Startups Stack Exchange Archive

Contracting for a short period of time

I have a small project in mind that will require to hire a developer for a short time (probably 6 months) in the UK. The University I work in has some trouble to recruit for such a short period of time so I am looking for a viable and attractive way to get a developer. Is there a best practice in the developers community to hire someone for such a short-term mission?

Answer 13168

This is exactly the type of work Freelancers are for. 6 month contacts are ideal, for a freelancer to be able to block out 6 months of their time and know they will get paid they are generally happy (even better if it is an interesting project).

Freelancers have to be found in order to get work, so the good ones get their name out, are generally known by the tech communities and work via word of mouth a lot of the time. Start letting people know that you are after a freelancer to do some work and they’ll usually find you.

If you go onto facebook and look for groups such as ‘start-ups newcastle’ or whichever region you are in and let that group know you should find someone very quickly - many freelancers work out of the same co-working and incubator spaces as startups.

There are probably even freelancer groups on social media in your area.

tweet the local incubator space if there is one.

Alternatively, if you know what type of technology you need to use for your project then there is likely a meet-up for it. Here in newcastle there are programming language/tech meetups most nights of the week. Get yourself along to one and talk to the people there. Someone will likely take the contract or give you advice on the brief or point you in the right direction.

Answer 13166

One thing that you can do is outsource the whole service from a small firm with experience in India. It is going to be way cheaper than getting a developer in the UK to do it for you.

You can easily contact them through various websites like Freelancer, Fiverr, UpWork and a few others.


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