When you understand that you're not just looking for a Laravel developer to fill a seat in your office but for an individual to join the team and help drive the business forward, you'll realize how important it is to prepare for the interview carefully. The technical skills of a Laravel developer are important, but so are the soft skills and personality of the individual. That's why having the right Laravel developer interview questions ensures you hire the right person.
At Revelo, we understand the importance of asking the right questions. That's why we provide you with the tools to source the right talent, schedule interviews efficiently, and even help coach you through the questions to ask to create a smooth and successful interview experience.
This article will cover the key topics to consider when developing your Laravel interview questions and answers, including technical skills, soft skills, and personality, so you can be sure to find the perfect fit for your team.
What Is a Laravel Developer?
A Laravel developer is a professional specializing in the Laravel PHP framework to build and maintain web applications. The framework, known for its elegant syntax, is a popular tool for developing robust Laravel applications following the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern. Laravel developers leverage this framework's features to handle routine tasks such as routing, sessions, caching, and authentication, allowing them to focus on creating the custom functionalities required by the project.
The types of projects a Laravel developer may work on are diverse, ranging from simple web apps to complex eCommerce platforms, content management systems, or APIs. Therefore, if your project involves creating a web application using PHP (particularly if scalability, security, and efficiency are top priorities), hiring a Laravel developer is the right decision.
Entry-Level Laravel Developer Interview Questions
With entry-level positions, you're most likely dealing with a recent graduate or someone else just starting their career in Laravel development. As such, rather than focusing on their technical proficiency, you should pay more attention to their core competencies and attitude toward software development.
Here are some entry-level developer interview questions you might want to consider.
What inspired you to pursue a career in Laravel?
This question helps gauge a candidate's motivation and enthusiasm for Laravel development. It can also assess the degree of research they did before applying for the position, including their understanding of the technology itself. A good answer should demonstrate knowledge, enthusiasm, and commitment to the framework. For instance, interviewees might mention specific projects or challenges that sparked their interest in Laravel.
What are the advantages of using Laravel to build complex web applications?
How the candidate answers this question will give you an understanding of how well they know the framework and how they would use it in a real-world scenario. Therefore, the answer should focus on the features and benefits of Laravel, such as its extensive libraries and packages, security features, scalability capabilities, and elegant syntax.
How do you check the installed Laravel version of a project?
This straightforward question tests the candidate's ability to use the command line. The correct answer is to run the command line: php artisan --version or php artisan -v
What is the MVC architecture pattern in Laravel? Briefly describe each component.
This fundamental question assesses a candidate's understanding of the Laravel framework. MVC stands for Model-View-Controller, an architectural pattern used in software development to separate the logic of a web application from its user interface. Laravel supports this pattern and has three components: the model, which handles data; the view, which is responsible for presentation; and the controller, which handles user interaction.
Can you use Laravel for full-stack web development?
This question will test the candidate's understanding of how the framework works and what projects they can complete with it. The answer should explain that Laravel has various features and functionalities that allow developers to build full-stack web applications, such as authentication, caching, routing, and sessions.
Mid-Level Laravel Developer Interview Questions
A mid-level developer position typically requires a deeper technical knowledge of both the Laravel framework and software development as a whole. Therefore, you should assess their understanding of the framework's advanced features, problem-solving skills, and ability to write efficient, maintainable code. The interview should also explore their experience with team collaboration and project management, as well as their capacity to take on leadership roles within the team if needed.
Below are mid-level Laravel developer interview questions to ask candidates.
What is Eloquent ORM in Laravel, and why is it useful?
This question can help you assess the candidate's ability to work with databases, a crucial skill for any mid-level web developer. The answer should explain that Eloquent ORM (Object Relational Mapping) is an object-oriented library used in Laravel for working with databases. It provides an ActiveRecord implementation, simplifying the task of writing database queries and making it easier to work with different databases.
How does Laravel handle database migrations? Can you walk me through the process?
This is another key question for understanding the candidate's database knowledge. The candidate should explain that database migrations enable developers to version control databases. This allows them to keep track of their changes and roll back to previous versions if needed.
Laravel is a free, comprehensive, open-source PHP library to help developers handle migrations safely and efficiently.
How do you structure your Laravel projects for scalability and maintainability?
Large-scale projects require developers to have efficient project organization and the ability to optimize plain PHP code for increased scalability. An ideal answer should therefore include references to features provided by Laravel, such as controllers, models, and repositories that will help to structure the project and techniques like caching for improved performance.
How do you define environment variables in Laravel, and how can you use them to secure credentials?
This question tests the candidate's understanding of security best practices based on events in Laravel. The answer should explain that environment variables efficiently separate credentials such as passwords and API keys from code. Laravel also allows programmers to store these variables in the .env file, which can be easily accessed anywhere in the application. This allows developers to store confidential information securely without worrying about exposure.
How does Laravel's middleware work?
If you're looking for someone to help with more complex projects, such as API integrations, you should ask this question to test the candidate's ability to work with Laravel's middleware. An ideal answer should explain that middleware in Laravel provides a layer of protection between the application and requests, allowing developers to set security rules and control access based on certain parameters.
Senior-Level Laravel Developer Interview Questions
The interview for a senior-level position should focus more on their ability to lead a team, design custom solutions, handle complex challenges, and collaborate with other developers. You should also pay attention to their industry experience and confidence level when discussing the possibility of dealing with complex problems.
Here are some senior-level Laravel developer interview questions you can ask.
What is your experience with Laravel's service container and service providers?
This question will help you assess the candidate's ability to work with Laravel's ecosystem and services. A good answer should explain that a service container is a powerful tool that allows developers to build, maintain, and extend applications. Service Providers are classes used to bootstrap services such as databases and cache drivers into the container, and developers can use them to configure Laravel's features.
How do you ensure secure authentication and authorization in your projects?
Authentication and authorization are paramount in any web application, and this question tests the candidate's ability to handle such security measures. The candidate should reference features such as API tokens, two-factor authentication, and encryption techniques. These are essential for handling user sessions and creating secure applications.
How have you used Laravel's queue system to handle long-running tasks or heavy computations?
Queues are a great tool for managing and scheduling heavy tasks, and you can use this question to determine if the candidate is well-versed in the Laravel framework's capabilities. An ideal answer should explain that queues help developers defer and postpone time-consuming tasks, allowing them to focus on other aspects of the application.
In what ways have you optimized your projects for scalability?
This is an important question for senior positions, as scalability is one of the key challenges faced during software development. The candidate should reference techniques such as caching to speed up performance, using databases efficiently, and refactoring code.
How has your expertise in the Laravel framework helped you improve the performance of your projects?
This question assesses the senior developer's expertise in optimizing code, debugging applications, and using best practices. The candidate should reference techniques such as optimizing database queries, code refactoring, and using caching.
Hire Laravel Developers With Revelo
Sourcing, vetting, and hiring top talent is a challenging task that requires efficient workflow management. At Revelo, we make it easy to manage the entire process, from sourcing candidates and scheduling interviews to onboarding developers. We provide a highly qualified pool of pre-screened Laravel developers who are time-zone-aligned and rigorously vetted for technical skills, soft skills, and English proficiency. Moreover, we help manage payroll, benefits administration, taxes, and local compliance adherence so you can focus on growing your business.
Ready to get started? Contact Revelo today.
