How to Hire (and keep!) a Programmer

Introduction:

You see it everyday. People openly share their bad experiences with programmers; others, seek programmers to fix projects left unfinished or newly discovered bugs. Job openings are frequent and not quickly filled. This article aims to help, both the little guy and the "big dogs", in employing best practices and avoiding common pitfalls during the hiring process. I'll also touch base on how to avoid losing a good programmer once you have found one; make no mistake, once you have a great programmer, you need to hold on to him.

How Much Should I Pay?

Beyond the shadow of a doubt, this is easily the most frequent question nagging at potential employers. Programmer costs are as varied as programmers themselves; and price in and of itself is NOT reflective of quality. Generally speaking though, you do get what you pay for. While it's not impossible to find a diamond in the rough, waiting to be polished, few people have the time or desire to go on a treasure hunt.

Generally speaking, a quality in-house programmer should start somewhere in the range of $70,000 USD per annum. Anything less and you face a number of obstacles:

• If they feel underpaid, they will not see a future with your company and may jump at the next offer to come along, leaving you high and dry.
  
  
• They will be inexperienced, accepting your offer while seeking to learn on the job and move on to greener pastures. In some cases, this may be what you are seeking; if it is, as long as you don't set unrealistic expectations, you can easily find candidates within budget. This strategy works best if you have work needing to be done that isn't mission critical, which can handle bugs and delays.
  
  
• Security. Are you aware that most "inside job" theft is performed by minimum wage workers? There is a reason for that. If your data and secrets are critical to your success, the last thing you want is an employee being offered a large sum of money to steal it for a competitor. This happens more than you think.

When it comes to outsourcing, you will find a much broader range of costs. Indian firms who charge $9 USD per hour sound almost too good to be true; in most cases, they are. The going rate for an experienced freelance programmer will fall in the $100 USD+ per hour range. Prices of $150 USD or even $200 USD per hour are not uncommon. However, the high cost of quality work is usually more than offset by the speed of delivery and finished product.

To get into a brief example, let's compare three programmers. "Programmer A" is an outsourcing firm based offshore who charge $10 USD per hour. "Programmer B" is an American-based but inexperienced programmer who charges $35 USD per hour. Finally, "Programmer C" is an experienced freelancer who charges no less than $125 USD per hour. You have a small project you absolutely need done in not more than 30 days. Earlier would be nice, but not required in this case as you have a set launch date.

• Programmer A: It will be completed in 30 days for 200 billed hours.
  
  
• Programmer B: It will be completed in 21 days for 75 billed hours.
  
  
• Programmer C: It will be completed in 4 days for 20 billed hours.

You may think that's an extreme example, after all, how can a single programmer do in 20 hours what it takes another programmer 75 hours for, or an outsourcing company 200 hours? I have seen the numbers personally from a wide range of quote and projects and can say as fact that this is actually a very common situation.

Looking at the numbers, the outsourcers are the cheapest option, costing you an even $2000 USD. The experienced programmer, on the other hand, costs you a fair amount more at $2500 USD. You decide to drop "Programmer B" immediately, as he is the most expensive. What you are left with is a decision most companies or individuals currently face; do you get it done quicker and pay more, or save some money but risk missing your deadline?

If you opt for the third programmer, even if something unforeseen comes up, you should have PLENTY of time for testing or modifications before your launch date. With option A, you risk missing your deadline entirely, not to mention having zero time for testing or changes. Is the security of knowing you have a solid product at launch worth the extra $500 USD? I know it would be to me.

There are other benefits depending on the circumstance, one being time. Let's take the same situation and assume that if you got the product to launch quicker, you would likely be making money from it immediately. How does that factor into your decision? Well, if you would earn more than the $500 USD difference between Programmer A and C, the advantage is obvious.

We haven't even touched on the point of inferior or unfinished work; you will definitely pay more having incomplete work fixed or finished than if you had gotten it done properly in the first place.

In the end, you are the best person to judge who is right for the particular project or situation. Only you know all the factors involved, but hopefully you should now realize that you must contemplate all the angles before making a decision. Your business depends on it.

How Do I Know if a Programmer is Good or Not?

The simple answer is, there is no simple answer. Especially for those without programming knowledge themselves, this can often be the most difficult task in the hiring process. I will outline a few suggestions which should help you eliminate those who don't fit quickly.

• Do they communicate in a prompt and professional manner? The assumption that all programmers are anti-social creatures of the night is rather unfounded in today's current landscape. Forget the image you have of the scrawny, pimple-faced hacker or overweight and balding guy in his parents' basement coding away. Many professional programmers today could easily be mistaken for a company CEO. If your programmer takes his time getting back to your inquiries, vanishes for days at a time or talks like he grew up on IRC or Social Networks, he should be dismissed almost immediately.
  
  
• Examples of past work doesn't mean anything. This is not like design work; most programmers do not have a readily available portfolio for you to review. Unless they develop open-source applications in their free time, their previous work was likely for clients who wouldn't be happy with their code being shared. Not to mention they likely have signed NDAs. This shouldn't prevent you from looking deeper into a potential candidate at all. Not to mention, you have no real way to know they code they are showing you is their own and not stolen from elsewhere.
  
  
• Have a small test developed and someone accessible to review the submissions. I generally like to choose something simple, like a Contact Form, for this purpose. Assign the candidate the task, provide him with the specifications and a deadline. Generally, a 24 hour deadline works well. This allows you a look into multiple factors. Did he refuse to "waste his time" completing the test? Move on and tell him thanks, but no thanks. Did he miss the agreed upon deadline? Expect it to happen to anything else you give him. Was his code messy, unstructured or redundant? Was his coding inefficient? Did he go outside your supplied parameters? All reasons to keep looking.
  
  
• "He was recommended to me by a guy I trust". Recommendations from people you trust are a great way to wade through potential hires. Many programmers depend upon word of mouth for ongoing work. However, you should NOT just take their word for it. Even if they did a great job for them, there is no guarantee they suit your project. Moreso, is the referer qualified to evaluate their work properly? What if things appear to work for him at first glance, but fall apart as soon as his site traffic increases? Basically, recommendations should always be considered but they are not the be all end all in your decision-making.
  
  
• Certifications do not make them a good programmer. I have seen Zend-certified PHP programmers whose coding skills left a LOT to be desired. To say nothing of their lack of professionalism or punctuality. While being certified from official sources is definitely a plus, it should not be a major factor in your choices.
  
  
• Can they follow instructions and are they independant? You likely don't have time to babysit, as you are plenty busy with growing your business. Once you have provided concise specifications and deadlines, your involvement should be minimal until it comes time to review the finished product. If someone is sending you IMs and emails all day long, especially with questions that are clearly already answered in the task specs, they might not be who you are looking for.

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