How do you find outside programming help?

Question

Where do you go to find high-quality outside development help? Alternately, if you are a high-quality independent developer, where do you go find projects to work on?

I own a software and IT consulting and development company, and occasionally we get requests for projects that would require more resources than my team has to spare. My own experience with outside developers has been that despite their lofty endorsements, certifications, and accolades, the work they deliver is unusably poor.

So, if you're a developer who really knows his craft, or a small business in search of a developer you can trust to do the job right (not just well enough to get paid), how do you meet up?

Please, don't post your contact information here. The question is about the way you find independent developers, not a call for bids or resumés.

Answer 1

I used to farm out smallish jobs via HotDispatch (yeah, it's www.hotdispatch.com but I think they're defunct now). Of the folks who took on projects, there was a small Ukrainian group who were competent, reliable, friendly and not TOO expensive. So I stuck with them.

One could conceivably do the same kind of thing with whatever coders-for-hire sites exist these days. I've heard of rent-a-coder, for one... but no experiences. I may have caught the golden age when provider quality was better, or perhaps I was just lucky.

Answer 2

I would ask recommendations from people who I trust are good developers - either people I have worked with, or people I have seen talk at user groups and present/discuss actual code. If remote help was fine, I would even contact people who blog on the topic, or SO posters who intervene on the technology you are looking for. My experience with recruiters who were not developers themselves hasn't been all that great.

Answer 3

The only reliable method I have found for finding talent is word-of-mouth. If you need help on a project, get referrals from people you have worked with. Even agencies that have given me good candidates or consultants in the past will send poor ones in a pinch. Interviewing takes time and doesn't always weed out the duds. If someone on my team vouches for someone, they're in, period.