How to Find Software Contractors

This is the second in a series of articles on hiring and working with software contractors. In the first article, we talked about the economics of contract software development.

In this article we’re going to cover how you find and hire a contractor. The process described in this post, if followed, will save you many, many headaches and lots of your hard-earned cash if you follow it religiously.

As with hiring a full-time employee, you have to be willing to invest in the process to get the best results.

It Has To Be Love

The first thing you’re going to do is ask people you trust who they’ve used for contract work in the past. Almost anyone who’s built a technology product has used contractors at some point, and their mileage has probably varied. What you want to hear is something like “We could never have gotten our product done without them!” Anything short of a rave review should be reason enough for you to not waste your time. Your time is too valuable to deal with middle of the road talent.

Do Your Homework

Once you’ve narrowed the list and had preliminary conversations with a few contractors, you’re going to want to check out how they’ve performed for other clients. Do not simply use the list of references they provide, though you can certainly start there.

Use your network to find clients they haven’t told you about. Every contractor has projects that have gone sideways for one reason or another. It’s as important to find out how they operated in that circumstance as in the other more favorable projects. If you can’t find any in your network, ask the contractor directly.

Make sure you’re talking to senior people at these companies. If they’re small, talk with the CEO if possible. Remember, this is as much a business decision as a technical one.

Test Test Test

The last, and most critical, step in hiring a contractor is to have them do a test project with you and your team. Put together a project specification of reasonable size (say 4-8 hours of work) that you can use to assess both the technical aptitude and fit with your team. This initial test project should be done at the expense of the contractor, or at the very least at a significant discount from normal rates.

There is nothing like working with someone on a real problem to get a sense for what they’ll be like to work with going forward.

Once the test project is done, have the technical components reviewed by someone you trust if you don’t have the expertise on your team.

One more thing: Only work with a contractor who will provide you with dedicated resources. You don’t want a “black box” relationship where you don’t know who’s doing the work.

Just Remember

Hiring a contractor requires the same diligence as hiring employees.

• Ask around for recommendations, and only proceed with companies where you get passionate, positive recommendations
• Do in-depth checking of past clients, including those who had projects that went wrong
• Always put the contractor through a test project before hiring

Your Assignment

What if you needed to hire a contractor tomorrow? Do you have a list of companies you’ve already established relationships with? The best time to build the relationship is before you need it.

This week, ask your network for three software contractors they’d recommend. Set up initial meetings with each of them to get details on:

• Typical lead time to hire
• Rate structure
• Areas of expertise / specialization

Having a few companies in your quiver who already know you and have an idea of what your needs might be will save valuable time down the road.