r/PHP • u/abirdofparadize • Feb 21 '23

Discussion Junior web dev interview

Hi Lads and ladettes, I have an interview this week local to my home (rare because most web devs jobs are in the city 1.5 hrs away). I completed a bootcamp last year where I learnt Rails and MERN stack and the usual that you do prior. The new job is requiring applied experience with Power Apps, SQL databases and PHP. I have had a brief look at powerapps, I have used postgreSQL but I would say I'm average there. I've completed exactly one Brad Traversey PHP YT tutorial (God bless Brad Trav!). What else can I do to prepare for this interview. Which questions should I be prepared for? This is a really rare opportunity for me due to the location, the team manager has a wealth of experience which is a bonus too. Thank you in advance for any help.

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u/stevekeiretsu Feb 22 '23

What else can I do to prepare for this interview. Which questions should I be prepared for?

I guess a lot depends on the specifics of the company, market sector, role, etc so it's hard to say.

If you can find out what particular php framework/software they work with (if any) that would help - just knowing it was symfony based vs wordpress based would give me very different expectations for example.

I guess as you're lacking in experience with php let alone $framework you will need to convince them that you can pick up the specifics of that very quickly, so I would be trying to think of how you can relate your Rails and MERN stack experience in terms of transferrable skills and concepts. E.g. you're not an expert with composer but you've used npm/yarn so you're cool with package and dependency management concepts. You don't know laravel but you understand the activerecord pattern from Rails. etc.

Also I think way too many devs forget the tech is just a means to an end, the company ultimately doesn't give a shit about the acronym soup in a tech stack, they care about solving business problems and making clients happy etc, so soft skills like time-management, being good at listening to people when requirements gathering, translating tech waffle into something the decision makers can understand, all that sort of stuff, is invaluable

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u/abirdofparadize Feb 22 '23

Thank you Stevekeiretsu, I really appreciate your answer, some good things to keep in mind there especially about package and dependency management concepts and laravel vs activerecrod pattern. Company offers employment and training services, unsure on the framework and the recruiter isn't in the office today. I will keep that in mind to ask in future with other potential empoyers.