Guidelines for outsourcing software related projects

[mentalic]

I recently had to outsource the testing of a web application I am building. I had success with it and I am sharing with you the strategy I followed:

Be ready to invest some time in finding the right employees
Never outsource if you are behind schedule. You have to do your research and probably some interviews.

Ask for previous relative work
Depending on the answer the freelancer gives to you, you might understand if he is right for the job or not.

Never outsource the whole project from the beginning
Find a small piece of the project you are building and try to outsource only that if it is possible

Hire a pool of freelancers and filter
For my project I hired about 7 freelancers. Some I paid 30$/hour and some 8$/hour. I asked only for 2-hour work each one of them. Now I have the option to hire the 2-3 best that have already proved that they are worth every cent!

Ignore high rates with no rating
There is no point in hiring someone that charges high and has no rating at all

Do not end your proposal
Try to get as more proposals as possible. Although you might not use the specific freelancers for this project, you might try to test them at a future one.

Less money per hour does not mean better value
Of 7 freelancers, the two best where the one with the highest rate/hour and the one with the lowest. So rate/hour does not equal to value/hour.

Trust your gut
If your gut says no for someone don't think about it. Move to the next one.

Hope the above will be valuable to anyone in order to save time & money

 

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