabilities. Hiring a Laravel developer ensures that your applications are developed with security in mind.
• Community Support: Laravel has a large and active community of developers, which means plenty of resources, packages, and libraries are available. A Laravel developer can tap into this community for solutions to common problems and best practices.

When hiring Laravel developers for your project, there are several crucial factors to consider:

• Define Your Goals: Start by clearly defining your project goals and needs. This will guide your hiring process and help you find developers aligned with your project’s objectives.
• Relevant Past Experience: Look at candidates’ past work experience and portfolios to gauge their skills and professionalism. Reviews from previous employers can provide valuable insights into their expertise across different niches and industries. A significant portion of Laravel users, comprising 27.71%, fall into the category of intermediate-level programmers, boasting 2 to 5 years of experience in their roles.
• Cost Estimation: Create a budget that ensures quality while minimizing expenses. Break down the project scope to estimate resource costs accurately, and hire Laravel developers who fit within your budget to prevent unexpected expenses.
• Technical Knowledge: Assess candidates’ technical skills by testing their ability to write clean, scalable code in Laravel and their proficiency in PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and databases. Evaluate their familiarity with project management frameworks and key concepts like APIs, OOP, and MVC.
• One-on-One Interviews: Conduct personal interviews to bridge the gap between the candidate and your team. Assess their technical skills, communication, confidence, and overall fit for your project.
• Flexibility and Customer-Centric Approach: Ensure that the Laravel developer is adaptable to changing business requirements and customer needs. They should keep the application updated with the latest technology trends.
• Problem-Solving Abilities: Evaluate candidates’ problem-solving skills and their ability to use programming languages, frameworks, and libraries to build effective solutions. Laravel developers should excel at analyzing data and translating it into technical specifications.

Why Choose Laravel? Here are Some Compelling Reasons:

• MVC Architecture: Laravel adopts the user-friendly MVC (Model-View-Controller) architectural pattern, making it efficient for PHP developers to build applications of any size. It simplifies code organization, enhancing maintainability, and granting developers complete control over the development process.
• Authentication and Authorization: Laravel excels in security with a robust Authentication and Authorization system, ensuring your applications remain protected.
• Template Engines: Template engines are indispensable for managing textual data in web applications. Laravel’s template engine streamlines this process, simplifying the connection between data models and source templates.
• Artisan Console: Laravel’s Artisan console is a powerful command-line interface that simplifies various tasks, from publishing packages to managing database migrations and generating boilerplate code. It’s a real time-saver for PHP developers.
• Eloquent ORM: Laravel offers the Eloquent ORM, facilitating Object-relational mapping for developers, making database interactions more straightforward and efficient.

Laravel Developer Skills

Technical skills

Technical skills are a fundamental aspect of evaluating a Laravel developer’s capabilities.

• Proficiency in Fundamental Web Technologies: Laravel developers should have a strong grasp of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create and deploy web applications effectively. HTML structures web content, CSS styles it, and JavaScript adds dynamic functionality.
• Understanding of PHP: PHP, a versatile programming language, is crucial for Laravel developers as Laravel itself is a PHP framework. Integrating PHP with HTML simplifies adding functionality to web pages.
• MVC and OOP Expertise: Knowledge of Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture and Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) principles is essential for building applications with Laravel, which is based on MVC and relies on classes, traits, and methods.
• Database Management Skills: Laravel programmers should excel in managing database systems to efficiently manipulate data and organize the database structure. Proficiency in database systems like MySQL, Oracle 12c, and Microsoft SQL is vital.
• Familiarity with Project Management Frameworks: Familiarity with project management frameworks such as Agile and Waterfall is crucial for seamless collaboration with team members and ensuring successful project development.
• Stay Updated with Framework: Staying informed about the latest updates and features in the Laravel framework is necessary to leverage its advancements effectively and maintain best practices in development.
• Cloud Computing and API Knowledge: Laravel developers should understand cloud computing technologies like AWS and Microsoft Azure, possess server administration skills (e.g., Nginx, Apache), and be experienced in handling APIs, including RESTful, SOAP, MVC, and OOP concepts.

Soft Skills

Laravel developers should possess essential soft skills, including effective communication skills for conveying technical details to non-technical stakeholders.

• Communication Skills: Ensuring that an outstanding Laravel developer possesses practical communication skills to collaborate effectively within a team is crucial. Explaining complex technical concepts to non-technical team members or stakeholders can be challenging, so developers must be capable of articulating their ideas clearly.
• Team Player: A single individual cannot manage complex projects. Therefore, when bringing in new developers, assessing their ability to work harmoniously as part of a team is essential. According to CBInsights, approximately 7% of startups fail due to inadequate team communication, underscoring the significance of this skill.
• Problem-Solving and Creative Thinking: Web development requires substantial creative thinking to make a website stand out. Developers should be able to think innovatively and tackle challenges while working on website projects, often requiring them to think outside the box.

