Filling any role can be a daunting process, and finding an experienced Laravel developer that aligns with your culture and understands your business goals is the same, if not worse. However, as a Laravel development company that has hired over 100 software engineers in the last year alone, that process has become our daily routine, and we might have learned some valuable lessons on what to pay more attention to, what questions to ask, how to assess the candidate's fit and ultimately hire laravel developers. 

We thought sharing some of our processes and insights might help with upscaling your Laravel development team. So in this article, we'll guide you through the entire recruitment process, from various platforms used in the sourcing to evaluating methods and essential HR and tech interview questions. So let's jump right in!

Setting The Context

Usually, the recruitment process for software developers varies from market to market. The platforms and tools used to find and attract Laravel developers differ significantly based on the region.

For instance, when it comes to hiring a laravel developer, HR specialists generally rely on a range of platforms and tools such as Github, Stackoverflow, Boolean Search, Website Job Posting, Linkedin, and Facebook, as well as email outreach with different email automation tools. These resources can help them identify and recruit software engineers with the necessary skills and expertise in the framework. However, as noted above, the effectiveness of these platforms usually varies depending on the region.

Given the relatively smaller market for Laravel developers in Eastern European countries than Western Europe and America, specific recruitment tools are usually excluded from the hiring process. So in the following sections, we will discuss the two hiring platforms that are the most effective and viable for Eastern European companies like us, namely LinkedIn and Facebook.

Major Platforms Used In The Sourcing Process

Linkedin

When it comes to finding talented software developers, most recruiters turn to LinkedIn as their primary source. This professional networking platform allows them to easily search for people with specific skills, experience, and educational backgrounds. With millions of active users worldwide, LinkedIn provides an extensive pool of potential candidates for recruiters to tap into. LinkedIn Premium package's messaging and networking features make it easy for recruiters to contact developers and establish connections before extending a job offer.

First and foremost, the platform gives hiring managers an opportunity to filter according to the tech stack and location, which helps them paint a clear picture of the target audience.

Using job-specific keywords plays a significant role in the search process. In our case, when we want to find laravel developers, we rely on using targeted keywords like "Laravel" or "Laravel Developers" when conducting our search on LinkedIn. By doing so, the platform can algorithmically identify and parse the profiles of individuals who have listed Laravel as a skill or in their job description and are located in the indicated area.

LinkedIn can also be a useful tool for searching for potential candidates by targeting companies specialising in your organisation's tech stack. That way, you can find developers with relevant experience and skills, making the sourcing process even more efficient.

Facebook Groups

Another platform that has a significant impact on the sourcing process of software engineers is Facebook, especially the stack-specified groups where a large number of developers' community is accumulated. By identifying relevant groups on Facebook, your job postings can effectively reach the appropriate audience. This is a helpful recruitment strategy that works simply and effectively. 

Redberry has joined two major Facebook groups for our market, "Laravel Georgia" and "Laravel + Vue.js Developers. So whenever we need to hire laravel experts, we share our job openings in these groups and often receive a large number of responses from interested engineers. So search around for a relevant Facebook group in your area; you might be surprised by how much engagement you'll get there. 

HR Interview

After recruiters have selected the most suitable candidates that match our company's needs, the next step is to expand the job offer and schedule an interview with the HR managers.

This step usually takes about 30-40 minutes, and it includes two parts: 

1. Introduction
2. Interview Questions

During the first part, recruiters provide candidates with an overview of the company, including its services, mission, goals, and culture. They also talk about the team's structure and the types of projects the company has worked on. This part lasts about 10 minutes.

Once the initial introduction is completed, recruiters delve deeper into the developer's experience and start asking the following questions:

• In which tech stack have they gained the most extensive experience? Which area of development do they prefer, Front-end or Back-end?
• What type of projects do they have experience working on, and what was their level of complexity?
• How do they prefer working: independently or as part of a team?
• How well do they know Scrum/Agile principles for team collaboration?
• Do they have experience in working with Junior developers and doing code reviews?
• Do they have experience leading the team, and what approach do they usually use in the process?
• Which resources or channels do they use to stay up-to-date with new developments in their field?
• How do they want to develop their skills in the future, and what role do they see the company playing in that process?

After receiving all the mentioned information, recruiters carefully analyse it and provide constructive feedback. It's important to note that there are four key factors every candidate must meet in order to progress to the next stage. These factors include the following:

• English language proficiency level
• Experience working on a specific stack
• Salary expectations
• Communication skills

It's also important to note that at Redberry, we use two types of assessment systems: The Essay method and the ranking method. The hiring managers evaluate candidates according to both of these approaches and make a final decision after that.

In case we feel that we are on the same page, we will invite them to the next step: technical interviews, which we will discuss briefly below.

Technical Interviews

Technical interviews play a decisive role in hiring expert laravel developers. They usually last about 90 minutes and involve a tech recruiter and a technical interviewer. At Redberry, we use technical interviews to evaluate candidates' technical knowledge and experience in-depth. At this stage, we present them with various technical challenges and ask them to explain their problem-solving methods.

The technical interview is divided into three parts:

• Candidates introduce themselves to the technical interviewers
• The senior developer asks a pre-defined list of technical questions
• Live coding session

These steps help us evaluate everything about their hard skills, including their technical knowledge, decision-making process, and approach to solving problems. If the developer successfully completes this stage, we can be confident that they will be able to provide high-quality results while working on our projects. 

So if everything looks good, the candidate is invited to the managerial meeting, which is the final call for the whole hiring process.

Managerial Meeting: The Final Step Of Hiring a Laravel Developer

After meeting with the hiring managers and tech interviewers, it's finally time to make a final call. This is where the managerial meetings come into play. It lasts about 60 minutes.

During this stage, the software engineer meets with higher-level managers and the head of engineering. They ask more contextual questions to better understand their fit for the company. The primary goal is to evaluate the developer's overall understanding of computer science principles and how they relate to the work they will be doing.

If we all share a common ground, it means they are a perfect fit for our company. So what else to wait for? We send them an offer right away, and most likely than not, they become integral parts of our team!