How do I find good freelancers???

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CJBabii
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How do I find good freelancers???

Post by CJBabii »

OK - The key question - How do I find good freelancers for PHP, Flash & actionscripting?

There are mental problems and worries about finding good people. Yes, someone might say they can do something, and yes, they might have good examples, but what about the most important factors; can they get it done to the deadline, and is it going to be hassle-free!

We've had cheap, we've had expensive, and it doesn't seem to matter because there always seems to be a problem. I want to find reliable freelancers who understand us and deliver to deadlines. Websites that are error-free, search engine friendly, exceed web standards, and look how we designed them. I want friendly people, that are a pleasure to deal with. When we do find good people, we are loyal to them.

I know most of you are nice people who want to do good work, it's how you find the right ones that work well with a design agency that's striving to deliver exciting experiences.

Looking forward to your responses!

CJ
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feyd
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Post by feyd »

Websites that are search-engine friendly and exceed web standards generally don't use Flash extensively, or at all. Ones that do (use Flash) certainly need alternate HTML-only versions of the Flash content.

Are you sure your company is hassle-free and utilizes these consultants wisely/correctly/insert-adverb-here?

The key to finding good consultants is often more from word-of-mouth than from the generally more direct ways. Personally, I feel a well versed consultant can easily provide written (or otherwise) testimonials or recommendations from their existing client list. Sometimes you can find a good one by "accident" via other ways, but the most reliable I've found is word-of-mouth. The only other route I've seen provide good results is going through an agency that matches clients to consultants. Mileage may vary.
CJBabii
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Post by CJBabii »

Sorry, the content got mixed up with the PHP request I put out earlier!!!

So, where do your skills lie?

How do you suggest selection and verification?
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feyd
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Post by feyd »

Unless the job is rather large (tens of thousands of dollars) I'm generally not interested in it these days, as I'm trying to stick to a more "retired" mode of development. I volunteer my time here as an administrator, but more importantly, as an (aspiring) mentor or soundboard to other developers. I do consulting on an ongoing basis with a few fairly large companies however ($20B+ annual sales.)

As for selection and verification of a consultant, I suggest analyzing their portfolio, and asking them questions about it. Depending on needs, maybe even give them various test tasks (sometimes you may be requested to pay them for this time, but since it is a general test, shouldn't cost much compared to the project cost.) If you can't get detailed information from them, then they may be lying or simply cannot talk about it too much if they are still under an NDA (however they can say they are under an NDA.) However few web project NDA's last very long in my experience, but general NDA's can last for some time from company-to-company.

As I said before, talk, if possible, to previous clients of theirs. Find out details from them directly.
CJBabii
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Post by CJBabii »

Many thanks for this. Much appreciated.
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