How to Evaluate a Coder

by 19 replies
24
When you hire a coder from one the 'For Hire' sites how do you tell if he/she is
qualified?

We often hear about warriors getting ripped off when the coder cannot or
will not finish the project.

This site could be a big help in the evaluation process.

CodeEval - Evaluations Made Easy

Ken
#main internet marketing discussion forum #coder #evaluate
  • As a programmer/designer, I have experienced many cases where clients came because they were ripped off or the coder did a real bad job and I had to redo everything.

    Best way in my opinion is to check out their previous work, see if you feel comfortable, their location (many outsourced projects end up being junk to be honest), as well as if they have any references.

    Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.
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  • Ken, there are no sites that can help you out in choosing the right coder.

    But, there are a few break-backs which you can use to choose the right programmer when you are choosing and trusting upon:

    1. Get his portfolio and look at it that it is extensive. Do not give the work to starters and newbies in programming sections.

    2. Never pay upfront. If they ask for half, you can go with it and I believe that you have PayPal account so that you can ask for a refund if you find out that you are being duped. Note: Let the programmer's PayPal account be 'Verified' so that you can trackback when the amount is huge, even though its half of it.

    3. Ask for amendments on the sites that he had mentioned. Like, if he has given you umpteen sites stating that he had coded for them, ask for the recent ones and that he is still working on. Ask him/her to change something on the site, like adding a simple text in the footer, or creating a new page(if you wish to learn that he is a true expert in the area, the faster he does that, the more inclined he is to do others at such a faster TAT. Remember, The Schindler's List tool manufacturing scene??)

    4. Give him simple tasks on your site and check back within the mentioned time frame.

    5. Any programmer would have at least a couple of sites in his name to prove/test his mettle. Do take them from the programmer and ask him to replicate the problem he is facing and show you how to solve that.

    I hope I have given you something to chew on. Always test, have some backup, before giving the job.
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  • I know I'm going to be coming at this from a different angle and might even get flamed for it: Stay away from anyone specializing in the open source stuff If you tout your PHP or Ruby or MySQL skills, I take a pass.

    I've been coding for the greater part of the last 15 years. It's a professional skill just like anything else. The vast majority of PHP and MySQL folks are the ones that did a free install and read some tutorials online - that is not professional training.

    I'd stick with programmers that work with C#, ASP.NET or Java (Oracle, SQL Server, etc). Heck, I'd even take a Cold Fusion guy over a PHP guy! Those are languages that focus on solid OPP programming principles that will take you far in the long run.
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    • I find this statement a bit insulting to anyone who codes PHP. I have been coding one language or another for 23 years, starting off with BASIC, and honestly it makes no difference what language you code in as to how professional you are.

      I have come across a ton of people who profess to be expert C# programmers and couldn't even create the simplest apps with the language. Just because someone hasn't paid a fortune to learn something in a school system has no bearing on how professional they are or on their skill level. The vast majority of people who get college degrees honestly have no clue what it takes to make it in the real world of programming for hire.

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    • A bit of a (heck, a massive) generalization

      I know plently of PHP and MySQL folks who're better than the vast majority of 'real' programmers.

      Plus PHP nowadays does have decent enough OOP programming support.

      I know what you are saying (and you're right that there's plently of people who learnt PHP and MySQL quickly then try taking on massive projects for clients, and thus messing up the project), but it's still a massive generalization.

      Plus this advice doesn't help people looking for a project done in PHP and MySQL.

      Coming from a PHP/MySQL and Java guy... not that it matters

      This.

      I'm doing a maths and computer science degree at the moment and whilst there are some great programmers in the year, the number of students who will go out and put "Java and C++ knowledge" on their CV (whilst actually knowing a relatively little amount of Java and C++) will be fairly high.

      Knowing a 'real' programming language doesn't automatically mean you're better than a PHP/MySQL self-taught guy.
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  • OK, so I am a programmer. How do I find out if some one can program? Well, first I give them an easy job to see how good they are. Then a more challenging program. Finally, the real job is given.

    Yeah, it does cost me extra money. However, it is important to find out that the person can meet deadlines, comments code, etc. early on.
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  • I skim the hell out of their feedback. I also go into great detail and cover my ideas 10x over to make sure they understand exactly what I want and if they can do it. Always keep the money in escrow. If the project isn't completed, they don't get paid.

    Luckily, once you find one that's awesome, you found your coder for future projects as well...
  • I think you guys are missing something significant....

    The average person thinks that anybody who can write HTML by hand is a "coder" or "programmer".

    They cannot distinguish between HTML, CSS, php, c#, SQL, or anything else.

    To someone who can't deal with any of it, it's all equivalent "black magic" to them.

    So when someone asks "how can I evaluate a programmer?" a good first question to ask is, "what do you need them to do?" In the IM world, most of the time it's going to be something like: "I want a programmer with lots of Wordpress experience who can change the graphic on my blog header, and add four plugins to it."

    Yeah ... how DO you evaluate a programmer for tasks like this???

    -David
  • Great tips... Simply; don't pay unfront and get 3 or 4 people to choose from for backups
  • Using freelancers online, you will simply NEVER know. You have to be recommended from a good source. The guy i used to create my most recent project was great, however in finishing he became slow, and i started to see the cracks appear in his service. I found him on elance.

    For the future i will only ever hire a trusted company or hire a freelancer which has been recommended to me.
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