How to get hired
PHP hiring in India looks nothing like the IT services or product-company process. There is usually no aptitude test and no algorithm round. There is a person who owns or runs the agency, a practical task, and a question about when you can join.
Who hires PHP developers
Web and digital agencies are the core market: firms that build websites, e-commerce stores and custom portals for clients in India, the US, the UK, Australia and the Gulf. Many are in tier-2 cities. Indore, Ahmedabad, Mohali and Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kochi and Surat all have clusters of them, alongside Bengaluru, Pune and the NCR. SEO and marketing firms hire WordPress developers to keep client sites running. A smaller group of product companies and SaaS firms run on Laravel or Symfony, and some e-commerce businesses run Magento (Adobe Commerce).
The practical task
Expect one of these, usually done at the office or sent home with a 24 to 48 hour deadline:
- Build a CRUD module in Laravel: a list, add/edit forms with validation, login, and search with pagination
- Build a custom WordPress plugin or a custom post type with an admin settings page, or convert a Figma or PSD design into a WordPress theme
- Fix bugs in an existing PHP codebase they hand you
- For Shopify roles, customise a theme section in Liquid (Shopify's own template language, not PHP)
Clean folder structure, form validation, protection against SQL injection and XSS, and a short README with setup steps are what separate a hire from a "we'll get back to you". In the follow-up chat they ask PHP basics: sessions vs cookies, GET vs POST, include vs require, how you prevent SQL injection (prepared statements), Composer, and what changed in PHP 8 (named arguments, match, enums, readonly properties).
Portfolio beats degree
Agencies hire BCA, B.Sc, diploma holders and self-taught developers as readily as B.Tech graduates. What they want to see is live work: two or three sites you built with links, a GitHub repo with a Laravel project, and a plugin or theme you wrote yourself rather than configured. Read writing a resume with no experience and put the links at the top.
Watch the first offer
This end of the market has the most "training period" tricks: unpaid months, a security deposit, or a bond with a large penalty. A genuine agency may offer a low stipend during probation, but it should never ask you to pay. If an offer asks for money or original certificates, check it with our job check tool and read how to spot fake job offers.
Getting past the pay ceiling
Agency PHP pay plateaus early. The developers who break out usually do one of these:
- Move from WordPress page-building to real Laravel application work, then to a SaaS or product company that runs Laravel
- Add a JavaScript frontend (Vue pairs naturally with Laravel, React is more widely asked) and apply as a full stack developer
- Specialise in e-commerce platforms (Magento, Shopify Plus, WooCommerce at scale), where experienced people are scarce
- Take on overseas clients directly once you can scope, estimate and deliver on your own
Version work is another steady earner. PHP 8.2 loses security support on 31 December 2026 and many client sites still run older versions, so upgrading WordPress and Laravel sites to supported PHP is real billable work.
What the work is like
Agency life is client-driven: several projects at once, frequent change requests, deadlines set by sales, and late calls with overseas clients. You learn fast because you touch everything, from server setup on shared hosting to email deliverability to payment gateways like Razorpay and PayU. The cost is little time for code quality, and few senior engineers to learn from.
Typical titles run PHP Developer, Web Developer, WordPress Developer, Laravel Developer, then Senior or Team Lead, and in agencies often Project Manager. Five-day weeks are not universal in this segment; ask.