Calling business owners and managers...
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... id like to pick your brains for my business class research assignment. Id like to include real world opinions on the subject as opposed to just what i can find on the net.
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
Please bare in mind that i might quote what you have to say so if you reply ill assume you have no problem with that. Thanx
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming)I am the CEO/Owner of my small consulting firm. My consulting firm is business-to-business, and also business-to-consumer. I provide technical services, as well as software development, and data management. I currently have just enough to keep me busy. Employing a permanent staff member besides myself is unlikely to happen. More than likely part-time/full-time sub-contractual opportunities may arise in the next 6-12 months pending client's client funding. These sub-contractual offering will most likely be on a as-needed basis, or perhaps project to project. The type of people I will be looking for, in the event of needing extra sub-contracted help, are reliable, dependable, and have some decent background in CS/IT/CIS. Hope this is helpful information for your class, and good luck with the assignment.
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
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I am the CEO/Owner of my small consulting firm. My consulting firm is business-to-business, and also business-to-consumer. I provide technical services, as well as software development, and data management. I currently have just enough to keep me busy. Employing a permanent staff member besides myself is unlikely to happen. More than likely part-time/full-time sub-contractual opportunities may arise in the next 6-12 months pending client's client funding. These sub-contractual offering will most likely be on a as-needed basis, or perhaps project to project. The type of people I will be looking for, in the event of needing extra sub-contracted help, are reliable, dependable, and have some decent background in CS/IT/CIS. Hope this is helpful information for your class, and good luck with the assignment.
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
Thank you Paul, every bit will help, i appreciate your time
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming) -
Thank you Paul, every bit will help, i appreciate your time
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming)No worries, let us know how your assignment turns out :)
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
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No worries, let us know how your assignment turns out :)
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
will do
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming) -
... id like to pick your brains for my business class research assignment. Id like to include real world opinions on the subject as opposed to just what i can find on the net.
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
Please bare in mind that i might quote what you have to say so if you reply ill assume you have no problem with that. Thanx
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming)Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
Owner/CEO and we do work in simulations and gaming. In MBA speak you could call us an outsource partner working a very specific niche.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
Probably never. We do work on a per project basis and I have a few very reliable contractors that I use also on a per project basis.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
I consider it if we were to pick up some type of maintenance project that was slated for a set period of months. Or if we are contractually obligated to support the project or portion of a project that we deliver.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
See the last answer.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
First and foremost I look for specific experience in our field. Second, I interview them and make certain that they know their stuff and I can get along with them. And finally, I verify all of their references. All things being equal the next thing I consider is education. Also, I require that my team members are at least in the same time zone as me and do not require any type of sponsorship. Ideally I prefer that they are local but, my best contractor is in Austin, TX a few hours away. As far as compensation goes, I pay a bit above market and offer a bonus if we deliver ahead of schedule. I want my pool of contractors to be happy and looking forward to working with me in the future.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
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... id like to pick your brains for my business class research assignment. Id like to include real world opinions on the subject as opposed to just what i can find on the net.
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
Please bare in mind that i might quote what you have to say so if you reply ill assume you have no problem with that. Thanx
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming)I don't know if this will help but here goes: Currently I work for someone else but I used to be a self-employed one man show in electronic gaming repair. If I needed someone, I would hire them for a day or two to help me out. What I looked for then was just someone who could follow instructions. I always did wonder though if I made enough money to hire someone full time who would I hire. Here's what I discovered: I can teach a monkey to do 90% of what I need done. It's the other 10% that's the killer. What really matters is the dependability and the honesty. In other words, if I put $500 in cash under a pc board in the back corner of the shop and left it there for a week, would it still be there when I came back for it? And, can they show up everyday and work?(you wouldn't believe how many people can't do this) That's all I can give you but I hope it helps some and good luck.
Member number three million seven hundred seventy two thousand nine hundred sixty three
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... id like to pick your brains for my business class research assignment. Id like to include real world opinions on the subject as opposed to just what i can find on the net.
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
Please bare in mind that i might quote what you have to say so if you reply ill assume you have no problem with that. Thanx
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming)Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
I'm what roughly translates to "Chief technology officer" in a company doing specialized surveys.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
When we have/will have to much to do and it doesn't seem to be just temporary. Or if the temp workers seem to be getting new projects all the time.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When we have a limited project and we don't have enough resources internally.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
When we need to test someone for a project or employment.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
What qualities would you look for in the people who applied
That's the tough one. Reading a CV or checking a couple of references doesn't really tell me if they can do what we want. That's why we try to give untested/unknown developers a small realworld project. And we check how fast and well it was done. Personal recommendation from someone I trust is of course the best thing to have.
