Becoming a Codeable Certified WordPress Expert Developer

For those who have not heard of Codeable before, it is the WordPress-specific freelancer platform where they do all the vetting and match you up with the best WordPress experts.

Codeable has been around for a while now and over time their vetting process to become a WordPress expert has become more and more stringent and more involved so that they can really keep the cream of the crop of WordPress developers. The current acceptance rate is 2%. Even with a solid resume you may not hear back from them for a while because they manage their developers based on supply and demand. I was lucky enough to have my application accepted and go through this whole certification process.

Codeable Expert Application

You need to have a portfolio of work to show what makes you a good applicant. Having a solid github repo or some WordPress plugins on the WordPress plugin repository can be a major help in getting noticed. You should probably have at least 5 years of experience with WordPress itself as well and be well-spoken in English. This initial application is the main dropoff point for applicants so make sure to impress.

Codeable Test Project

You get a choice of what type of project you want to do for your test. One is a front-end page build, the other is developing a small plugin. I can only speak to the front-end page build as that was what I chose for my test project. To start off the project I was provided with a design and a pile of assets to work with. They specifically stated that I would not be receiving any other assets and I was free to ask questions about anything. Any theme or tool was fair game to use, but they specifically made a design that would not be something that you could easily make using a page builder. There was some freedom to use my own judgment with hover effects and such to give it that extra touch that makes it nice.

I started with the Astra theme as my base since it is a clean fast theme out of the box and is a good starting point for any custom project. I don’t personally like to use page builders, so for this project and its requirements I was just going to build it from scratch using Advanced Custom Fields (ACF). I added a few extra javascript libraries in to handle some functionality and I was off and running.

I quickly realized why they specifically told me that I would not be receiving any other assets. It was because they didn’t provide the ideal assets to make the site in the best way. It was on the developer to notice this and adjust things to be better. Overall this was probably one of the most challenging single front-ends I’ve ever had to make. They managed to stick in every type of snag one could encounter with a design and you had to make it work. They also made sure to delve into woocommerce modifications and some google maps api development. It was no walk in the park, but I had a full week to complete it around my full-time job. I can proudly say that the finished product that I delivered was a thing of beauty.

Codeable Live Coding Test

The next phase in the vetting process is an interview and live coding test. This all takes place over the webcam and through CoderPad with two people from the Codeable team. I was incredibly stressed going into it and even though they tell you to relax, it’s still somewhat difficult on the spot to actually relax. My internet connection decided to cut out early in the meeting as well after introductions, so I actually had to leave and come back after a short reset while my heart was in panic mode. Luckily it didn’t have any issues after that, but it added to my stress level.

They first allowed me to ask any questions I had and they answered them all. Believe me, I had a lot of questions to ask so getting these out of the way right at the start was a relief to me. Then we were onto the Customer Service portion of the interview where you are given various scenarios that can come up and you talk about how you would handle them. I’ve worked with clients as a freelancer and at an agency for so many years that this one was an easy home run for me. I passed that section with flying colors.

Next up was the actual live coding segment. If you’re like me and your brain goes blank when someone tries to watch you code over your shoulder, it’s somewhat similar to that but not as bad. Since you don’t feel their looming presence behind you, it is less distracting. The first few questions went well, and then I hit a snag. Instead of reading the full instructions on the screen question, I was just going off the quick summary statement by the tester. I started to go into panic mode as I looked for what I thought I needed to find. I re-went through the code talking out loud as I went describing everything, but I wasn’t finding the issue.

Eventually, they cut me off and showed me what they were looking for. I exclaimed, “Oh that’s what you wanted?! I knew that!” Fortunately for me, they actually did know that I knew the answer they were looking for because I had been talking out loud as I went through the code and luckily described what a relevant portion of it did. I can’t reveal any actual specifics, but I accidentally saved myself by talking out loud. At the end, I was told that they would tally all of my scores from the tests so far and I would hear back later. I was honestly not as confident now after that, but I was confident in everything else that I had done aside from that one question.

Codeable Trial Period

I did it! I got past the testing portion and got the email that I had passed, but this was still not the end of the journey. If anything, the hardest part remained. This was the beginning of the 45 trial period where you had to talk the talk and walk the walk on the actual platform. After taking a few required introduction courses, studying the secret Codeable Blackbook, and setting up my personal profile I started scouting the tasks.

The tasks come quickly and some experts are very quick to respond. I admit I was gun shy for a solid day before actually commenting on my first task. Once I broke the ice with that I had to hone my skills on the project message boards and work to establish myself as the expert the client would want to work with. It’s not easy for the newcomers as clients oftentimes will go for the expert who has completed 1500+ tasks successfully over someone who has 0 to 10. I eventually got my first task in the form of a consultation, which did lead to work about a month later. I eventually got the hang of it and started to get more tasks more quickly. I had broken the ice and now I was having a different problem of managing my time between Codeable and my day job.