How to hire a Laravel developer

• Clarify Project Requirements: Begin by clearly defining your project’s requirements to attract the right Laravel developers who specialize in cross-functional web applications and websites.
• Review Resumes: After collecting resumes, carefully assess each candidate’s skills and relevant experience to shortlist the most suitable candidates for further consideration.
• Establish a Robust Recruitment Process: Recognize that hiring Laravel developers in the competitive IT market requires a comprehensive recruitment strategy. Utilize platforms like LinkedIn and job boards to actively search for potential candidates and offer enticing benefits to attract top talent.
• Select Developer Type: Depending on your project’s scale and requirements, decide whether to hire an in-house developer, a freelancer, or a dedicated remote programmer.

In-house developers offer direct communication but can be costlier, freelancers are affordable for smaller projects, and dedicated remote developers provide a balance of cost-efficiency and continuous support.

• Interview Candidates: Conduct one-on-one interviews to gauge candidates’ potential and consider implementing skill tests to assess their capabilities effectively.

Common mistakes to avoid when hiring a Laravel developer

• Not Clearly Defining Project Requirements: One of the biggest things that could be improved is understanding your project’s requirements clearly. Before hiring, define your project scope, objectives, and technical needs to ensure you find a developer with the right skill set.
• Overlooking Laravel Expertise: Refrain from assuming that any PHP developer can work with Laravel. Ensure your candidate has specific experience and expertise with the Laravel framework, as it has unique features and conventions.
• Neglecting Soft Skills: Technical skills are essential, but soft skills matter, too. Be aware of qualities like communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability. Laravel developers need to work effectively within a team and communicate their ideas.
• Failing to Check Portfolios and References: Refraining from reviewing a candidate’s portfolio and contacting their references can be a mistake. Portfolios showcase their past work, and references provide insights into their reliability and professionalism.
• Not Testing Practical Skills: Avoid skipping practical tests or coding challenges. These assessments can reveal a candidate’s problem-solving abilities, coding practices, and ability to work under pressure.
• Ignoring Soft Skills: Remember to consider the importance of soft skills. Effective communication, teamwork, and adaptability are vital for collaborative projects. Assess these qualities during interviews and team discussions.

Laravel interview questions

Q-1. What is Laravel, and list down the new features in Laravel 8?

Answer- This is the most basic yet the most important question to ask a Laravel programmer. This question will give the candidate a head start and will allow them to approach the rest of the interview with a good frame of mind. This is how a good Laravel programmer should answer

Laravel is one of the PHP web frameworks that use the Model View Controller architectural pattern to create online applications. It provides an expressive and beautiful syntax that allows Laravel developers to rapidly and easily design a robust online application.

Laravel 8 features include:

• Jetstream: Provides scaffolding for login, registration, email verification, 2FA, and session management.
• Model Directory: Simplifies model setup by restoring the app/Models directory.
• Migration Squashing: Allows combining multiple migrations into a single SQL file.
• Rate Limitations: Offers improved API rate limiting options.
• Job Batching: Enables bundling tasks for simultaneous execution.
• Maintenance Mode: Introduces an enhanced mode for system upgrades.

Q-2. Explain what is Route and how will you use it?

Answer- Routes in Laravel, located in the /routes directory, generate user-friendly and SEO-compliant URLs. Available Route methods include:

• get
• post
• put
• delete
• patch
• option

Q-3. Is it feasible to use Laravel for full-stack development?

Answer- Full-stack development involves creating both the client-side and server-side of a web application, encompassing front-end and back-end development, database integration, and debugging.

Laravel, a server-side PHP framework, is a popular choice for building scalable full-stack web apps. Developers often combine Vue.js and Laravel for comprehensive back-end and front-end development.

Q-4. List the databases that are supported by Laravel.

Answer- In Laravel applications, like modern ones, seamless database communication is vital. The framework facilitates data storage, analysis, and manipulation by providing support for multiple database systems such as MySQL, Postgres, SQLite, and SQL Server.

Q-5. What are your salary expectations?

Answer-  The average Laravel Developer salary in the United States is $83,924 as of September 25, 2023, but the salary range typically falls between $76,573 and $93,010.

Parting Thoughts

We’ve delved into the essential considerations that can help you find and manage the right talent for your web development initiatives. Laravel, with its powerful capabilities and thriving community, can empower your projects to reach new heights, but success often hinges on the individuals who wield its tools.

Explore various job boards, LinkedIn, developer-specific forums, and social media platforms to discover expert Laravel developers. Remember to leverage Laravel community events and meetups to network with potential candidates.

In the ever-evolving web development landscape, the right Laravel developer can be your guiding star, helping your projects shine. Armed with the knowledge from this guide, you’re well-equipped to navigate the hiring process, identify top-notch talent, and elevate your web development endeavors to new horizons. So, infigic’s hiring helps you to use the power of Laravel to make your digital dreams a reality! Contact us for laravel developers.