management
sarcasmI get asked this question very often: Where and how do you find and hire a good programmer? Since Iâm a programmer and I manage software projects, Iâm supposed to know the tricks. I do, of course; there are many of them, but the list below succinctly summarizes the most important ones.
Iâll be referring to âhim,â but these recommendations apply equally to both female and male slaves software developers.
Ask a Friend. The best way to find talent is through a reference. Who knows the software market better than your high school classmate who bought a WordPress website last year, right? He will definitely recommend a good programmer to you. Recommendations are the most effective way of finding contractors. First, you donât need to worry about screening and testing. Second, youâll have a very good explanation for why your project failedâbecause your friend let you down with a bad recommendation. Win-win.
Hire Only Locals. Donât even think about a remote programmerâremote projects always fail. Always. He will work in a different time zone, you will always have cultural clashes, and his Russian accent will be annoying. You simply wonât be able to meet him every second day and whine about your project being too expensive, too slow, and too frustrating. Hire only localsâthey are much easier to manage and punish.
Donât Offend With a Lack of Trust. A talented professional programmer will be offended if you ask him to pass a test or prove some of his skills. That will demonstrate that you donât trust him. And if you donât trust him, you simply should not work together. Trust is the most important thing in any project. Also, donât ask how certain things will be done. He is the professional youâre hiring, and he knows what he is doing. Thatâs enough.
Fall in Love. After trust, the most important thing is a personal connection between you two. Iâm not saying you must fall in love with your programmer, but it wonât hurt. You should feel an emotional touch with him. Otherwise Java code wonât work like you need it to. If you canât fall in love, you should at least become good friends. Invite him to your home parties, go to movies together, and introduce him to your wife. All of this will seriously affect the quality of the product he is creating.
Donât Specify Too Much. Thatâs what Agile recommends, and I second thatâface-to-face communication is more valuable than documentation. Donât write any documentation, donât specify what exactly you need to develop, and donât think too much about your âuser stories.â Itâs all in the past. Modern software engineers figure everything out by themselves. Just let him be creative and communicative. If something isnât clear, just call him. Remember, a Skype call is always better than those boring documents that nobody knows how to write.
Motivate by Value. In order to create a great software product, he must be very excited about it. Make sure he is excited. If he is not excited, call him again. Motivate him. Talk to him. Explain to him your brilliant Google-killer business idea again and again. Until the moment he screams says âIâm excited.â He must know what a great value your product is producing for the entirety of civilization. And he must be excited. Do I have to say it one more time? Excited! Are you excited already? Iâm excited.
Promise Job Security. Even if you just raised $2K for your startup from your wifeâs step-dad, promise your programmer a cloudless financial future. He must know that youâve got enough to pay him until he retires. A good programmer must want to work with you forever. Thatâs the type of programmer you need. You donât want one of those greedy freelancers who always jumps from project to project. You need a long-term commitment. Thatâs why you have to pretend youâre rich enough.
Delay Money Talks. Donât mention money for as long as you can. Ideally, ask him to create a prototype first and âthen weâll discuss your salary.â A good programmer doesnât work for money. He works for satisfaction. Thatâs who you need. You should discuss value, excitement, features, market disruption, and anything else thatâs important, but not money. Programmers in general are not really good in financial negotiations. Use that to exploit him for as much as you can.
Donât Negotiate. Eventually you will have to discuss money. Make sure there will be no negotiation involved. Itâll be an offensive process, and most programmers are very sensitive. Just tell him how much you will pay, and if he doesnât feel that is enough, get back to the value/excitement/market conversation. Do it again and again until he agrees.
Require Full Commitment. Make sure he will be fully committed to the project. Ideally, he must not have any other projects or even any personal life at all. He must promise to be 100 percent with you and your idea. If he is planning on doing something else, demonstrate that it will offend you. Act jealous, like a loving wife. You donât need a programmer who is interested in something else.
Make Him a Partner. First of all, making him a partner will save you a lot of money. Ideally, you should convince him to work for free. Good programmers are good entrepreneurs and like to take risks. A good programmer knows that in order to become the next Mark Zuckerberg, he must start at a job with no salary. Give him some equity and keep those motivational speeches coming. Itâs a perfect money-saving technique.
Be Positive. Simply donât tell him about your risks and concerns. The future of your project is bright, and he doesnât need to know more. Youâre going to be his leader, and a good leader is never too honest with subordinates. Always be positive about the planâhe needs to get that from you.
That should be enough to find and hire a good programmer. Interestingly enough, I just re-read this text one last time and it looks to me like a âhow to find a wifeâ tutorial. Donât you think? Anyway, did I forget anything? Donât hesitate to post some extra wisdom below in the comments section.
You need to hire a programmer. Which one out of these four you will choose? #career
— Yegor Bugayenko (@yegor256) May 5, 2019
