Where to find strong javascript developers for short contract work?

July 14, 2016 7:32 AM

Where does one find qualified developers for piecemeal work; without being deluged by applicants who apply to everything?

I was having a conversation last night with some people who were doing some product development for an interesting web based/image/document handling tool.

While having a drink, they said that they just could not find a place to get a good, contract development. They're looking for a long term relationship with a developer that they can employ for 1-2 montsh a year, but in increments of a week at a time.

They need some piecemeal Javascript development; quality programming, without being deluged with the people who apply to everything.

Where does one go to for this?

I'd have thought about posting on Jobs.Mefi - but I'm not them.

posted by Towelie to Work & Money (8 answers total)

IME, the good contract developers get most/all of their work through word of mouth referrals, so I'd recommend asking around. Even if they can't get referred to a Javascript developer directly, they might be able to find a referral to a solid PHP developer who then can potentially refer them on to a Javascript developer.
posted by okayokayigive at 7:34 AM on July 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

upwork.com? I've hired out small developmental jobs like this before successfully with the help of Elance (now Upwork). YMMV
posted by wile e at 8:00 AM on July 14, 2016

I would recommend going to JS meetup groups in the area and asking the organizers who they know or recommend. Also they could try doing a twitter search for well known developers in the area/field and send a @reply or DM if possible to ask them as well.
posted by xtine at 11:42 AM on July 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

is completely remote ok?
posted by lescour at 11:49 AM on July 14, 2016

They're looking for a long term relationship with a developer that they can employ for 1-2 montsh a year, but in increments of a week at a time.

The thing (well, a thing) that makes this difficult to find really skilled people for is that it's usually a crap situation to piece a living together out of as a developer. The overhead of juggling enough clients for this to be profitable is pretty high.

I definitely second that looking full-remote will help. There are also probably a bunch of agencies that will take on this amount of work, but it's hard to know what you're getting quality-wise going in, and it's not likely to be cheap.
posted by brennen at 12:46 PM on July 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

IRC, but guessing they'd get more done if they hired a more junior developer for steady part-time work.
posted by michaelh at 6:04 PM on July 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: There are also probably a bunch of agencies that will take on this amount of work

Such as?
posted by Towelie at 6:47 PM on July 14, 2016

Such as?

Well, do you consider $175/hr high? If so, might want to pass on looking for an agency, at least an American one.

If not, PM me and I can give you some names.
posted by sideshow at 9:35 PM on July 19, 2016