How Can We Increase Qualified Applicants for WordPress Jobs?

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Written By Courtney Robertson

3 thoughts on “How Can We Increase Qualified Applicants for WordPress Jobs?”

  1. Great piece, Courtney!

    I think back to my early career days and the various Microsoft certifications that demonstrated competency (or at least familiarity) with a subject. I would love for WordPress to have something similar — maybe a collection of smaller competencies, like basic/intermediate/advanced PHP, vanilla JS, REACT, MySQL, CSS, etc — to help standardize the skills desired for both employers/employees.

    LinkedIn Learning has developed learning journeys (a sequence of courses) that (theoretically) lead to competency as a “junior web developer,” “front-end WP developer,” etc. Additionally, badges/certificates are awarded for completion and displayed on LinkedIn profiles. While these are indicators are “better than nothing” for potential employers looking at a candidate, they lack any “official stamp of approval” from the WordPress project.

    To your point, “Courses exist, but without any standardization or accreditation, it falls to a few individuals to define training goals, standards, and priorities. Generally, these courses are not vetted by the industry itself.”

    I guess I’m not saying anything new, but rather acknowledging the validity of what you’re saying. 😂

    • Thanks Carrie. Definitely on the same path in terms of thinking. I find very few training providers offering WP development, and those that do have no way to evaluate the material they implement for their programs. While many training programs seek to prepare participants for the job marketing, having little connection with employers to assess adequate skills leaves quite a gap still.

      I do love the training I got in LinkedIn Learning, but was unable to use it as a resource in the BootCamp where I instructed. Additionally, it needed more PHP for plugin devs than was at the time in the track. I’ve shared the feedback 😉.

  2. Hi Courtney,

    Thank you for crafting this post! When I have dipped my toes into possible new positions in WordPress product support, I was disappointed with the low compensation offered. I have been in WordPress premium theme and plugin support for many years, so it was somewhat of a shock. Many of the large employers, almost all being within the Post Status membership walls, offered starting hourly wages less than my local towns fast-food restaurants offered. Support is vitally important from pre-sales questions all the way to crisis shout-outs , with often the *ONLY* voice the customer encounters with the company. Is that really valued so low? Why? Company owners that do not see this as a priority may never know the revenue lost.

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