What do you look for in a web developer?

Rage9

Rage9

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Jan 7, 2008
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I've recently considered opening myself up for full time web development work (PHP, SQL, Javascript, etc...) type work.

I'm really wondering what the community looks for in a web developer. For example:

Is being based in a certain country considered better? Or do you not really care?

Have you been burned often or ever by foreign developers?

If you have a developer now, how difficult was it to find someone you can trust and can handle the work?

Is it important that your developer be available during your business hours? Or say, is back and forth email adequate?

How often / or do you at all check prior work relationships of a developer you're going to hire? I guess a better way to put it is, do you talk to other people who've hired them for work?

How often are you in the market for a developer?

How much say in the project do you let your developer have? Do you take their input or stick to your game plan?

I find some times when first talking to some clients they really have no idea what to expect or what they are looking for.
 


skele said:
building from local zip codes:action-smiley-052:
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skele said:
for the purpose of paypal,cd baby
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3811055786_b51d292cde.jpg
 
The most important things for me, other than competency, are great communication skills, and an understanding of the end goal of the project - so that while they are writing code they understand the end purpose of the project and how it will be used.

Also, for large projects, the developer needs to be available on a regular schedule. I don't care if it's 9 AM to 5 PM or 9 PM to 5 AM, as long as it's always the same.
 
As has been said, good communication and understanding of what I want.

However, I also like to see a portfolio of their work. They can have all the qualifications they want, but I want to see experience.
 
I like my developers to possess unbridled rage and an utter disdain for anything even close to resembling a framework :)

Update your clients every day, and deliver everything early. They'll pimp you out to everyone if your communication is good.
 
[rant]
Realistic delivery schedules, dude. That's IT.

I am SOOOO SICK of hearing "When It's Done" from fucking coders when I ask them for a finish date, I could fucking puke.

I got one right now that's over FOUR MONTHS over from the original "Promised By" date (and it AIN'T from "Feature Creep"). How the fuck am I supposed to run a business like that?

There's your answer in a nutshell... RUN A BUSINESS. People will beat your DOOR down trying to throw money at you, word.
[/rant]
 
If you have a developer that trusts you, always pay them AFTER job completion. That way they'll be eager to get the project done. The problem is you'll have to work together a few times before they'll be willing to do something like that and by then you'll know whether or not they're dependable. I currently have two developers I work with. Neither of them get a penny until the job is complete. I know it's sort of a dick move, but one of my guys just gets shit done whenever he pleases. He's a great developer and all, but I can't wait 3 weeks for a search feature or something equally simple to be done. Now that I pay him afterwards, what used to take 3 weeks takes about 3 days.
 
I used to run full-time web dev. I would take clients back from foreign development firms all the time.

Be careful how you bid jobs... some clients are famous for scope creep (bid them hourly) other clients are easy to deal with (bid them contract). I always went after consistent work and would give a discount if they'd guarantee a minimum of 20-40 hrs/month. It is nice to build a relationship with a couple clients that have consistent work and then you can go after some higher paying medium sized jobs.

Build good UI. A lot of developers fail epically at this and it causes a bunch of extra work.

Learn the skills that are most valuable. Any Flash AS3 jobs I got always paid the most by far.
 
I look for Canadian hipsters that don't follow deadlines and like to start rehab threads...

J/k, anyone who can't manage a developer is a failure.
 
1) Communication (most web dev's are not what I would call a "people person").

Be able to communicate possible hang ups/difficulties. If you have a question about something, ASK it before trying to figure it out yourself. Don't be a douche when I ask questions about how something works. Don't take offense when people question your ways of thinking.

2) An understanding of the goals of the project/marketing knowledge.

The ability to see the bigger picture in what is being accomplished means the ability to possibly introduce new ideas to make the product/project better.

3) Creativity.

While I wouldn't want you to go off on your own tangent on my project, presenting new ideas or ways to do something is a huge bonus.

