Ask HN: Best practices for hiring software contractors? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for hiring software contractors?

#41

Post by aliswe » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 9:58 PM UTC

iudqnolq wrote: post #31

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #13

It depends a lot of you size and your project scale. But here are a few advices. Do not pay by day/hour if you can avoid it. Define small deliverables then objective tests to validate them and attach fixed price to each piece. You don't have to come up with it out of thin air, the contractor is supposed to do that with you. You don't have to define all of them up front neither. In fact, they will probably change duri…

I'm a student trying to get my first contracting job. I have very little experience, and and essentially no past work. I believe I'm competent enough to do some of the tasks I see on sites like Upwork, but I'm not having any luck. The jobs I'm applying for are basic things like write Google Apps script to send emails based on contents of a Google Sheet, not large projects. I'm not going to lie about who I am and what…

Your email?

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for hiring software contractors?

#42

Post by iudqnolq » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 10:02 PM UTC

aliswe wrote: post #41

iudqnolq wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a student trying to get my first contracting job. I have very little experience, and and essentially no past work. I believe I'm competent enough to do some of the tasks I see on sites like Upwork, but I'm not having any luck. The jobs I'm applying for are basic things like write Google Apps script to send emails based on contents of a Google Sheet, not large projects. I'm not going to lie about who I am and what…

Your email?

[redacted]

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for hiring software contractors?

#43

Post by rails » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 12:26 AM UTC

As I have been a contractor for a while, I wrote a blog post from my point of view. I hope it answers some of your questions. https://www.stefanschick.eu/posts/hiringsoftwarecontractors/

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for hiring software contractors?

#44

Post by wiseleo » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 7:47 AM UTC

iudqnolq wrote: post #35

wiseleo wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your first few projects are essentially to build credibility. Don’t try to make money. You are trying to level up. Think of it like playing an RPG. You start with easy quests designed for newbies with no experience and eventually unlock treasure. What can you do that takes you no time and is in demand? I figured out how to something that takes 4 hours in 15 minutes and charge flat rate for it based on the original 4…

Got it. Most of the projects I've seen are by people who want to bill hourly. Upwork provides some sort of "recommended" wage. How much would you discount that by? I'm afraid that if I'm too cheap even people looking for minimally skilled cheap coders won't want to hire me. Also, so far I'm zero replies for two proposals (a few hundred words each, not copy-pasted). Roughly what should I expect?

Don't know, but I would just apply until someone lets me work.

Your proposals are likely too long for easy stuff. Two paragraphs should be enough.

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for hiring software contractors?

#45

Post by iudqnolq » Tue, Dec 24, 2019, 7:53 AM UTC

wiseleo wrote: post #44

iudqnolq wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got it. Most of the projects I've seen are by people who want to bill hourly. Upwork provides some sort of "recommended" wage. How much would you discount that by? I'm afraid that if I'm too cheap even people looking for minimally skilled cheap coders won't want to hire me. Also, so far I'm zero replies for two proposals (a few hundred words each, not copy-pasted). Roughly what should I expect?

Don't know, but I would just apply until someone lets me work. Your proposals are likely too long for easy stuff. Two paragraphs should be enough.

Good to know.

Re: Ask HN: Best practices for hiring software contractors?

#46

Post by elamje » Thu, Jan 02, 2020, 4:03 AM UTC

zerr wrote: post #37

elamje wrote: post #36

I just wrote a post[0] about contracting, from the contractors perspective, and why I left my safe job for it. IMO, developers that like a challenge and like dynamic work make good contractors. A lot of times having ambition and a passion for programming is a good sign. Many people I know do software to make a living and could care less about architectural decisions, best practices, and self-motivated skill growth. I…

> from ... C# to ... Clojure & React that seems like a downgrade to me :) Do you find it easier to go self-employed with dynamic languages?

Hey! Missed this. Hmmm, to be honest, I don’t know yet. My first gig is with React and Node. I also am still working with C# too. In about 5 or 6 months I’ll have a better answer!