Hiring a programmer can be a daunting task, especially if you don’t know anything about coding. Many a marketer has hired the first programmer to come along who sounds as if they know what they are doing only to find that their projects were not able to be completed on time, or at all. In this post, we’ll give you some tips on hiring a programmer who is best suited to your business needs.
One of the best things you can do when looking for a programmer to help you with a project is to ask around. Someone who has a high level of expertise can keep to a schedule, and is easy to work with will be someone who comes highly recommended. Your fellow product creators may be willing to share who they have had the best experiences with and who they have had some not so great experiences with, too. But, don’t make your decision solely on the recommendation of others. You may also want to look at some of the popular freelancing sites for a programmer who may meet the needs of your business. Pay close attention to their ratings and testimonials of those who have used them in the past.
Once you have acquired a list of potential programmers for your project you will want to speak to each one directly. Find out more about them, such as their past and current projects, hours and days they typically work, their rates, if they have any other obligations going on at the moment that may interfere with the time you would need them to work on your assignment, etc. This is also a good time for you to describe exactly what you would expect from the person you hire and the timeline, goals, and expected result you would like to see from them.
Another good idea for once you have narrowed your list down to the one programmer you believe would be a good fit for you and your project is to give out test projects. This will allow you to evaluate their work on a weekly basis before actually committing to the entire contract. Doing this will also allow you to gauge how well the two of you work together, which will be important down the line since you might need your software updated from time to time after your launch.
Most importantly, if you really don’t know much about programming, it would certainly help you to have the assistance of someone you trust and has the experience to help you with the entire hiring process, from researching potential programmers, to interviewing them, to evaluating their performance during test projects. Eventually, you will have the confidence and knowledge that you need to do it yourself, but for a beginner, this would be the smartest course of action.
