You and you alone are the vision keeper for your project. You have to convey the problem that needs to be solved without specifying how it is to be solved. Work with your developer to make sure they understand you as you describe the problem. [...] Don't assume that the developer will understand industry jargon or acronyms. Just because it's clear to you doesn't mean that it is clear to them.

Communication is a huge key when dealing with any developers, freelance or not and Cal's suggests that not only is everything laid out clearly, but there's also no stone unturned on things like features and goals for the project.

The Freelance PHP Developer will participate in development efforts on projects for external clients. He or she will work with the account team, interaction designers, and graphic designers to design and build interactive solutions for clients. He or she will be responsible for working on the software design as well as building, testing, debugging and troubleshooting programs and scripts for various functions, and modifying existing code to add new features.

Requirements/Qualifications:

• 5+ years of development experience
• The ideal candidate should have experience creating highly trafficked websites
• Experience with Object Oriented Programming in general but preferably Java
• Strong PHP experience, specifically with PHP 5
• Overall experience with LAMP and open source in general
• Good database skills and the ability to create and reverse engineer an ERD
• Experience with mySQL 5 and other RDBMS preferably Oracle or MS SQL Server
• Strong CMS experience with systems such as Alfresco, Interwoven, Documentum or Drupal
• Strong CMS Workflow experience
• Experience writing web services
• Experience creating REST based architectures
• Experience using PHP Frameworks like Kohana
• Experience creating applications from the ground up
• Back-end development - Everything is processed at the application layer so they will not be writing Stored Procedures but must understand relational database concepts
• Experience in an Agile development environment - the product development is more of a waterfall environment
• Experience mentoring other developers
• Must have excellent problem solving skills and love technical challenges
• Must be self-motivated, and able to multi-task
• Must be able to take initiative to be productive and efficient
• B.S./M.Sc.Computer Science or equivalent experience
• Consulting experience a big plus
• The duration of this engagement is 3-4 months, with the potential for extension
• Our client is located in Manhattan and this person will need to be able to work at the client site with team members 90% of the time
• Local candidates only

HUGE is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We strongly support diversity in the workforce.

Please click the following URL to apply: http://www.jobvite.com/j/?aj=oAGeVfw9&s=PHPDeveloperOrg

HUGE is a leading interactive agency that specializes in building sustainable online businesses for some of the smartest and most demanding companies in the world. Founded in 1999, HUGE has developed a unique methodology and culture that combines the most relevant aspects of research, design, marketing and technology to meet client objectives. The online businesses designed and developed by HUGE generate over $8.3 billion in online revenue a year and are visited by over 150 million unique visitors a month. HUGE is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY with offices in Los Angeles, Portland and London. The company is jointly owned by its operating partners and Interpublic Group. Clients include IKEA, JetBlue Airways, Walt Disney Company, iVillage, Time Inc., Target and CNN.

The problem with PHP is this: in years gone by it was typically seen as an amateur, hobbyist language. The state of the language at the time didn't exactly either. [...] As a result, many (if not most) of the freelance PHP jobs out there today involve maintaining this code of yesteryear. It's mostly PHP 4, no OOP, terrible coding standards, no thought for best practices and so on.

The list reads more like a "back to fundamentals" listing - three things: practice, advertise and reach out. No tips about fancy resume or making the power moves to climb up and over the competition - it's just the basics of what you need to get started and get your foot wedged firmly in the door.

Many position-based boards are full of employers who don't understand the value of quality code. [...] There are really only two ways to find a decent PHP job, then: find freelance projects from clients that will pay for your expertise, or get a full time job. Here are some good destinations for each.

Their suggestions are broken up into two different categories - freelance or waged. The freelance list includes Elance and PHP-Freelancers while their waged list includes the Zend Job Board and the PHPJobs.com website.

If you've got spare cycles and want to help a brother out, read on. I received this from Leonard Rapoport of the International Press Association, (Disclaimer: Zend is a member of the IPA) The IPA is looking for some help. As you can see from the email below, they need a PHP programmer to help them out on some small projects and know of some larger projects they could turn you on it.

Any interested parties should contact Leonard via email and get things started.

According to statistical analysis of the 27750 freelance projects on getafreelancer.com site most wanted types of job are PHP (40% of all projects), Web Design (31%), Graphic Design (16%) and Flash (14%).

They provide both the table of the stats generated and a graph clearly showing that PHP jobs are head and shoulders above the rest.