I'm about to hire my first freelancer. Help me!

[akhila27]

Hello I'm new here.

I'm about to hire my first freelancer from Freelancer or Odesk or Elence. The project is a software and by budget is around 300$. I just want to know few things?

1. What's the best place to hire a freelancer?
2. Have you had any bad experiences hiring them? If so please mention those here. So I can be aware!
3. I used to think hiring freelancers for a professional project is just a waste of time. Do you think so?

Thank you!
Please help me.

 

[xthstudios]

there are lots of good software programmers here.... better than those from freelancer and odesk...., i suggest you visit the marketplace section.. i'm pretty sure you can find someone here

cheers!

 

[chris38]

As suggested above, you can find some talented freelancers here, but it depends on you how you choose a talented freelancer, you have ability to judge the talent or not...

 

[beatngu]

Just watch it when hieing them there are a lot of scammers around.
Do not go for the cheapest service most of the time there is a reason why they are so cheap.
Look at their portfolio and check if they have done similar jobs in the past and also look at their reviews.

 

[infocraze]

I have found scriptlance to be better for software related projects, though these days you could find good freelancers almost everywhere. You may even list your requirements here and get qualified persons contact you.

 

[sam.hunt0710]

Depending on what you are trying to get coded for $300 you will find people.

An average to good programmer in any 3rd world country who dominate these marketplaces should charge at least $10-15 an hr.

If someone is charging you lesser than this like $5 an hr and promising you the moon,he is prolly a mediocre programmer or you will get scammed at the end hiring him.

$300 effectively should get you 25-30 hrs of programming from a decent programmer.

Depending on what you are trying to accomplish,if you can get it done within 25-30 hrs, then go ahead get a freelancer. When estimating the time, use your brain don't listen to what they claim. Most freelancers have no idea how much time something should take.

If you think your project should take more than 25-30 hrs of programming, then try to increase your budget. Or else get ready to be scammed by a freelancer who will take the project for $300 and never complete it and you will find yourself in a tough situation and waste more time in trying to recover the money off the freelancing site THAN it would have taken to actually get the project done.

 

[xthstudios]

just always remember.. what you pay is what you get... beatngu and indianbill007 are right... you go for cheap... you will get cheap... there is no such thing as cheap price/high quality

 

[akhila27]

there are lots of good software programmers here.... better than those from freelancer and odesk...., i suggest you visit the marketplace section.. i'm pretty sure you can find someone here

cheers!

What I have is a software need. Do they have good software engineers here? Not web developers

 

[Tangy]

Hello I'm new here.

I'm about to hire my first freelancer from Freelancer or Odesk or Elence. The project is a software and by budget is around 300$. I just want to know few things?

1. What's the best place to hire a freelancer?

Congratulations, once you find the right people it's a fantastic way to get project work completed at a fast pace and for a lower cost than using someone local. Each of them has their own benefits; I've found in my experience that oDesk has been better for "jobs" or "tasks" while Freelancer has provided better software and web development. Your experience may vary, so try them all out. You can literally cut and paste the exact same ad between them to save time.

2. Have you had any bad experiences hiring them? If so please mention those here. So I can be aware!

There are no bad hires on freelancing sites - just bad project descriptions, bad interviewing and bad management once you choose someone to do the job. You're outsourcing this service because you want to save money - that's really the only reason to do it - so you're going to deal with contractors who accept low rates. This means that some will be less competent, some will be scammers, etc.

My point is that you need to do a good job with the hiring process to avoid bad experiences.

3. I used to think hiring freelancers for a professional project is just a waste of time. Do you think so?

It will only be a waste of time if you let it become a waste of time. If you're diligent with policing your freelancers and guiding their performance you should be fine. If you don't keep your eye on whomever takes your project... well, you can imagine the results.

 

[tiyowan]

Low price, high quality and quick delivery - pick any two, you can't have all three.

Ask for daily progress reports.
Request an online VCS repo that you can look at.
Talk to them until you're satisfied there won't be any communication issues.

You'll be fine. Let us know how it went.

EDIT: Your questions.

1. Odesk is generally better than all the others.
2. I've never hired anyone - I work as a freelancer.
3. I have a lot of long-term relationships with my clients, so I wouldn't say it's a waste of time.

 

[akhila27]

Congratulations, once you find the right people it's a fantastic way to get project work completed at a fast pace and for a lower cost than using someone local. Each of them has their own benefits; I've found in my experience that oDesk has been better for "jobs" or "tasks" while Freelancer has provided better software and web development. Your experience may vary, so try them all out. You can literally cut and paste the exact same ad between them to save time.



There are no bad hires on freelancing sites - just bad project descriptions, bad interviewing and bad management once you choose someone to do the job. You're outsourcing this service because you want to save money - that's really the only reason to do it - so you're going to deal with contractors who accept low rates. This means that some will be less competent, some will be scammers, etc.

My point is that you need to do a good job with the hiring process to avoid bad experiences.



It will only be a waste of time if you let it become a waste of time. If you're diligent with policing your freelancers and guiding their performance you should be fine. If you don't keep your eye on whomever takes your project... well, you can imagine the results.

Thanks man!!! Appreciate it!

 

[pishty]

You can hire the freelancer from any freelance market. But before that make sure to check his professional history and only choose those that have good reputation.
Also use escrows for freelances security in order to avoid him giving up on the project. Payments through escrow enable the feedback exchange and this will keep the freelancer focused on your project.
Also be user to clarify the project terms before starting the project.

 

[DanDanger]

My quick advice...

If using oDesk DO NOT pay an upfront fee. I've had so many wasted projects from developers collecting an upfront fee, attempting the project... then giving up after a week.

Pay on completion ONLY.