Success!

The day finally came where I had fully made it through my trial period. Not only was there a nice pile of extra income in my bank account, but there was also a congratulatory email with a WordPress expert certification in my inbox. I was thrilled and relieved seeing this and you couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. There is a satisfaction that comes with earning something through hard work and the challenge was certainly there. It’s a daunting thing to attempt with the low 2% acceptance rate, but you shouldn’t be afraid to try. If you get in, it comes with a lot of benefits.

The Benefits of being a Codeable Expert

Every WordPress freelancer would benefit from becoming a Codeable expert and these are the reasons why I find it to be so valuable.

A Community of Experts

You know that everyone in this community is a WordPress expert, but web development is such a wide field that everyone may have special expertise in a different area. When you may have a question in one of your weaker areas you can ask it in the Codeable slack group and get an answer from a fellow expert who may be stronger in that area. Codeable developers are a helpful bunch and despite it being a freelance platform where you would expect competition, the group acts more like a helpful community of coworkers than competitors.

Clients Come to You

Clients come through the Codeable system looking for vetted experts and there is a nice steady flow of fresh new project leads coming in throughout the day. They come in all day, every day, 24/7. Whether you are a morning riser or a night owl, you can craft your schedule however you want and there will still be new leads for you in the system. You don’t have to spend all that time hunting your own new clients, marketing yourself constantly to keep work coming in.

Codeable takes care of the marketing to bring in the clients and you are the one who actually gets to pick and choose from the work you may want to do. I personally love working on website speed optimization tasks, and that seems to be a fairly common type of task being posted by potential clients. I’ve found that clients often return to you again for more work since you build up a relationship with them through your first project.

Codeable Handles all of the Billing

Anyone who has worked as a freelancer knows that collecting money from clients can be a job in itself. Whether the client just skips the bill, holds your payment hostage for more out of scope work, or just is painfully late in paying, it can be a stressful situation for you who depends on that income to live and pay your own bills.

Fortunately for all of us, Codeable takes care of this entire billing process for you. Codeable takes client payments upfront and just holds the money in escrow until the project is completed. There’s billing messiness on the expert’s end, so (s)he can focus solely on delivering a perfect final product for the client.

Hourly Rate Minimums

A beautiful aspect of Codeable is that unlike other freelance platforms, Codeable enforces minimum hourly rates. The rates are from $70 to $120 per hour and the freelancer gets to choose what they want to charge. That may fluctuate based on the type of work, the urgency, and experience. There is a limit of 5 experts that can bid on any specific project and the estimates are averaged together. Regardless of who the client chooses to do the work, they would be charged at the same price. This avoids the race to the bottom for pricing that happens on other freelance sites. No one can undercut someone else just to get the work as it benefits no one to do that. Instead, it encourages experts to build a rapport with the clients.

While not the norm, there are experts who are generating six-figure incomes thanks to Codeable. It comes down to how well you can sell the value of your services, how much of a returning customer base you can create, and how much time you put into Codeable that will get you to where you want to be. Many experts opt to work enough to pay the bills and use the extra free time to travel or enjoy hobbies that they love. Working at Codeable can help you live life the way you want to.

Special Perks

An exclusive group of expert developers has afforded some exclusive perks. Codeable has partnerships with many platforms that yield benefits for both the experts themselves and their clients. There are obviously discounts, but there are also trials and demo accounts for some tools and hosting providers that allow the development experts to familiarize themselves with the products and gain experience so that they can comfortably work with these tools in the future.

We also get to see some upcoming technologies and ask questions during exclusive webinars with companies. These can serve to again familiarize with some new incoming tools or services that can help us serve the client base well. Through the network of experts, there are many other plugins and tools that I have learned about through the private slack channel.

I was able to take part in a beta test for a new plugin update (WP Compress) that I had never been exposed to before and that proved to be a really cool image tool. I also found out that experts on Codeable had a strong preference towards WP Rocket so I decided to try it as well. It has now become my staple plugin when it comes to speed enhancement with WordPress. It has basically helped me stay on the cutting edge of WordPress technologies and upcoming developments making me a stronger developer than I had ever been before.

Get Certified or Hire an Expert

It’s your turn to take a shot at joining the Codeable expert community. Your journey starts here. Best of luck!

If you are an overloaded freelance developer or just need some help with WordPress you can also get the help of a Codeable expert. Projects quotes are free to get so it won’t hurt to post your project now. You’ll be guaranteed to get your work done properly if you decide to move forward with it.