No PHP course in University

[MisterWhite]

Lets say i will learn php on my own and will be able to do what a certain job requires. How do i prove that i'm capable of doing the job if there is no proof i've learned it?

[ShadowCaptain]

4 minutes ago, MisterWhite said:

Lets say i will learn php on my own and will be able to do what a certain job requires. How do i prove that i'm capable of doing the job if there is no proof i've learned it?

You can get certificatio like below, or perhaps create a portfolio of work

 

 http://www.zend.com/en/services/certification/php-5-certification

[Hazy125]

Make a portfolio website with a bunch of example websites is the cookie cutter, go to suggestion. You might also consider heading on over to stackoverflow and building a huge reputation over there. Stackoverflow has a displayable resume thingy now I believe. Won't help at all unless you get to second round interview stuff, but it's a decent way of showing you can solve real world problems. Another great way is to fork php projects on github or publish your own projects. Again, this probably won't help until second round interview stuff, but also is a fantastic way to show that you can build functioning, useful and clean pieces of software

[Nuluvius]

2 hours ago, MisterWhite said:

Lets say i will learn php on my own and will be able to do what a certain job requires. How do i prove that i'm capable of doing the job if there is no proof i've learned it?

Well as @Hazy125 has already eluded to; you can only really prove it by demonstration. Have a look at this for another idea - it's all in the first impression after all.

[espurritado]

I agree, you could publish on GitHub whatever random thing you do.

[oArcticWolfo]

Learning PHP by itself is not enough to become gainfully employeed or even list on a resume. You need to learn the entire LAMP stack. Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP and/or Perl and display working knowledge of all 4 concurrently. Start building a multi tear web application that uses a database in addition to other UNIX aspects. You will also need to pick up framework like Cake, Zend, etc, and display working knowledge of them.

 

My own personal project was a custom website for an e-bay like system for trading and selling game inventory items like armor, weapons, etc. It incorporated all of the above and even included the function of a Linux email server. Shoved it on GitHub and a web server and it got me a job.

 

Also check out the MEAN (Mongo, Express, Angular, Node.js) stack. It's the new up and coming hot thing in web development that every recruiter is looking for.

[Dat Guy]

Why Linux? Why Apache? Why MySQL? None of those are needed to learn web development with PHP and/or Perl. You could as well use OS X Server, nginx and PostgreSQL. Actually nginx runs over 40 % of the web by now.

 

2 minutes ago, oArcticWolfo said:

Also check out the MEAN (Mongo, Express, Angular, Node.js) stack. It's the new up and coming hot thing in web development that every recruiter is looking for.

You really shouldn't start trying to go with the trend. Remember that web applications are usually made for endurance. By the time you're finished with the first "release", three new "this is the only good way to do it" stacks have evolved. At least.

[oArcticWolfo]

12 minutes ago, Dat Guy said:

Why Linux? Why Apache? Why MySQL?

Because that's what most people are looking for? Run a search for those stacks on indeed.com. I just did for the LA area. LAMP had 317 listing, MEAN had 282, Tomcat 176 , OS X had 42, nginx 82. Rails won at 488, but that's different. OP wants a job. Stats say go LAMP or Rails.

[Dat Guy]

The OP also said he wants to become a professional PHP developer. As a professional PHP developer you don't actually have to care about which server stack is provided to you as you probably won't have to maintain it.

[Ktk]

One of the best ways to prove programming competence is to have an open-source repo that has function code. You can put whatever you want on a resume, every college kid will have X Y and Z more or less, but your extracurricular projects will set you apart from the average candidate!

 

You might want to start with the Laravel framework and make a "dummy" starter app with an online tutorial, like the infamous TODO list  

[Brenz]

On 27/07/2016 at 10:14 PM, oArcticWolfo said:

Because that's what most people are looking for? Run a search for those stacks on indeed.com. I just did for the LA area. LAMP had 317 listing, MEAN had 282, Tomcat 176 , OS X had 42, nginx 82. Rails won at 488, but that's different. OP wants a job. Stats say go LAMP or Rails.

Just because something is included on a job listing does not mean they have ever used it or even plan on using it, HR departments love listing the hot new trends to make the jobs seem better and attract more people.

 

However I do agree that doing a few small projects in PHP and teaching yourself really doesn't count as much as a real education or real work experience. @MisterWhite Why did you pick a university that doesn't teach PHP if that's what you want to do? Do they teach any web related modules?

[MisterWhite]

11 hours ago, Brenz said:

Just because something is included on a job listing does not mean they have ever used it or even plan on using it, HR departments love listing the hot new trends to make the jobs seem better and attract more people.

 

However I do agree that doing a few small projects in PHP and teaching yourself really doesn't count as much as a real education or real work experience. @MisterWhite Why did you pick a university that doesn't teach PHP if that's what you want to do? Do they teach any web related modules?

To be fair, i do not know what i want to do, but knowing more than one language is always an advantage.

[riklaunim]

On 26.07.2016 at 0:13 PM, MisterWhite said:

Lets say i will learn php on my own and will be able to do what a certain job requires. How do i prove that i'm capable of doing the job if there is no proof i've learned it?

By presenting code you wrote. It's common to link your Github/alike account in your CV. Certifications aren't rather a common thing for PHP developers. Java or .NET more likely.