Are you on the hunt for top-notch Drupal developers who can take your web project to new heights? Look no further!
Our comprehensive guide will navigate you through the process of hiring the best Drupal developers who align perfectly with your specific needs. Whether you're looking for the best Drupal development agency, a leading Drupal development company, or are interested in exploring Drupal development best practices, we have got you covered.
Discover how to identify and collaborate with Drupal experts who utilize the best IDE for Drupal 8 development and stay ahead of the curve. Start your journey with us today, and find the perfect Drupal programmers and consultants to bring your web vision to life.
What makes Drupal stand out?
Many developers make a clear distinction between Drupal and other major content management systems. This is because Drupal gives much more freedom of development, allowing Drupal developers to create a content management platform and website tailored exactly to your unique needs. Due to this, Drupal is often referred to not as a CMS but a CMF — content management framework, helping in building CMS experiences matched perfectly to a business.
What are some features of Drupal that make it stand out on the market?
- It’s one of the best options for building more scalable websites. Drupal, unlike WordPress or Joomla, other popular CMS solutions, is used primarily by high traffic sites, such as online marketplaces.
- Drupal offers better cybersecurity solutions than other similar CMS solutions. The platform is even used by the official website of the White House!
- Drupal has been developed primarily to power large websites, not blogs or small portfolios.
- The system helps your developers significantly speed up the process of web development.
- Drupal supports some of the most popular web technologies, including PHP and the Symfony framework.
- Drupal offers better performance than other similar solutions.
Why hire Drupal developers?
Drupal is a complex platform, and there is no denying it — it has been built by developers for developers. Is it wrong? Definitely not! If you wish to build huge, scalable websites, using complex solutions like Drupal is the only way to secure your product’s top-notch performance and reliability.
But this also means that to truly grasp the power of Drupal, you will definitely need to hire Drupal developers. How can they help you leverage the platform’s potential?
Hire Drupal developers to…
- Install Drupal on your server without an issue.
- Create a scalable, future-proof website.
- Tailor the content management system to the exact needs of your company so even less tech-savvy team members can add new content to the website easily.
- Add new features using Drupal plugins.
- Develop new plugins used exclusively by your company.
- Maintain stunning performance of your website.
- Create unique Drupal templates and attract customers with amazing UX.
- Assure perfect optimization of your website for mobile devices.
- Set up data analytics systems for your website.
- Solve any issues with the website fast.
What are the most important hard skills for a Drupal developer?
When it comes to Drupal development, certain hard skills stand out as particularly critical for success. Here are the most important ones to consider:
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PHP Proficiency: PHP is the backbone of Drupal. Therefore, one of the most vital skills for the best Drupal developers is a robust understanding of PHP. This knowledge allows them to create custom modules, automate tasks, and tweak the core functionality of Drupal to cater to specific needs.
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HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Mastery: The manipulation of a Drupal site's appearance, themes, and interactive elements hinges on the developer's proficiency in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These are integral skills in a Drupal developer's toolkit, enabling them to create visually appealing and functional websites.
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SQL Expertise: Given Drupal's reliance on databases for storing content, configurations, and user data, SQL knowledge is vital. This skill helps optimize database queries, thereby enhancing website performance.
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Drupal API Familiarity: To tap into Drupal's core functionalities, integrate third-party services, and future-proof the site, Drupal API expertise is a must-have skill. This is a significant part of Drupal development best practices.
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Knowledge of the Best IDE for Drupal 8 Development: IDEs like PhpStorm or Visual Studio Code come with a host of tools and features that facilitate coding, debugging, and testing. A Drupal developer familiar with the best IDE for Drupal 8 development can streamline their workflows and ensure the delivery of high-quality code.
When you're looking to hire the best Drupal development company or individual developer, these are the hard skills to watch for. A developer equipped with these competencies can deliver a robust, dynamic, and scalable Drupal website perfectly suited to your needs.
Why you should never forget about soft skills
The most innovative websites are not an effect of solely technical excellence but also thinking beyond pure coding. If you want to take your product truly to the top, hire Drupal developers with the following soft skills…
- Creativity
To deliver unique front-end solutions and actively participate in the design process.
- User empathy
To always build websites with the target customer in mind.
- Amazing time management
To easily switch between all the tasks that a developer is responsible for.
Best Drupal developer job interview questions
To make sure your candidate indeed has all the skills they claim to have, you should run a proper technical interview with them. If you are not familiar with Drupal yourself, ask an expert in the platform to assist you. This can be either another Drupal developer, a software consultant, or an IT project manager.
Some of the technical questions that Drupal developers are often asked during interviews are:
- What is the taxonomy system in Drupal?
- What are hooks in Drupal?
- $argv and $argc — what is the difference between the two?
- What is the most efficient way to load classes in PHP?
- What is "spaceship operator”?
- How do PHP sessions work?
- When would you use a PHP destructor?
- if( !strpos( $haystack, $needle ) — what’s wrong with this code?
- What is the difference between single quotes and double quotes in PHP?
- How would you create a singleton class in PHP?
Assessing the company fit of a Drupal developer
Even though the market of Drupal developers is quite limited, you should not ignore reviewing how well your candidate actually fits your business. A perfect match between your business and a Drupal developer can bring amazing results faster than you’d expect and provide you with an expert who truly understands your needs.
When you hire Drupal developers, consider the following three areas of company fit.
- Product fit
Websites should not be considered one specific category of a product — there are so many things that a website can be used for that you need to look for relevant specialists to really provide you with top-quality service. Think, for example, about an online marketplace with hundreds of thousands of products — if you want to build one, you don’t want a Drupal developer who worked mostly on 10-pagers for small businesses but rather a true e-com veteran.
- Industry fit
The first step to creating an amazing website is understanding the customers that will visit it. Hire Drupal developers with previous experience in your industry as they most likely already worked with the type of customer you are aiming for.
- Company culture fit
Just like soft skills, company culture match can significantly boost morale and innovation across the whole company. Hire Drupal developers who share the same values as your business — consider things like the preferred style of management, work environment (startup-like vs corporate), or approach to remote work.
Who else does your web project need?
By utilizing the power of Drupal, your new Drupal developers can build a website for you that’s truly scalable. But a great tech might not be enough to make your product successful. Connect with other experts, such as web designers, data scientists, or mobile developers, to take your business to the next level with full confidence.
And if you need to hire a team of IT professionals fast, get in touch with us. At Ideamotive, we run an industry-leading network of IT talents looking for new career opportunities. Whether you want to hire Drupal developers, digital designers, or even AI experts — we can connect you with the right people based on your unique requirements.
Get in touch with us today and assemble a team that will bring your company the success you desire.
