Ask HN: How do you outsource remote engineering talent?

#1

Post by joaonogueira » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:43 PM UTC

Howdy HackerNews!

I hear lots of stuff and nightmare stories about outsourcing dev and design teams, but anyone had a good experience while outsourcing? Where do you usually look for them? What is the criteria or resources that you use to make you decide which ones to hire? Which parts of your product you usually outsource?

Thanks for the advice in advance

Cheers

Re: Ask HN: How do you outsource remote engineering talent?

#2

Post by smt88 » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 2:53 PM UTC

I use Upwork. Communication is really important, so talk to people before you hire them to make sure they speak your language fluently (and I really mean fluently). There are a lot of companies pretending to be single devs on Upwork, so ask them directly before you begin the contract if they're a company or a single person.

I've had some good experiences with accidentally hiring companies, but most people prefer single devs because of the risk of paying for overhead rather than quality work.

Once they're working for you, check in with them twice a day and ask to see progress. If you can't see it, it hasn't happened yet.

Always, always do fixed-fee contracts (never hourly). Put the money in escrow.

Re: Ask HN: How do you outsource remote engineering talent?

#3

Post by joaonogueira » Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 3:32 PM UTC

smt88 wrote: post #2

I use Upwork. Communication is really important, so talk to people before you hire them to make sure they speak your language fluently (and I really mean fluently ). There are a lot of companies pretending to be single devs on Upwork, so ask them directly before you begin the contract if they're a company or a single person. I've had some good experiences with accidentally hiring companies, but most people prefer sin…

Hi!

Thanks for the tips!