Avoid: Elance, getacoder, rentacoder, guru
Craigslist is honestly better than those places.
Ask for references, samples of past work, etc. Good programmers will have to ask you "of what kind of work" to narrow it down.
How to find reliable programmers?
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Re: How to find reliable programmers?
#12Re: How to find reliable programmers?
#13Good, reliable programmers are very expensive. Think $200k/year minimum. This might not have entered into your vision of reality but I assure you that's how it works. If you keep getting shafted by cheap programming "talent" and keep looking for more, you might just be a fucking idiot.
Actually what you've just described is an expensive programmer, albeit not overly expensive. Great programmers tend to value other things such as working with other great programmers and a stimulating problem domain. The money tends to be an adjunct.
Anyone who claims that money is an adjunct and doesn't work in academia or charity is bullshitting not only who they're talking to, but themselves as well.
Re: How to find reliable programmers?
#14Hire a reputable company, not a random guy. Hire someone that has a portfolio, references, contracts, an office, a business phone number, an address, etc.
Oh, and be prepared to actually pay an appropriate amount of money. You do get what you pay for.
Re: How to find reliable programmers?
#15To find reliable programmers, start by being a reliable recruiter...
DO:
1. Check with your inner circle first. You know their interests, skills, and reliability. If they're not available, ask if they would vouch for anyone they know that might be interested and available.
2. Broaden your search to past associates who you have reason to believe would appreciate hearing about the opportunity.
3. Check the list you've been maintaining (!) of programmers whose public work you admire and who have indicated availability for consulting work.
4. Present the opportunity to relevant user groups or communities. Be sure their policy welcomes such queries, especially if you're not a regularly contributing member.
5. Be upfront and explicit about available compensation. It wastes both party's time trying to get a max $25/hr opportunity together with a min $125/hr consultant.
6. Consider permitting remote work. Some of the most effective teams I've worked with have been distributed geographically. If you can make this work, you've increased your pool of possible matches tremendously.
DON'T:
Assume that your need to find someone gives you license to be pest. The one person who ends up in the position will appreciate that you found him/her. A small group will appreciate the consideration. A somewhat larger group will tolerate the intrusion. Most of the rest of the world won't want to be interrupted. Try not to bother them.
Re: How to find reliable programmers?
#16Many of the good programmers avoid services like eLance because they simply can't compete against the lousy coders who will bid $200 to develop an eBay clone in 7 days. Perhaps you could look in the open source community of your language or technology?
Yes, exactly.
Occasionally, maybe 4-5 times a year, I get burned out on whatever current crazy startup idea I'm currently working on, and so I go looking for something different to do for a week or two.
I spend around 2 minutes looking on Elance, Rentacoder, etc, and immediately get discouraged (see above). Then, I spend some time looking at craigslist and maybe apply to 1 post in an evening's time (it's a lot of work getting your resume prepped to send). Then, a couple of days go by and I don't hear back from the one poster I applied to (I assume they are too swamped with awesome applicants to respond)...
So I go back to working on my project.
Re: How to find reliable programmers?
#17Good, reliable programmers are very expensive. Think $200k/year minimum. This might not have entered into your vision of reality but I assure you that's how it works. If you keep getting shafted by cheap programming "talent" and keep looking for more, you might just be a fucking idiot.
If you keep getting shafted by cheap programming "talent" and keep looking for more, you might just be a fucking idiot. Swearing and making poor extrapolations off of a simple query doesn't make you cool. It actually makes you look like the idiot, not him.
I wasn't trying to be cool, I was answering his question in a straight forward and honest manner. Other people seem to be more interested in trying to blow smoke up his ass talking about interesting problem domains and how money doesn't matter.
Re: How to find reliable programmers?
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually what you've just described is an expensive programmer, albeit not overly expensive. Great programmers tend to value other things such as working with other great programmers and a stimulating problem domain. The money tends to be an adjunct.
Anyone who claims that money is an adjunct and doesn't work in academia or charity is bullshitting not only who they're talking to, but themselves as well.
[deleted]
Re: How to find reliable programmers?
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you keep getting shafted by cheap programming "talent" and keep looking for more, you might just be a fucking idiot. Swearing and making poor extrapolations off of a simple query doesn't make you cool. It actually makes you look like the idiot, not him.
I wasn't trying to be cool, I was answering his question in a straight forward and honest manner. Other people seem to be more interested in trying to blow smoke up his ass talking about interesting problem domains and how money doesn't matter.
I was actually replying to you, not him, with an observation drawn from my experience employing a great many programmers of differing ability, including perhaps half a dozen great programmers.
In terms of great programmers, money is often subordinate to a great many other things, hence adjunct. Note I didn't say money doesn't matter.
Let me illustrate by paraphrasing the conversations I have on occasion.
Ordinary Programmer: I'm quitting.
Me: Why?
OP: I can get $15k more at X.
Me: Will you stay if I match it?
OP: Yes.
Great Programmer: I'm quitting.
Me: Why?
GP: I've got a great opportunity to work over at X with Y doing Z.
Me: Look, I can't afford to lose you: If it's a matter of money I'll match it.
Me: Perhaps we can see how Z might work for us....
GP: Actually I'm pretty keen on working with Y.
GP: It's not about the money, believe it or not I'm taking a bit of a cut.
Me: I see. Is there anything I can do to make you stay?
GP: Nope. Hey, once I'm settled in you should come and meet Y.Re: How to find reliable programmers?
#20Programmers who read hacker news is a good starting indicator :) I would also look at their previous work and how much of an online presence they have, articles, open source projects, blogs, websites, etc. And a shameless plug - if you need an independent and highly reliable programmer, drop me a line ryan at anvilflex.com