Peter’s Blog

On my daily rounds of forums views I regularly come across threads that show how much of a problem getting a good coder can be. For that reason I have compiled the following guidelines.

When choosing a programmer or coder (of anyone else that you wish to hire to do some work for that matter), there are several things that you need to do to ensure that you are hiring the best person for the job.

1) When preparing to hire someone. Ensure that you make a clear and detailed list of what you want. For example if you wish for a site to be made ensure that you list the main things that you wish for your visitors to be able to do. You may have a clear understanding of what you want but unless you can convey that properly to the programmer they will not understand your needs properly. Having a detailed brief will help the programmer when they are making a quote. Remember if you do not list something then suddenly add it to the project you may have problems as it has not been accounted for when the programmer has worked out how long it will take and how much it will cost.

2) Always ask for examples of the programmers past work. You can learn a lot from someone’s previous work. The examples can be either in the form of code they give you or links to sites they have worked on. If they provide links ask for details on what they actually did on the site. Some people would provide you with a link saying they built the site when in fact they may, for example, have only built the login system or the mailing system. If the programmer is unwilling to provide examples you have to wonder what they are hiding.

3) Before accepting a quote always ask for a time frame in which you can expect the work to be completed. If someone claims they can do it in a couple of hours and everyone else states days then ask questions on why they think they can achieve it so fast. Do not assume they can. They may have exaggerated how quickly they can do it just to get the contract.

4) Do not always go on price. The cheapest quote is not always the best quote (and for that matter nor is the most expensive). If you have a look around the script lance type sites you will find many instances of complex jobs getting pitifully low quotes. There are several possibilities here.

• The programmer is doing work cheap to get a good portfolio of work.
• The programmer is not actually aware of what is involved. Either due to the fact they have not read the brief or they have a lack of understanding.
• The programmer is low balling. Once he has the job suddenly things will become apparent that may increase the price

Of course there are other reasons as well but these are the main ones. Do not immediately believe that someone is capable of doing a job because they say they can. All too often this is the cause of problems. This is where point 1 comes into play as well. If the programmer has only ever worked on small scripts and never worked on a substantial project, be a bit weary for example if you are asking for a complete CMS to be made and they give you a quote.

5) Agree on a price BEFORE the work has started. As well as agreeing on price. You should also make an arrangement of what will happen if for example problems are found on the way. Problems do occur and this can cause conflict especially when the programmer feels the problems were out of the remit for the project. If you make prior agreements then this can be minimized. An agreement of this nature usually entails an upper limit on what you will pay on the finding of problems. Of course understand, that if the problem is too big a new agreement may need to be made. The agreement should also include other expenses that may be incurred. For example if you are having a site made and currently do not have hosting or a domain, this is an added expense that may not be included in the agreed budget. If this is the case insist that you are involved in the buying, or at least ensure that you receive invoices for these services. Ensure also that the programmer did not purely buy this service/product because of some affiliation they have with them.

6) Under no circumstances pay the full amount before the work has been completed. Like many people, programmers tend to lose interest when they have been paid. Most programmers will insist on a payment before the work starts. If this is the case make a payment of maybe 20%. If the job is a large job you may have to agree on paying in increments so that the programmer does not have to wait for the job to be completed before they get any more money. You may for example agree to make another instalment at each 20% completion interval. So you would pay a 20% (of the remaining 80% that needs paying of course) when the project is 20% complete then again at 40% and again at 60% until the project is complete. This ensures that the programmer is still keeping an interest and so that you still have a budget if the programmer walks away from the project.

7) Keep track of where on the project the programmer is at. All too often problems occur because the programmer may not have understood properly how you wish things to be and has ended up going off on a tangent.

These are of course only basic guidelines but if you follow them you have eliminated most barriers people have when working with contractors of any kind.

Can you think of any more guidelines that should be followed? If so let me know.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 8:07 pm and is filed under PHP, Programming In General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.