10 Must-Ask Magento 2 Interview Questions

When you hire a Magento 2 developer to create an eCommerce store, you want to ensure that the person hired is creative, skilled, and willing to work as part of a team. To find the right candidate during the interview, make sure to research basic Magento 2 interview questions beforehand. Early preparation of the questions to be asked will help you save time in selecting the right Magento 2 developer for the company.

This article will give you a round-up of the most important technical and non-technical Magento 2 interview questions hiring managers use to hire top-tier Magento 2 developers. Besides, it also underlines the importance of these questions in screening the right candidate for your requirement.

But before that, let’s start with understanding the role and responsibilities of a skilled Magento 2 developer.

Role and responsibilities of expert Magento 2 developers

If you hire Magento 2 developers for your company, look for a candidate who can handle the roles and responsibilities required for your project. Some of the roles and responsibilities of a Magento 2 developer are listed below:

• Based on existing designs, create Magento themes.
• Improve Magento application’s performance and load times.
• Configure multilingual and multi-currency configurations in Magento e-commerce stores using the configuration panel.
• Install, test, and configure PayPal, Venmo, and other payment plugins.
• Test and deploy Magento applications.
• Perform SEO audits on Magento websites (Search Engine Optimization).
• Develop Magento themes based on the wireframes provided by web designers.
• Integrate applications with other e-commerce systems, such as payment gateways, CRM, and accounting software.
• Drive seamless migration from one platform to the other.
• Modify the appearance of e-commerce store widgets and extensions.

The 10 best Magento 2 interview questions

The following are 10 of the best general Magento 2 interview questions and answers that you can expect from the candidates.

How many years of Magento development experience do you have?

Magento is a complex platform, and a seasoned Magento 2 developer will likely have faced and resolved many of the challenges you may encounter during your website's development. A Magento developer’s time on the platform is a good indicator of their expertise. You would not want to hire a developer who is still in the learning phase. Hence, selecting an experienced candidate will save you development costs.

Besides, an experienced developer must be able to migrate from Magento 1 or any other eCommerce platform to Magento 2, which is not an easy task! Therefore, you would want to hire a Magento 2 developer with experience migrating sites from M1 to M2. It is to be noted that Magento 2 interview questions would vary based on the developers’ years of experience and technical background.

Can you discuss the types of Magento 2 development projects you have worked on in the past?

This Magento 2 interview question will help in inquiring whether the developer is familiar with your niche market, business, and the industry or if they have previous work experience on similar projects. Magento developers are in the business of creating eCommerce websites in a wide range of niches.

Many Magento experts can find the right solution for you even if they know little about what motivates your audience.

On the other hand, if you hire a Magento 2 developer who is well-versed in your industry, you will put yourself in a win-win situation.

For instance, talented Magento 2 developers are familiar with many modules and eCommerce shopping cart functionalities such as payment gateways, ad-supported services, order management, shipping, etc. And, remote Magento jobs necessitate knowledge of various eCommerce integrations to establish data processes and automate the entire operation.

As a result, keep an eye out for clues to their actual field knowledge:

• Do they have any prior experience working in the field of your choice?
• Have they demonstrated a thorough understanding of specific details that may influence the development of your website?
• Can they offer you an innovative stack of technologies tailored to your niche as well as insight into best development practices?

Simply put, you should try to determine whether or not they have a pulse on the heartbeat of your niche. If they do, this can be one of the compelling factors for you to take them to the next step of the process.

What are Magento databases and their accompanying models?

This is one of the many Magento interview questions for back-end developers. Magento adheres to the EAV database model. It consists of a few supporting tables containing metadata and is used when product attributes are numerous and sparse. A store, for example, may have different product attributes: TVs may be classified based on screen size or resolution, whereas women's clothing may be classified based on size or color.

EAV keeps the store architecture clear and organized, resulting in an optimized back-end for the web.

Can you shed light on the three Magento modes of deployment?

A Magento 2 developer must be aware of three modes of deployment: Developer, Product, and Default.

• Developer - All files you save to the pub/static directory (except for front-end errors) become symlinks to the original file when you enable this mode. This mode is unsuitable for keeping an app in because it slows down the page.

On the other hand, developers frequently use this mode for debugging because it improves the efficiency of compilation and static loading.

• Product - All files in pub/static are generated during production mode. This is the best mode to use for all stages of application development, as the name implies.

• Default - Magento's default mode is a state that exists between the Production and Developer modes. While new files are generated, this occurs only when the front-end requires a new asset. No file can be generated more than once in the default mode.

How will your creativity add to our project’s success?

