[consulting] oDesk

[Brian Vuyk]

On 05/05/2009 03:58 AM, Matt Chapman wrote:
> Good points, Bill, but why should I trust someone half a globe away, 
> with whom I've never worked with before?
>
> Also, I am definitely arguing this from the buyers side, because that 
> position seemed absent in the discussion. As a seller, I would also 
> take your position, and probably wouldn't be eager to accept a client 
> who insisted on my using oDesk either; but then, I'm not on oDesk as a 
> seller.
>
> Again, the question is, do you want to be a coder or a consultant? If 
> you just want to write code for a living, you're probably going to 
> have to put up with intrusiveness like oDesk, until everyone knows 
> you're as good as you claim to be because you wrote Views or DrupalEd 
> or something. ;-)

Haven't had to unwillingly put up with oDesk yet, nor do I plan to. 
There's been clients who I've had to turn down, but there are a whole 
lot more clients out there.

>
> Put another way, trust is a fundamental part of the equation when 
> you're hiring a consultant. But when you're hiring a coder, I don't 
> need to trust you; I need to know that you know where to put the 
> commas and the semi-colons, and that you'll write a proper module 
> instead of sending me a patch for index.php .
>
> I think it was kind of intrusive that my boss expected me to show up 
> at 9am and wear pants when I worked in the corporate world. But that's 
> what I had to do to get my paycheck. I had to save up a few paychecks 
> before I could fire my boss and win the privilege of working in my 
> underwear without anyone intruding.

Wearing pants to work, and having a client feel they have a right to 
monitor you during your work day are pretty different. One is to 
maintain a look of professionalism, and a good working environment for 
all. The other is a sign of control and lack of trust on the part of 
your client.

> Oh, but I forgot, contractors are different from employees. It's OK 
> for them to over-inflate their experience and bill me for time spent 
> learning what they said they already knew how to do....

When did anyone here condone poor billing practices? Also, time spent 
learning is part of the job. I don't expect a $15/hour coder to know the 
same amount as a $200/hour coder. That's why we are only paying $15/hour.

If the project was to go massively over budget, then I could understand 
checking up on the coder you hired a little more thoroughly. Until then, 
as long as there is no evidence of them breaking good faith, leave it at 
daily status checks, and scheduled deliverable, and keep lines of 
friendly communication up over IM or email.

>
> Best,
>
> Matt
>
>
>
> Bill Fitzgerald wrote:
>> Hello, all,
>>
>> Been following this, lurking quietly until now -- some quick thoughts:
>>>
>>>
>>> It's part of the difference between consultants and coders. Coders 
>>> might not need oDesk; consultants do.
>>
>> No one "needs" oDesk. Work was getting done before oDesk, and will 
>> get done after oDesk.
>>
>> <snip>
>>> I happen to think oDesk's tools are an even better solution in many 
>>> cases, hence I think it perfectly reasonable to ask a freelancer to 
>>> use them.
>>
>> At the risk of stating the obvious, we all will structure our 
>> businesses in the way that makes the most sense for us. A potential 
>> client mentioning the use of oDesk would be a huge red flag, and 
>> would likely cause us to turn away the work. For the same reasons, I 
>> would never hire a person where I felt I needed oDesk as a guarantee. 
>> It's a level of intrusiveness that strongly implies a lack of trust.
>>
>> It reminds me of the line from Office Space: "But you know, Bob, that 
>> will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired."
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Bill
>>>
>>
>>
>
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-- 
*Brian Vuyk*
Web Design & Development
T: 613-534-2916
Skype: brianvuyk
brian at brianvuyk.com | http://www.brianvuyk.com
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