4) Good turn-around-time/project management skills.

Have a work threshold, don't accept more work than you can handle. You need to dedicate enough time to finish projects on time. Make it worth your while to accept a new project.

5) Ability to implement new technologies/plan for the future/scalability.

Staying up-to-date on the trends of web technologies is important. I don't want to have to recode something in 6 months because things are changing. Scalability needs to be kept in mind in case I want to expand what I'm doing.
 
Coming at this from the other end, as a software contractor, don't whore yourself out to clients that don't have a technical-fucking-clue.

Delivering projects late, missing deadlines and not following up on emails is a shitty thing to do, not only to your clients, but to yourself. I've taken on "any client I can find", and it blows. My quality of life drops significantly on days when I'm avoiding taking a phone call, just because I know this douchebag wanted his fuckwidget to auto-magically make him rich on the intertubes, and he wanted it done yesterday. Tomorrow, when it's done, and he mails a million people and doesn't sell a single copy, he'll start blaming me for his failure because the font was too large or he navigated to the wrong URL and thought the server was down or some shit, when really, I was working with a moron all along, and moron's don't make money, they just get occasionally lucky.

So don't take on clients with unrealistic expectations just because they've got fat pockets and no fucking clue what they're doing. I'd rather make half as much and work with/for someone who's written code before; these are the kinds of people that get excited (rather than upset) when you tell them you spent the last 8 hours working on (refactoring the code | migrating to a new framework | securing the server | anything technically important, but not in the original work description).
 
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uplinked said:
So don't take on clients with unrealistic expectations just because they've got fat pockets and no fucking clue what they're doing. I'd rather make half as much and work with/for someone who's written code before; these are the kinds of people that get excited (rather than upset) when you tell them you spent the last 8 hours working on (refactoring the code | migrating to a new framework | securing the server | anything technically important, but not in the original work description).
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+rep
 
uplinked said:
Coming at this from the other end, as a software contractor, don't whore yourself out to clients that don't have a technical-fucking-clue.

Delivering projects late, missing deadlines and not following up on emails is a shitty thing to do, not only to your clients, but to yourself. I've taken on "any client I can find", and it blows. My quality of life drops significantly on days when I'm avoiding taking a phone call, just because I know this douchebag wanted his fuckwidget to auto-magically make him rich on the intertubes, and he wanted it done yesterday. Tomorrow, when it's done, and he mails a million people and doesn't sell a single copy, he'll start blaming me for his failure because the font was too large or he navigated to the wrong URL and thought the server was down or some shit, when really, I was working with a moron all along, and moron's don't make money, they just get occasionally lucky.

So don't take on clients with unrealistic expectations just because they've got fat pockets and no fucking clue what they're doing. I'd rather make half as much and work with/for someone who's written code before; these are the kinds of people that get excited (rather than upset) when you tell them you spent the last 8 hours working on (refactoring the code | migrating to a new framework | securing the server | anything technically important, but not in the original work description).
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ok, beer time again soon...+rep
 
uplinked said:
Coming at this from the other end, as a software contractor, don't whore yourself out to clients that don't have a technical-fucking-clue.

Delivering projects late, missing deadlines and not following up on emails is a shitty thing to do, not only to your clients, but to yourself. I've taken on "any client I can find", and it blows. My quality of life drops significantly on days when I'm avoiding taking a phone call, just because I know this douchebag wanted his fuckwidget to auto-magically make him rich on the intertubes, and he wanted it done yesterday. Tomorrow, when it's done, and he mails a million people and doesn't sell a single copy, he'll start blaming me for his failure because the font was too large or he navigated to the wrong URL and thought the server was down or some shit, when really, I was working with a moron all along, and moron's don't make money, they just get occasionally lucky.