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Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
I'm what roughly translates to "Chief technology officer" in a company doing specialized surveys.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
When we have/will have to much to do and it doesn't seem to be just temporary. Or if the temp workers seem to be getting new projects all the time.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When we have a limited project and we don't have enough resources internally.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
When we need to test someone for a project or employment.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
What qualities would you look for in the people who applied
That's the tough one. Reading a CV or checking a couple of references doesn't really tell me if they can do what we want. That's why we try to give untested/unknown developers a small realworld project. And we check how fast and well it was done. Personal recommendation from someone I trust is of course the best thing to have.
Jörgen Andersson wrote:
Reading a CV or checking a couple of references doesn't really tell me if they can do what we want. That's why we try to give untested/unknown developers a small realworld project. And we check how fast and well it was done. Personal recommendation from someone I trust is of course the best thing to have.
Good one. I'll have to remember this in the event I need sub-contracted help. What metrics do you use to determine how fast is fast enough, and how do you gauge someone doing a well enough job? I am assuming it is a common sense thing?
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
-
... id like to pick your brains for my business class research assignment. Id like to include real world opinions on the subject as opposed to just what i can find on the net.
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
Please bare in mind that i might quote what you have to say so if you reply ill assume you have no problem with that. Thanx
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming)Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
Managing Director / Company Owner.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
This and the contract position depend on whether there is too much work on, and whether or not I can guarantee that the work will keep coming in. There's no point in me hiring somebody for the long term if I cannot guarantee that there is anything in the future, because I will have to pay them even when there is no work in - and that's the quick way to the company going out of business.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
Never. I don't agree with this.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
Well, apart from the obvious technical skills I woud be looking for people who would fit into the team. Interpersonal skills and attitude are important, and it's good to see how people will get on with the existing team. Pay - well, that depends on the role and responsibilities, and is confidential - sorry, but my team read these forums and wouldn't appreciate me telling on how much they get paid - it's up to them to tell people their salaries, not me.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Jörgen Andersson wrote:
Reading a CV or checking a couple of references doesn't really tell me if they can do what we want. That's why we try to give untested/unknown developers a small realworld project. And we check how fast and well it was done. Personal recommendation from someone I trust is of course the best thing to have.
Good one. I'll have to remember this in the event I need sub-contracted help. What metrics do you use to determine how fast is fast enough, and how do you gauge someone doing a well enough job? I am assuming it is a common sense thing?
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
We're not into rocket science, so yes, it's mostly a common sense thing. If I'm unsure I'll have someone in the staff give me their opinion. Another factor I failed to mention is, how much help or extra info they need to finish the task. Making sure that they are doing what we want is good to a certain extent. Having me doing the task by proxy is bad.
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Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
Managing Director / Company Owner.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
This and the contract position depend on whether there is too much work on, and whether or not I can guarantee that the work will keep coming in. There's no point in me hiring somebody for the long term if I cannot guarantee that there is anything in the future, because I will have to pay them even when there is no work in - and that's the quick way to the company going out of business.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
Never. I don't agree with this.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
Well, apart from the obvious technical skills I woud be looking for people who would fit into the team. Interpersonal skills and attitude are important, and it's good to see how people will get on with the existing team. Pay - well, that depends on the role and responsibilities, and is confidential - sorry, but my team read these forums and wouldn't appreciate me telling on how much they get paid - it's up to them to tell people their salaries, not me.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Hey pete Thank you for your time, this will be very helpful
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
sorry, but my team read these forums and wouldn't appreciate me telling on how much they get paid - it's up to them to tell people their salaries, not me
not a problem, totally understandable. I just typed out the questions as they were given. Lets say i needed to employ a someone, how should i go about deciding what to offer him or her?
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming) -
Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
I'm what roughly translates to "Chief technology officer" in a company doing specialized surveys.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
When we have/will have to much to do and it doesn't seem to be just temporary. Or if the temp workers seem to be getting new projects all the time.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When we have a limited project and we don't have enough resources internally.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
When we need to test someone for a project or employment.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
What qualities would you look for in the people who applied
That's the tough one. Reading a CV or checking a couple of references doesn't really tell me if they can do what we want. That's why we try to give untested/unknown developers a small realworld project. And we check how fast and well it was done. Personal recommendation from someone I trust is of course the best thing to have.
Hey Jörgen Thank you for taking the time to reply, i really appreciate it.
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming) -
I don't know if this will help but here goes: Currently I work for someone else but I used to be a self-employed one man show in electronic gaming repair. If I needed someone, I would hire them for a day or two to help me out. What I looked for then was just someone who could follow instructions. I always did wonder though if I made enough money to hire someone full time who would I hire. Here's what I discovered: I can teach a monkey to do 90% of what I need done. It's the other 10% that's the killer. What really matters is the dependability and the honesty. In other words, if I put $500 in cash under a pc board in the back corner of the shop and left it there for a week, would it still be there when I came back for it? And, can they show up everyday and work?(you wouldn't believe how many people can't do this) That's all I can give you but I hope it helps some and good luck.
