What are some good questions to ask a potential consultant w/out insulting them?

Question

We're looking at possibly outsourcing some development to a local consultant, what type of questions would you ask during an initial meeting?

We're potentially looking to have them build some basic webapps in ASP.NET and SQL Server 2008.

Some of the other questions here are geared toward a new employee who may or may not have a lot of experience, maybe I'm wrong but it feels inappropriate to ask some of those types of questions to a consultant with what appears to be a decent portfolio.

Answer 1

Why not just tell them upfront that you are not used to interviewing with consultants and to excuse you if some of your questions seem out of line? In any case, you are hiring them, so unless you are actually rude or offensive, they should not be so touchy.

Answer 2

I am actually a consultant, so I can give you some insight into the types of questions I have been asked.

• Does what we're working on seem interesting to you?
• Do you have any experience building the type of application we're working on?
• One of the problems we have with the application is [x]...any thoughts?
• What kind of team are you used to working with?
• Our work hours are typically [x] to [y]. Does that work for you?
• Do you have any questions about our company?

Most of the trouble consultants have coming onto projects is around the culture of your company and accepted standards. You want to try to clarify or get out in the open as many of these things as possible.

Many consultants are very skilled technologists, so you really need to focus on whether they are a good fit for your company's culture.

Answer 3

As a consultant, let me say this:

Treat the interview with the consultant the same as you would for hiring an employee. Asking them to "prove" themselves should never be taken as insulting.

The only reason they might be offended is if they aren't worth it to begin with.

Now, the flipside is, once engaged, a consultant is NOT an employee and (depending on your location) is free to perform the work or subcontract it as they see fit.

One other thing: Ask for verifiable references in regards to their portfolio, and actually call those people. You want to find out two things. First, what did the consultant actually do on those projects? (You might be surprised at how much or how little) Second, what did they think the consultants strengths and weaknesses were.

Because it's a consultant (and not an employee), the previous clients have a bit more leeway in what they can say about someone.

Answer 4

My recommendation is you ask them some basics about asp.net and SQL in general. Also just because they have a portfolio is not a reflection of their ability to code. That being said I suggest you have them write some code during the interview.

Answer 5

Here's my list of a few questions I'd ask on the first meeting:

• What development methodologies do you like to use? If you get a blank look, this isn't a good sign, IMO. Some may like Waterfall, others more Agile and some a hybrid.
• How frequently would we communicate? How often would you demonstrate functionality? Would there be a test environment where I could try out things?
• Would we get source code as it is developed or just at the end? Either can be justified to my mind, so be aware of which they may prefer.
• How much experience do you have doing this kind of work? How many big of a team do you have?
• What kinds of support and maintenance options do you generally offer?
• Could you give us a couple of customers that could act as a reference for your work?
• How complicated are your typical contracts,e.g. are they thousands of pages or just a few or somewhere in between?

Some of these are designed more to focus on the relationship you'd have as that is where I'd want to focus a bit. Don't forget that there is a lot of things that can be buried in that portfolio.