So far, we've looked at the functionality, experience, and knowledge aspects of selecting the right Magento 2 developer. However, you should also check their creative skills. This Magento 2 interview question will give you that boost.

If your Magento store looks like the next cookie-cutter, you may lose the battle on your way to ultimate success.

On the other hand, hiring Magento theme developers who are creative thinkers can do wonders for your business. For instance, Magento 2 developers must be familiar with CMS theme creation, which entails creating unique themes for websites based on company requirements. This attracts more customers, increases traffic, and offers a higher conversion rate.

And, when people arrive and see that you have gone above and beyond to provide them with a high-quality user experience, they will reward you by voting with their digital wallets.

Can you discuss some Magento programming best practices?

Magento is a complex platform, so you don't want clumsy code slowing down your website. Ask this Magento 2 interview question to see whether a Magento 2 developer is aware of and adheres to Magento programming best practices such as:

• Creating reusable code to avoid duplication.
• Making the code replaceable to make upgrades and improvements easier.
• Avoiding creation of helper classes that violate object-oriented programming principles.
• Maintaining consistency in the case and naming conventions.
• Preferring composition over inheritance.
• Before releasing the code, testing it.

It's also a plus if the candidate brings up the Magento Coding Standard and SOLID principles. This way, you can ensure that the code is always neat and bug-free.

Moreover, as Magento is a PHP-based e-commerce platform, Magento 2 developers should be able to work with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. A Magento developer remote job necessitates familiarity with the technological stack for future operations.

How can you improve the efficiency of any Magento app?

Many factors can hamper the performance of a Magento 2 app. An ideal candidate must be able to answer at least half or all of the following ideas that improve the app's performance.

• Disable all modules that you are not currently using.
• Activate cache.
• Application servers should be optimized.
• Move the stylesheets to the top of the page.
• Avoids the use of CSS expressions.
• Make as little use of Magento Log as possible.
• Move scripts to the bottom of the list and delete any that are no longer in use.
• Images should be optimized.

What is the function of the UI Component in Magento 2?

Magento user interface (UI) components are used to represent various front-end elements such as tables, buttons, and dialogues. They should be implemented using pHTML templates with inline JavaScript, XML layout, jQuery widgets, or UI components.

Magento promotes UI components to build the UX and ensure the smooth interaction of all website features, particularly those with asynchronous initialization. This enables a Magento 2 developer to create more complex UI components from smaller components (e.g., for the store checkout page).

Now, let's move to the technical questions. Are you ready?

The rule is to begin slowly. Interviews, mainly technical interviews, can be a stressful experience. So you would want to start with an icebreaker question to get your candidate to relax a little bit. Then after asking about their projects and work experience, you can jump to those Magento interview questions that deal with the technical side of things. Making them comfortable increases the likelihood of seeing their real-world development skills.

For instance, you can ask them about PSD and XHTML conversion as it allows developers to convert their static PSD designs into a fully-featured online shopping store. A thorough understanding of these factors enables the achievement of desired results and the ability to work with Magento templates.

A few other equally-important topics for which you can frame some Magento 2 questions are:

• Module creation
• Magento 2 file structure
• Dependency injection
• Magento API and usability
• Creating a new theme in Magento
• HTML and CSS basics
• Primary key vs Foreign key
• Magento EAV
• Static blocks
• Magento design patterns

Can you show proof of educational details, certifications, and work experience?

You should also inquire a Magento 2 developer for his/her proof of educational details and work experience. However, before this, be aware of the certification requirements that your project demands from the potential candidate. Thereby, you can look for Magento accreditation i.e. when you hire Magento developers, certification serves as proof of their Magento platform competence.

Moreover, as the Magento development platform evolves rapidly, you should hire certified Magento 2 developers who have earned their certification in recent days. This will assist you in hiring a Magento 2 developer who is up to date on the latest trends and technology to use on your website.

Wrapping up:

Technical Magento interview questions should not aim to surprise the applicant. Instead, they should encourage responses that demonstrate the applicant's knowledge.

Here are a few more pointers on how to speed up the hiring process:

1. Choose people for your team rather than a specific project. Even if the candidate has advanced tech stack knowledge for projects that are not currently on your agenda, adding them to your team is worthwhile.

2. Take note of a candidate's previous employment history. This is a good sign if a candidate has previously worked for a reputable company.

3. Don't let a diverse tech stack on a resume cloud your judgment. Ask specific questions about the tools listed on a CV to ensure that the candidate hasn't glossed over the resume to impress you.

4. Provide a test task for a beginner to an intermediate developer. This strategy is particularly effective for junior and mid-level developers. Don't be afraid to assign a test task if you need to fill the position but aren't convinced of the developer's abilities.

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