Hiring a Freelance Web Programmer

To save money, freelancers can be a good alternative. It's important to be careful whom you hire. Technology programmers can be particularly challenging, as communication is not always their core competency.

In a recent interview with Inc. magazine, I was asked about pointers on hiring freelance technology programmers. Here are a few pointers:

- Working as a freelance programmer is a whole other ball game, compared to working on a tech team, since there is no team to share the workload or the responsibility. Look at the past projects the freelancer has completed successfully from start to finish--while solo. Diligently check references. Don't be the experimental guinea pig.

- Look for the over-looked communications skills. While the freelancer may be a great coder, tech “geek speak” can be a whole other language—one that you may not speak so well. Do they put everything in writing; provide you with clear proposals that make sense.

- Always have a clear scope of work, deliverables. I suggest dividing the work into stages and tie a fee schedule to milestones.

Note, I did NOT endorse, recommend or suggest any online services mentioned in the article. Those sites have a lot of unknown entities--anyone can post a resume--so be careful.

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