Member number three million seven hundred seventy two thousand nine hundred sixty three
Hey Dirk Thank you, im sure ill be able to use your material thanx again
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming) -
Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
Owner/CEO and we do work in simulations and gaming. In MBA speak you could call us an outsource partner working a very specific niche.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
Probably never. We do work on a per project basis and I have a few very reliable contractors that I use also on a per project basis.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
I consider it if we were to pick up some type of maintenance project that was slated for a set period of months. Or if we are contractually obligated to support the project or portion of a project that we deliver.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
See the last answer.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
First and foremost I look for specific experience in our field. Second, I interview them and make certain that they know their stuff and I can get along with them. And finally, I verify all of their references. All things being equal the next thing I consider is education. Also, I require that my team members are at least in the same time zone as me and do not require any type of sponsorship. Ideally I prefer that they are local but, my best contractor is in Austin, TX a few hours away. As far as compensation goes, I pay a bit above market and offer a bonus if we deliver ahead of schedule. I want my pool of contractors to be happy and looking forward to working with me in the future.
Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long
Hey Chris Thank you for taking the time to reply, i appreciate it
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming) -
I don't know if this will help but here goes: Currently I work for someone else but I used to be a self-employed one man show in electronic gaming repair. If I needed someone, I would hire them for a day or two to help me out. What I looked for then was just someone who could follow instructions. I always did wonder though if I made enough money to hire someone full time who would I hire. Here's what I discovered: I can teach a monkey to do 90% of what I need done. It's the other 10% that's the killer. What really matters is the dependability and the honesty. In other words, if I put $500 in cash under a pc board in the back corner of the shop and left it there for a week, would it still be there when I came back for it? And, can they show up everyday and work?(you wouldn't believe how many people can't do this) That's all I can give you but I hope it helps some and good luck.
Member number three million seven hundred seventy two thousand nine hundred sixty three
Dirk Higbee wrote:
dependability and the honesty. In other words, if I put $500 in cash under a pc board in the back corner of the shop and left it there for a week, would it still be there when I came back for it?
Two ways to look at that, either they are very honest (good thing) or are clueless (potentially bad)...
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
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Hey pete Thank you for your time, this will be very helpful
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
sorry, but my team read these forums and wouldn't appreciate me telling on how much they get paid - it's up to them to tell people their salaries, not me
not a problem, totally understandable. I just typed out the questions as they were given. Lets say i needed to employ a someone, how should i go about deciding what to offer him or her?
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming)Look at what the average is in your area for people with the skills you require, and then offer more. Offer regular bonuses and opportunities for pay rises, and try to have a culture that's a bit more interesting than the stuffy corporate types. If you're a smaller company, then you have to be more agile because you have to work harder and do more to keep staff because they become more like family. Take the time to get to know your people, and don't treat them as though they are just staff. Treat people well, and you will keep them.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Look at what the average is in your area for people with the skills you require, and then offer more. Offer regular bonuses and opportunities for pay rises, and try to have a culture that's a bit more interesting than the stuffy corporate types. If you're a smaller company, then you have to be more agile because you have to work harder and do more to keep staff because they become more like family. Take the time to get to know your people, and don't treat them as though they are just staff. Treat people well, and you will keep them.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
If you're a smaller company, then you have to be more agile because you have to work harder and do more to keep staff because they become more like family. Take the time to get to know your people, and don't treat them as though they are just staff. Treat people well, and you will keep them.
Excellent point. Right on the mark. OT: What are your thoughts on the database normalization you posted the other day?
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
If you're a smaller company, then you have to be more agile because you have to work harder and do more to keep staff because they become more like family. Take the time to get to know your people, and don't treat them as though they are just staff. Treat people well, and you will keep them.
Excellent point. Right on the mark. OT: What are your thoughts on the database normalization you posted the other day?
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
Paul Conrad wrote:
OT: What are your thoughts on the database normalization you posted the other day
Well - I'm up to second normal form. I'm actively developing 3 articles right now, and an on-off one with Mr Clifton (who's a little bit sidetracked at the moment). I'm writing one on normalisation, another in my series on going solo dealing with customer relations and one on a WCF flight simulator.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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Look at what the average is in your area for people with the skills you require, and then offer more. Offer regular bonuses and opportunities for pay rises, and try to have a culture that's a bit more interesting than the stuffy corporate types. If you're a smaller company, then you have to be more agile because you have to work harder and do more to keep staff because they become more like family. Take the time to get to know your people, and don't treat them as though they are just staff. Treat people well, and you will keep them.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Thank you very much Pete
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming) -
Paul Conrad wrote:
OT: What are your thoughts on the database normalization you posted the other day
Well - I'm up to second normal form. I'm actively developing 3 articles right now, and an on-off one with Mr Clifton (who's a little bit sidetracked at the moment). I'm writing one on normalisation, another in my series on going solo dealing with customer relations and one on a WCF flight simulator.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
another in my series on going solo dealing with customer relations
That one already has my five vote :laugh: Looking forward to seeing it :)
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham