I have an interview for a PHP development role tomorrow and was wondering what I should expect in the technical test. Any advice would be appreciated, it is a Junior role but it still requires strong OOP knowledge and knowledge of Test Driven development. What kind of things might they throw at me. 
âWhat does the function echo do?â
Are you serious?
I was just kidding, for real I am not sure because I havenât been in this position before.
EDIT: They might ask you this question. Just to brush up could you help me out?
fully expect some level of testing. An idoit can say âI know php or .Net and so onâ. I just relocated recently and the job I got, I had to take multiple test. The first one was more to filter out the newbies and rookies. (It was an in depth sql writing test)
Since it was a .NET position, then came the .NET questions (Datasets, grids and so forth)
But honestly, if you know what your doing, donât sweat it. If your new to php programming or programming in general, you might want to back out or cram like hell. The worst thing you can do is get caught in a lie about your skills to an employer.
Cedric
Thanks cis 0 Iâve been working with PHP for 3 years so Iâm no rookie, it is my first interview though so I am a touch nervy, the fear of the unknown et al. Basically I was just fishing for some potential questions or anyone who has experienced this and might know something about the potential format the questions could come in, etc.
I give a 25 question test to php applicants that covers basic php to advanced php using sockets and OOP. Some of the questions tests someones knowledge of the php community which is of vital importance for finding answers to questions. There isnât much cramming you can do the night before, you either know it or you donât at this point.
look out the different between mysqlconnection nad mysqlpersistence connection this may be a question
I think Iâd do badly on the sockets question. (See my cURL thread )
Other than that there arenât too many areas Iâm weak on so I SHOULD be ok.
I wasnât calling YOU a newbie/rookie, I was speaking about that there are alot of people faking the game with skills they donât have. Thats why I said you most likely should expect a test.
Here are two of the common questions for programming job interviews :
- Theyâll show you a code and ask you to either tell what it does or whatâs wrong with it without even testing it.
- Theyâll show you a function\class ans ask you to optimize it.
I never been to any , but thatâs what a plenty of programmers said.
Thanks, mPeror. I actually had the feeling theyâd throw in something along those lines.
I notice a lot of new media, web design companies now put in tests to see how good your php, javascript, .net, xml, and even some go as far as saying âthis client wants a website, here his is logo, off you goâ.
At one time I got annoyed by this process because some of the âsitesâ I built for a test lead to building the clients website for real from the test (which I built during the test) â but the site would be totally different because at least youâd get a chance to talk to the client â Iâve even come close to the point saying in interviews âSure I can do this, but it will cost you ÂŁxâ.
I never did though. Probably didnât have the balls to say I donât do work on spec⌠I mean would you go to a companyâs test and say sure Iâll do your exam, but youâre going to have to pay me for my time?
Sounds silly, just shows you how annoyed I got at the whole interview process and just started to work for myself instead.
But Iâm sure youâll get the jobâŚ
Good luck in your interview anyway.
1.what is the differences bet echo and print?
2.Types of mysql connection?
3.Handling regular expression?
4.Date format?
5.Mail function?
6.xml handling?
7.oops(what is class,polyphormism,inheritance,constructor,object)
8.Date formatâŚ
and rest the person and god knowsâŚ
Best of Luck
Expect questions ripped verbatim out of the Zend certification book. Theyâre pretty easy, but there are a few that might throw you if youâre not familiar with some of the various bugs / features / whyinthehelldidtheydothats in PHP.
If you are based in the UK tell them you are over 50. Then it wonât matter what you know⌠you wonât have a chance. (actually, you wonât even get an interview)
Seriously though, it would be impossible to know everything about PHP (or anything else for that matter) even after 3 years. Unless the employer is looking for an Einstein to work for peanuts I would expect the important thing to be basic knowledge, and the will and aptitude to learn. Personally as an employer, I would be wary of someone who âknows it allâ⌠there needs to be some scope for personal development. Then it is âWin Winâ for both parties.
Good Luck!
Re above, Joking aside; 46 years old, 18+ years IT experience within UK, Could not find perm position always told, OVER QUALIFIED, very ageist. Wnt self employed contracting/own software company never looked back.
Dont be afraid of technical tests. If you dont know the answer, say so but explain how you would go about finding the solution. Its not always about the âanswerâ but how you go about solving a problem! good luck
Based on my experience,Ive been ask about sql statements,difference of cookies and sessions,include and require and other stuff similar to that.
Review you PHP notes and just relax and stay focus.
Good luck
Thanks guys, some useful advice there!
Be ready to answer questions about other technology. In every interview I have been on they always go to Java or .NET and in many cases Perl. You may not know these but giving a good impression at this part of the interview will get you points.
Be flexible but not confused. When the part about " do you have any questions for us" comes around ask them about their projects and people" be nosey as you can.
A good trick to set things in their memory is to ask where the toilet facilities are or ask if you can walk through the work areas. See if you can get people to smile at you and eye scan familiar books and software.