PHP is a language that is not as ‘sexy’ as it once was, and is definitely not the wave of the future. However, php is the framework for many popular applications (Facebook, Yahoo, WordPress) and is one of the first languages that many developers learned. Unlike Ruby on Rails, which preaches Convention over Configuration, many developers like the flexibility of writing PHP, but it’s also why many programmers think that even‘good’ php looks messy.
However, the PHP as a server side language isn’t going down easily. Wordpress is positioning itself as the strongest CMS, and is built on PHP. This means that unless something rapidly changes, there is still going to be an extremely large majority of the web written in this language for years to come.
Similar to our other job boards, many have pretty poor filters for truly 100% php remote jobs (without some crafty keyword searching) but we’ve done the majority of the heavy lifting for you 🙂 For these reasons and more, we find the following to be the Top 5 best sites for finding a remote php job.
#7. PHP Classes
Pros
- Large # of PHP opportunities (avg. # on recruiters)
- Well known in the PHP world (because of it’s classes & scripts)
- Mix of Corporate and Startup
- Fulltime + Contractual po
Cons
- Poor UI
- Opportunities list is cluttered: mix of corporate, startup, contract, and international opportunities
- Have to become a member to apply
Overall
We have more experience with other languages and frameworks, so we had to do a bit of digging to find phpclasses. At first glance, it looked very promising, but we could eventually tell that (for whatever reason) there’s not as much time or attention given to the site as there was at some point. The majority of the opportunities are international, and aren’t “premium”, leaving much to be desired for a great developer. Essentially, if you’re looking for a high-end position w/ great pay, stock options, good perks, etc; then this isn’t the site for you.
#6. Indeed.com / SimplyHired.com
Pros
- Extremely Popular Job site (typically top ranking results for job searches)
- OK filter (enter “Remote, Telecommute, OR anywhere ” in location OR Keyword search)
- Decent number of opportunities
- Good Mix of Startup + Corporate
Cons
- Is just an aggregator, you will have to apply on employer’s site
- Not Developer focused
- Lots of ‘noise’ to go through, and filter’s don’t work too well
Overall
Indeed / SimplyHired aggregates from a huge amount of job boards, so it initially seems as if they have the most opportunities. However, since they only aggregate, interested php job seekers will still have to apply on the listing companies site, which is a huge time waste if you’re applying to many opportunities. The search function only returns opportunities that have ‘remote’ in their subject line, but this still returns a decent amount. Overall, Indeed & similar job are average at best for finding remote php jobs, but they have the potential to be a great resource if they add a “remote” search box
#5. Authentic Jobs
Pros
- Built for Remote & Contract type Jobs
- Decent Mix of Startup & Corporate opportunities
- Best Filter among all of the sites we’ve reviewed.
- Good Design
- Good Quality Positions
Cons:
- Very few PHP positions (5)
- No junior or entry level positions, only senior and experienced
Overall
This site has earned a reputation for the quality of its posts, and is well known amongst developers and designers. (i.e Employers can expect a decent # of applicants applying to their jobs) As with stackoverflow, there is a checkbox to tag the post as a telecommuting position, ‘Work can be done from anywhere (i.e. telecommuting)’. The other bonus here is filtering that allows you to separate out full-time jobs, contract, internship, etc. However, with all these great features, there’s still a limited # of php opportunities, but the process is great if interested in that list.
#4. WeWorkRemotely.com (37Signals)
Pros
- Only Remote Opportunities, No need to filter jobs!
- Well known for remote – 37Signals has written extensively on the topic
- Many Startup opportunities
- Simple to navigate – Simple UX / UI
Cons
- Limited opportunities (we counted 8)
- Too Simple for employer profiles: There’s limited space to describe the position.
- Mostly Startup Opportunities: Lacking corporate jobs.
Overall
The posts are of good quality, but for a company that is such a large proponent of remote working, we think they should have more positions & better filter’s, but a 2.0 could be in the works. WeWorkRemotely has a good mix of php + Lamp opportunities, which all seem to have great benefits. Overall, solid site that should be every job seeker’s list.
#3. Linkedin
Pros
- Well known: Almost everyone has a Linkedin professional requirement
- Filter works in Keyword (will also have to try “telecommute”
- Huge # of opportunities
- Mostly Corporate jobs
Cons:
- Not Developer focused (lots of clutter)
- Too many choices, not good enough filters
- Most of the positions are posted by recruiters.
Overall:
We were surprised by the huge # of opportunities, but ultimately disappointed because 1/2’s of them were posted by CyberCoders (a tech consulting firm). However, since Linkedin has become the dominant social network for careers (and most people having a Linkedin Profile) it’s one of the most populous job boards. The best benefit (if you have a filled out profile) is you can apply directly to positions using your linkedin profile, so no resume is needed. Going forward, if Linkedin was to add a “remote’ checkbox as a filter criteria, we might move Linkedin to #1 on our list
#2. FlexJobs
Pros
- Most popular php job board (for all positions)
- Largest # of real php opportunities (very low on recruiters)
- Well known (good marketplace)
- Mix of Corporate and Startup
Cons
- Poor UI
- Have to become a member to apply
- COST (monthly fee to be a member)
Overall
At first, we didn’t think too much of flexjobs because the site looks a bit ‘spammy’ at first glance. However, they have a huge amount of php Opportunities, more than every other job board site yet. The one giant glaring weakness is that they charge job seekers a monthly subscription fee to apply to their positions. This allows them to have cheaper prices for employers to post opportunities, but is also quite annoying when nothing is guaranteed on the job seeker side. Nevertheless, if you’re really looking to get a new remote position, the monthly fee is nominal if you actually do apply to a ton of opportunities and use your payment to it’s full potential.:)
#1. Stack Overflow Careers
Pros:
- Number of truly remote posts (approx.): Highest (62 total) (49 PHP)
- Quality of Employers: There’s some really solid employers posting great opportunities.
- Quality of Applicants: Through our experience hiring, we consistently found awesome applicants through Stack Overflow
- Application Management: Strictly for employers, but Stack Overflow has created a very simple way to manage applicants. Making it more likely that employers will stick with it.
Cons:
- Price: $495 a post for employers, which limits the pool size.
- Awareness: We think they could draw more attention to it for developers
Overall
We’ve posted to many different job boards to help clients fill technical positions, but have always gotten the best php applicants and the highest volume through Stack Overflow. On the job seeker side, we found the highest number of opportunities, and it was a great mix of startup and corporate positions.
Stack Overflow has positioned itself so well by creating two simple check boxes: one for employers, one for job seekers. In the job posting form (for employers) the following statement is below the ‘Telecommute’ checkbox–‘Check this only if you are considering candidates who will work entirely remotely’. Job seekers have the option to select ‘Allows remote’ in their locations
Summary
Similar to our Ruby Board, Stack Overflow won because of it’s superior interfacet, volume & quality of opportunities, and the popularity / trust of the site. There isn’t that much buzz for PHP these days, and most of the php sites we reviewed had a design similar to what was commonplace for the internet in the mid 2000’s. We’re not sure if these site owners just don’t want to reinvest in their sites because they know the language is losing popularity, or just plain laziness.
Further, we found creating this list harder than some of the other languages and frameworks for a variety of reasons, namely our lack of experience recruiting PHP engineers. Over the past few years, we routinely work with developers that “know some php” & either used it when they were first starting out, or worked with it since it was the legacy code they inherited in an old position. We haven’t met any developers that have ‘toyed around with PHP’ or are interested in learning the foundations of it, and we don’t get asked to develop applications in it. For these reasons, we expect more disagreement in the comments than for our other job boards, but welcome all help in creating the perfect list!