So don't take on clients with unrealistic expectations just because they've got fat pockets and no fucking clue what they're doing. I'd rather make half as much and work with/for someone who's written code before; these are the kinds of people that get excited (rather than upset) when you tell them you spent the last 8 hours working on (refactoring the code | migrating to a new framework | securing the server | anything technically important, but not in the original work description).
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It's your job as a service provider to set expectations with a client. If the client has unreasonable expectations, you should tell them so before accepting the project.

That's like a mechanic saying "I won't work with anyone who hasn't changed their car's oil before" or a lawyer saying "I won't represent someone who hasn't studied for the Bar".

Not trying to start an argument or anything, just my opinion.
 
Magic Hat said:
It's your job as a service provider to set expectations with a client. If the client has unreasonable expectations, you should tell them so before accepting the project.

That's like a mechanic saying "I won't work with anyone who hasn't changed their car's oil before" or a lawyer saying "I won't represent someone who hasn't studied for the Bar".

Not trying to start an argument or anything, just my opinion.
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OK, but if a guy comes into my autoshop with a dead battery, and he's talking about how he'd love to race NASCAR someday (but doesn't even know what a muffler is), I'm not about to shoot down his dreams. I'll do the shitty little job I was contracted for, even though I know I'm capable of rebuilding engines, and I don't have the heart to tell this guy that with his severe case of retardation, he'll never even reach 30mph.

But, if he leaves, and I start fixing his dead battery, and he calls me fifteen minutes later screaming "WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY ROCKET THRUSTERS?", then that's a dead-beat client. Crazy, insane, asking for the moon, and I'll politely ask him to come pick up his car -- but at this point, I'm lucky if he even pays me for the battery I installed.

Also, automechanic/lawyer analogy is fundamentally fail -- Neither of these professions ever takes on work for revshare, because the final product is not expected to be profitable. You tell a mechanic "make my car work" and you tell a lawyer "keep me out of prison", and these are both established, measurable metrics. If a client asks you to "finish" a site, or "improve" the code, who gets to judge what's "realistic" and what's egregious?
 
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uplinked said:
Coming at this from the other end, as a software contractor, don't whore yourself out to clients that don't have a technical-fucking-clue.

Delivering projects late, missing deadlines and not following up on emails is a shitty thing to do, not only to your clients, but to yourself. I've taken on "any client I can find", and it blows. My quality of life drops significantly on days when I'm avoiding taking a phone call, just because I know this douchebag wanted his fuckwidget to auto-magically make him rich on the intertubes, and he wanted it done yesterday. Tomorrow, when it's done, and he mails a million people and doesn't sell a single copy, he'll start blaming me for his failure because the font was too large or he navigated to the wrong URL and thought the server was down or some shit, when really, I was working with a moron all along, and moron's don't make money, they just get occasionally lucky.

So don't take on clients with unrealistic expectations just because they've got fat pockets and no fucking clue what they're doing. I'd rather make half as much and work with/for someone who's written code before; these are the kinds of people that get excited (rather than upset) when you tell them you spent the last 8 hours working on (refactoring the code | migrating to a new framework | securing the server | anything technically important, but not in the original work description).
Click to expand...

+1 for qualifying your clientele. There's a reason why some companies spend $2500 on a Word document saved as an HTML file on godaddy hosting.

What are you going to do if the client asks you to put some blinking text and a midi file on the page? Even if you know that might not be the best thing to do, you are still gonna have to do it because it's what they want.

What are you going to do if a prospective client asks you to see some examples of sites you've done? Doubt you'd show them that one, but if this is the type of clientele you've had, you will have 9 sites like that and maybe 1 good one.

If they don't know anything about the development process, I guarantee once you move from design (after you have gone over the entire design with them and they OK it) to implementation, they are gonna come to you with something that was never in the design, not understanding how it's gonna affect your development cycle. When you try to bill them for it, they will likely get pissed off because it's been some weeks and they don't have a site. You almost have to do the whole thing backwards in order to make any kind of progress with these types.
 
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