PHP Community Marketing Expert

In PHP there are three main type of errors:

Notices – Simple, non-critical errors that are occurred during the script execution. An example of a Notice would be accessing an undefined variable.

Warnings – more important errors than Notices, however the scripts continue the execution. An example would be include() a file that does not exist.

Fatal – this type of error causes a termination of the script execution when it occurs. An example of a Fatal error would be accessing a property of a non-existent object or require() a non-existent file.

Understanding the error types is very important if you are new to programming because they help you understand what is going on during the development, and they will help you know what you should look for in the code during debugging.

In my opinion, a good candidate would have their ears to the ground in terms of what is going on at Google. Not every single update carries the same importance, so I definitely do not need a running commentary of everything that is written on Google webmaster blog.

However, whenever a major algo changes is announced, its effect on the web and your site should be taken notice of. Like I've mentioned before, I honestly don't expect to hear every tweak since Florida, but I want a detail idea of the current state of play. Recently it has been Penguin, Panda and EMDs and any good SEO should know these like they know their alphabet.

Panda - What does it do, what cause you to get hit by it, how do you mitigate against its effect, how do you recover?

Penguin - Why was it rolled out, what do you need to do, how do you recover?

EMDs downgrade - What is the history behind it, how would you future proof your client's site?

Personally, I expect details answers to such questions as the candidate will be in charge of handing down instructions to their team and also making recommendations to clients.

Getters and setters are methods used to declare or obtain the values of variables, usually private ones. They are important because it allows for a central location that is able to handle data prior to declaring it or returning it to the developer. Within a getter or setter you are able to consistently handle data that will eventually be passed into a variable or additional functions. An example of this would be a user’s name. If you are not using a setter and just declaring the $userName variable by hand you could end up with results as such: "kevin", "KEVIN", "KeViN", "", etc. With a setter you can not only adjust the value, for example, ucfirst($userName), but you can also handle situations where the data is not valid such as the example where "" is passed. The same applies to a getter – when the data is being returned, you can modify the results to include strtoupper($userName) for proper formatting further up the chain.

This is important for any developer who is looking to enter a team-based / application development job to know. Getters and setters are often used when dealing with objects, especially ones that will end up in a database or other storage medium. Because PHP is commonly used to build web applications you will run across getters and setters in more advanced environments, even as a junior developer. They are extremely powerful yet not talked about very much. You can really impress an interviewer by knowing what they are and how to use them early on.

I asked this to simply know the candidates understanding of the link building process. This question allowed me to get beyond the typical 'a link must be from relevant site'. You would expect this kind of answers interviewing an exec. What I was looking for was more to do with work load split, data recording, site evaluation and overall time management skills. Link building is a tedious task and it's important that as a senior SEO specialist you are aware that people in charge of this can easily become overwhelmed.

Even though not explicitly asked, a question like this also gives me key insight into how the candidate views link building. If all I'm hearing are directory submissions, blog commenting, page rank and exact matching anchors you're less likely to be called in for a second interview. I'm more interested in hearing about outreach campaigns, what you did to attract links in the past and content partnerships. I'm also interested in creative ideas used to build links.

I'm also big on strategy. Each campaign is different and for me, a one size fits all approach cannot give the best result. Therefore it is crucial that candidate put across that link building for an educational site is not the same for say, travel insurance.

Again, don't fall into the trap of specifying job titles. Stick to a natural progression you see as plausible. How should this job grow for the good of the organization? Then turn your attention once again to the job at hand. If you seem too interested in what lies beyond this job, the interviewer will fear that you won't stick around for long.

Sample Answer: Beyond this job as a marketing assistant, I see myself moving up through marketing analysis into brand management and eventually running a category. I'm aware that there are several skills I need to develop in the interval, and I believe with your continuing-education program and my own motivation for self-improvement, I'll have those skills when the opportunities arise for greater responsibility. That's why I'm determined to learn from the ground up, starting as a marketing assistant.