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If You Were Hiring A Programmer, How Would You Screen Them?

by JDSalinger
9 replies
Hi,

How would you go about screening prospective programmers to figure out who can do the job and who cannot? The reason I ask is that I am relatively new to programming and need some help with my website to fix some coding bugs, editing some wordpress plugins, etc. I have setup a job request on one of the freelancer sites but am unsure how to screen the applicants when it comes to programming? I normally would give applicants a test to gauge their skills but don't have such a thing for programming. So I ask the experienced programmers on the board what I should be looking for or are there any tests out there that could help me eliminate the bad candidates?
#hiring #programmer #screen
  • Profile picture of the author jaimegm
    As with everything you need to make your question more specific, What kind of work are you trying to accomplish?
    For how long you think you are going to need it?
    Provide some guide of your ideas, sometimes a newbie can do it, some other times it is better to have someone with more experience.
    At the same time you need to know some basis, I mean in the programming arena are different kind of programmers, php, javascript, java, c,c++, html/css graphic artists etc.
    To be good delegating you need at least to have a minimal knowledge otherwise you can be either a devil or a moron.
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  • Profile picture of the author webwizdevelop
    generally I hire them from freelancers site so we can check the review of their project completed. If they have better review you can hire them
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  • Profile picture of the author PaidAllDay
    Well, I'm a programmer and I've hired programmers to help me from freelance sites. I would just go by the ratings and don't skimp on the price. A competent programmer can save you more money than a cheap one by doing things faster and more efficiently with less problems or bugs.
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  • Profile picture of the author htmlthis
    Ask for a portfolio, and see if he has a profile on a freelancer website. You can check out his reviews there. Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author JDSalinger
      Here, is the problem. I have narrowed the pool down to about 11 applicants and they all have over 100+ hours worked and all have over 4.5 on a 5 star rating. They do provide examples of their work but because I am new to programming, I can't really judge their work at least not like I could web design. So I am unsure how to cut my list down further.

      My project would require coding a wordpress website that uses some php and javascript. They would have to edit some plugins and tweak some of the existing coding for a comments form and make additions like adding an x to a magnified photo and other minor coding changes.

      What specific things would you folks be looking for in their experience or portfolio to help narrow down the list?

      I could simply just look at applicants that have over 500 hours and a higher star rating?
      I could also choose to only work with independents rather than agencies? What are your guys thoughts?
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  • Profile picture of the author htmlthis
    Try looking at the number of projects that are similar to yours that they completed. A lot of these 100 hours could be from one single project and that may not mean as much as 3-4 projects with 3-4 different requirements and different clients.
    Narrow them down further by choosing the ones that have a lot of completed projects from different clients. Also, if there's providers from the US then I would give them priority because of the timezone. Hope this helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author brutecky
    When going to freelance sites check out the dollar value of there projects. I personally would have more faith in a programmer that did 50 $1000 jobs than one who has done 100 $20 jobs.
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    • Profile picture of the author JDSalinger
      Originally Posted by brutecky View Post

      When going to freelance sites check out the dollar value of there projects. I personally would have more faith in a programmer that did 50 $1000 jobs than one who has done 100 $20 jobs.
      I was thinking this as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author dconjar
    See if they can pass the FizzBuzz test:

    Fizz Buzz Test

    If you can't FizzBuzz, you can't program.
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