A Complete Guide to Interviewing a Remote WordPress Developer for Your Project

Most recruiters look through a stack of applications, making subconscious selections and conclusions to eliminate people from consideration. Much of this process is driven by unconscious biases, which makes identifying the final batch faster. That way, this fairly painstaking process is sped up, but the outcomes are mixed.

Some candidates are masters of self-promotion. Some are utterly horrible at it. This says nothing about their technical ability. Often, selecting the perfect candidates means picking the best marketers, leaving a slew of potentially talented developers behind, and uplifting potential debacles.

If you're seeking to hire a remote WordPress developer, consider yourself lucky. As WordPress is the most used content management system globally, many WordPress developers are on the market. However, not all of them are fantastic, and it can still be challenging to identify the ones who are a match for your organization. This is particularly the case when looking for technical roles, like software engineers, computer systems analysts, web developers, data scientists, etc.

So, how do you choose a remote WordPress developer who can not only create the right website for you but is also a good fit for you and your business?

Whether you’re making your first hire or your hundredth, check out these suggestions for finding the best person for the job.

Skills to Seek in a Web Developer

Advanced HTML and CSS abilities and a thorough understanding of programming languages like JavaScript, Ruby, and PHP are required for most front-end web development positions. In addition to these requirements, your company may have specified JavaScript libraries or frameworks (groups of pre-written JavaScript code) that expect candidates to be familiar with. Most front-end web developer jobs do not require back-end developer expertise unless explicitly stated, so an absence of these skills should not prevent candidates from landing front-end web developer jobs.

When preparing for your virtual interview, don't forget about soft skills. Because web developers are always part of a team that includes designers, product managers, and back-end developers, you should emphasize that you're looking for good time management and social skills.

These are some of the top skills tests for measuring the abilities of a WordPress developer:

• CSS - the CSS developer test assesses applicants' understanding and skills in CSS concepts and techniques.
• WordPress developer - evaluates candidates' comprehension of WP framework and coding skills.
• PHP (programming): algorithms of moderate difficulty - this PHP test measures candidates' coding ability with a straightforward coding task.
• SQL (coding): querying at the intermediate level - SQL coding test assesses applicants' ability to create a query on a moderately complex database.
• PHP (programming): basic algorithms - a PHP test that evaluates a candidate's ability to program a simple algorithm and fundamental programming skills.
• PHP (programming): object-oriented scripting - PHP coding examination that checks candidate's knowledge of object-oriented coding and their potential to use PHP-specific techniques.
• Critical thinking - critical reasoning test that assesses candidates' capacity to handle issues using the ability to think critically.

Look for Remote Experience

When you're interviewing someone for a remote position, it's helpful to know about their previous remote work experience. You'll need to figure out whether or not a candidate will agree with your remote working policies.

One disadvantage of remote working is that you can't observe whether your developers are having difficulties. When working in the office, you can hear comments, see people's faces, and read their body language. Asking how they have dealt with challenges in the past will tell you a lot about your possible telecommuter (see the question section). This is particularly essential for remote workers. You don't want an employee falling behind because they're under pressure or didn't get all the necessary information to perform the task.

Ask The Right Questions

Aside from looking through their portfolios, ask questions to establish your prospects' degree of WordPress competence. This is a first assessment step, followed by previously mentioned tests. But, if you're unfamiliar with WordPress programming, you might not know what information to look for or what the correct responses are.

Make sure you complete your homework so you can effectively connect with the WordPress web developer you're meeting. Or, ask if someone else on your team is more knowledgeable with WordPress. If so, they can assist you in creating an excellent set of questions and answers to use as a starting point.

When it comes to questions, you should evaluate both soft and hard skills. Here's a few examples of the things you should ask your candidates:

Soft skills questions

1. Tell me about a situation when a client scolded you harshly. How did you deal with it?
2. What phases do you follow in the design process, and to what extent do you engage your clientele in that process?
3. How do you incorporate that new information into your designs when you get your client's suggestions?
4. Do you have any experience in conducting presentations?
5. Imagine I'm a complete newbie when it comes to technology. Could you please describe what _____ is in simple language?
6. Do you have a system for prioritizing your work?
7. How would you react if your colleague seemed to be irritated by your actions? How do you handle disagreements within your team?
8. When you find yourself in a bind, what do you do?
9. Do you have the confidence to work on your own without relying on others to provide major input?
10. Tell me about a time when you had to balance multiple tasks at once. How did you deal with it?

Hard skills questions

1. What are the essential plugins for constructing a WordPress website?
2. How to run a database query in WordPress?
3. How do you rate your SQL skills?
4. What are importers in WordPress?
5. How many different kinds of hooks are in WordPress? Elaborate.
6. What are the template tags in WordPress?
7. Which function is used to obtain the website URL in WordPress?
8. How many H1 tags would you put on a single page, and why?
9. What is the number of WordPress default tables? Identify them.
10. Can you detect the mistake in this code? (include at least five practical assignments)

Debrief and Evaluate the Applicants

Examine the hiring objectives for the position with multiple members of the interview team, thoroughly considering all critical competencies and job criteria. Arrange a discussion with main hiring stakeholders straight after the interviews to let everyone involved in the recruitment process express their thoughts and help counter any individual bias. Then, with clear reasons for their decision, ask team members if they are for or against advancing the applicant in the hiring process.

Offer a Competitive Salary to Get the Finest Candidate

This topic must be discussed during an interview, and you need to be very careful while doing it. Applicants will demand compensation based on their lifestyle and previous work experience. Therefore, accepting a lower salary is almost always out of the question for clients.

However, jobseekers often seek more than just a competitive wage; they also need job satisfaction and professional elevation. Paid vacations, flexible scheduling, and upbeat, pleasant workplaces can all be competitive advantages. If you can't pay your top choices what they want, expect to be rejected; a low wage can rapidly turn a previously interested prospect off.

General Remote Interview Tips

• Before the interview: study the candidate's biography, the recruiting criteria, and the topics you intend to cover during the session. Invite all interviewers to join the video conference early to show that you are prepared for the applicant and value their time.
• When planning the interview, keep the interviewee's location and time zone in mind.
• Examine the candidate's ability to conduct online meetings using video conferencing solutions and equipment.
• If you're conducting the meeting somewhere other than the workplace, make sure it's clean and peaceful.
• Before you initiate a virtual interview, double-check your network, conferencing or webinar software, and hardware.
• Active listening can help you connect with the applicant more effectively. This is particularly important because you won't be able to analyze nonverbal signals since you won't be meeting in person.
• While the candidate may be presented on display, make sure to sometimes glance into the webcam to simulate eye contact.
• It's usual for a few things to get lost in translation via a video call/phone conversation, as opposed to an interview performed in a physical location. The best approach to deal with this is to just go with it, and you'll circle back if you've missed something important.
• Allow a brief pause after the candidate completes their comment to compensate for any lag time caused by poor internet speeds. That way, you're sure not to interrupt if they still have something to say.

Conclusion

When interviewing WordPress developers, look for candidates with advanced programming skills, a firm grasp of website appearance, and a thorough understanding of the latest industry trends. It's also recommended to avoid applicants with weak communication skills and no project management history.

To get a feel of someone's technical talents, conversational skills, and soft skills, use an extensive set of steps in the recruitment process, from one-way videos to skills evaluations. A systematic strategy to selecting a WordPress developer is perfect for determining whether they're a suitable fit for the team before making a decision, preventing you from hiring regrets down the road.