I am always amazed at the number of times I speak with people who are looking for freelance Flex developers and end up having no luck finding a decent contractor or they have contracted with one and then gotten burned. Maybe I’m a little naive and think freelance contractors would have more scruples, apparently some don’t. If you make a living providing services to companies and individuals what more valuable asset do you have then your reputation and your word? Ruin those and you are done … protect them, guard them, do your best to enhance them and you should have little trouble finding and keeping clients and work.
Here are a few pointers to anyone looking for freelance Flex or Flash developers (or any web contractor in general for that matter).
- Always ask for references. Whenever I am in the position to hire or contract an individual or company I always asked for references. What better way to quickly evaluate if someone is what they say they are. A five minute conversation with a few past clients will quickly add clarity to the picture you form on someone’s character and capabilities. Anytime I meet with a prospective client I’m prepared to provide references and I’m always astonished at the number of times they never ask. It boggles my mind that people don’t check references.
- Check their website and blog. Two things I personally think of with my website are: 1. you only get one chance to make a first impression and 2. always dress the part for a job or business interview. I would consider a freelance developer’s website an immediate litmus test on whether or not they are worthy of your business. Does it look professional and maintained? I know looks are subjective and everyone has different taste but you should be able to set taste aside and determine if something looks professional. Have they put effort into making the best impression they can? Do they have a portfolio or list of projects that reflect quality workmanship? If they have a blog, are they blogging on development related items? Do they provide any samples or demos you can look over to get a feel for their development skills?
- Put on your PI hat and Google them. Spend 10 to 20 minutes investigating their online presence. Google their name, their domain name and their email address. Look them up on LinkedIn. Find out the good, the bad and the ugly about them. Remember that not everything you find is 100% accurate but it should help to give you a good feel about the person. I worked at an interactive shop that hired a quote/unquote developer who looked great on paper. Turned out he was great at self promotion and not so great at development. Unfortunately the person who was responsible for hiring him didn’t bother to do any research on the person. Five minutes on Google would have turned up multiple reasons not to hire the person.
- Are they a full-time freelance flex developer or a moonlighting developer? Those are two very different things. I have nothing against developers moonlighting, I’ve done it and you can find some people who moonlight and can be a great asset to a project. You need to realize a moonlighter can not devote the same energy to your project that a full-time contractor can. Are you comfortable with that? Do you have tight deadlines or need frequent contact during normal business hours? Even full-time contractors may not be able to devote full energy to a project. Ask a prospective contractor what their schedule is like. I’m open with my clients and potential clients about my schedule. If my plate is full I explain that up front so their expectations about my time can be managed and realistic.
I’m sure many people already follow similar ideas when evaluating developers and doing so is no guarantee you won’t get a rotten apple, but hopefully they can reduce the chances of it happening to you.
If you are looking for a Flex or Flash contractor and don’t know where to start feel free to contact me. I may not be available to help on your project but I can hopefully point you to some resources that may be able to.
Or contact me for that matter…
Is it safe to generally say that you can find a quality Flexer if they host and write their own blog? I’d say so. Great post!
Hey d,
I wouldn’t say if a flex developer blogs that they are necessarily a quality developer, however it should give you a good feel of what they can or can not do and how they present themselves. We’ve all seen developer sites where it’s pretty obvious the person is just throwing stuff together. Also, with how easy it is to setup a site or blog, it should set off a little warning signal when you can’t find a developer’s online presence.
I’m not sure I agree with you on the blogging thing.
Being a good author is a skill, and a very different skill from being a good programmer.
There are those who are good at both, but there are many developers who are not… and that’s okay.
I often find that I struggle to get content up onto my blog that’s factual, interesting, and readable, and that hasn’t been covered by every other flex developers blog out there. If I can’t find something to post that fits these criteria – I simply don’t.
You’re right – setting up a blog is easy – maintaining it to a quality that reflects your ability as a professional software developer is not.
There’s simply no guarantee that the quality of one is a reflection of the quality of the other.
Just my two cents.
Hey Marty,
Very true that being a good developer and being a good author are two very different things. I don’t expect all developers will have a blog. However I would expect that any web developer who is working for themselves as a freelancer or independent contractor would at the very least have a basic website with some info of what services they offer, what projects they have worked on and some contact info. If they are serious about running a business that would be the lowest common denominator they should have. If they work somewhere as a full time employee having their own site is just a personal choice, but if your business and livelihood is contracting then you had better invest some time and effort in a decent site.
Totally agree that blogging is not easy, I don’t blog as often as I would like but as you said, if I don’t have something interesting or new to put out there, better off to say nothing then just act the part of a repeater like so many blogs out there.
I see your points. And I agree. However, I also think that if you’re a serious Flexer (or any developer), you’ve got something to share with the community, and that alone qualifies you as a decent developer – assuming your content helps people.
I find it difficult to continue to write useful posts when there are so many that don’t even bother to comment or share the fact that they found your posts useful.
I can immediately relate. I just took over some work for a client from another flash “developer”. The code base I got was all as2 and strewn about a timeline in ways that I did not know existed.
From my experience it becomes very clear when you’re working with a designer, a developer, or an individual who knows that old programming habits (timeline code, as2) don’t lend themselves well to changes and readability.
It’s been an interesting challenge working through this when every bone in my body begs to lose sleep to rewrite the whole site in AS3.
Anyways, to use State Farm’s slogan, “I’m there.”
Hi Derrick,
Stephen Law, Freelance Telemarketing Expert here – I agree with you that a Freelancer lives or dies by their reputation, whatever their field of expertise.
With the recession – are you finding that a lot more people are now entering the freelance zone as Flex Developers?
Kind regards,
Stephen SL-Freelance