Calling business owners and managers...
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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)No worries. Good luck with your schoolwork.
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)So, do we get a copy of your report/assignment? I'd like to see what you wrote. position: CEO, HR, IT, etc. - small consulting company..... When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff? --- never - here's why. I want someone who has taken that leap to being entrepreneurial - with all that comes with it. It's just too much of an advantage to work with someone like this. Contract... --- hmm, 12 months? Just need the work. Daily/weekly --- see above. Qualities: ---- commitment, commitment and UNRELENTING honesty. Crap happens, people make mistakes, I'm okay with that (to quote a VP I worked for one time). But, take ownership. As others have said, it is very, very hard to find people that suck it up and just keep going to get the job done.
Charlie Gilley Will program for food... Hurtling toward a government of the stupid, by the stupid, for the stupid we go. —Michelle Malkin
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I am owner/CEO of a small business dealing with contract programming and R&D related to 3D graphics, imaging, or scientific calculation and visualization -- I could add game programming in there too, but I have no contracts in that area yetcurr. When would I hire someone permanently? rarely, all of my current work is contract. I would need full time renewable contracts, then and only then with a guaranteed contract income from year to year would I consider hiring someone permanently. Then the problem, as others have mentioned, is finding someone good and trustworthy. When will I hire someone under contract? When I have the work. I get work, they get work, pretty easy math there. When would I employ someone on a daily or weekly basis? Hard to say, my business deals in months, and adding someone for a week is more likely to set me back than help. I would say there is one exception and that is for advice/consultation with another company or expert in a field. I could easily see hiring someone for a week as an expert consultant in a specific area. I deal in a highly technical area, so I need people of highly technical skills, that is a given. But I would reinforce the issue with trust. I need people who want to work, who desire the R&D enjoyment of solving problems no one else has yet, and can be trusted. That is a rough combination.
And who are good at dodging various projectiles, both guided and unguided... ;P ;)
WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated.
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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.
Founder/Managing Director. We operate mostly in the developer tools market, but also provide bespoke software/IT support for local companies and charities.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
Already do - there are 2 members of staff.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
We are unlikely to "employ someone under a contract" in the way you are thinking, but we do subcontract specific areas (e.g. graphic/web design and some marketing) already.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
Unlikely. See the previous 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?
If we did take anyone else on, we would look for a forward thinking individual who valued quality and thought well "outside the box". We don't value conformity, but do look for innovation, pragmatism and a committment to producing a quality product which is needed by the customer. A liking for loud obnoxious rock music is a bonus, of course. I never did get on with headphones in the workplace. ;)
Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
Founder/Managing Director. We operate mostly in the developer tools market, but also provide bespoke software/IT support for local companies and charities.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
Already do - there are 2 members of staff.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
We are unlikely to "employ someone under a contract" in the way you are thinking, but we do subcontract specific areas (e.g. graphic/web design and some marketing) already.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
Unlikely. See the previous 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?
If we did take anyone else on, we would look for a forward thinking individual who valued quality and thought well "outside the box". We don't value conformity, but do look for innovation, pragmatism and a committment to producing a quality product which is needed by the customer. A liking for loud obnoxious rock music is a bonus, of course. I never did get on with headphones in the workplace. ;)
Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
Thank you for your time Anna I appreciate it
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming) -
So, do we get a copy of your report/assignment? I'd like to see what you wrote. position: CEO, HR, IT, etc. - small consulting company..... When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff? --- never - here's why. I want someone who has taken that leap to being entrepreneurial - with all that comes with it. It's just too much of an advantage to work with someone like this. Contract... --- hmm, 12 months? Just need the work. Daily/weekly --- see above. Qualities: ---- commitment, commitment and UNRELENTING honesty. Crap happens, people make mistakes, I'm okay with that (to quote a VP I worked for one time). But, take ownership. As others have said, it is very, very hard to find people that suck it up and just keep going to get the job done.
Charlie Gilley Will program for food... Hurtling toward a government of the stupid, by the stupid, for the stupid we go. —Michelle Malkin
Hey Charlie 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) -
Thank you for your time Anna I appreciate it
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming)Anytime! :rose:
Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"
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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 can not answer your question personally. But these guys are always in the business news. Their forte is recruiting and finding jobs for CEO's. You might contact them for more info, and talk to one of their recruiters. Challenger Gray and Christmas[^]
MrPlankton
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I can not answer your question personally. But these guys are always in the business news. Their forte is recruiting and finding jobs for CEO's. You might contact them for more info, and talk to one of their recruiters. Challenger Gray and Christmas[^]
MrPlankton
Thanks for the suggestion MrPlankton :) [sing] F is for fire that burns down the whole town U is for Uranium.... BOMB! N is for no survivors :rolleyes: [/sing]
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)> Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in. I'm the operations manager for a small software company that develops code analysis tools. Right now we mainly service the aerospace and automotive industries, and we've done some work for financial/insurance companies in the past. Currently we have one commercial, shrink-wrapped product which is selling worldwide, but the majority of our work still comes from contracts. > When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff? Yes, we currently have several full-time staff, as well as some of long-term contract workers for software engineering and translation services. > When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months? We often employ 1 or 2 interns during the fall and spring semesters, as well as during the summer break. We also have one person who we originally hired under contract for a period of a few months, and we've made his contract more or less permanent since he has continued to be extremely reliable now for several years. > When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis? Occasionally if we need someone to do some technical writing and all of our developers are busy on contract work, we'll farm out some of the writing for someone else to do a first draft, then we proof it to make sure the writer had a grasp of the technical terms and concepts. We contract out translation work (usually on a per-word basis) when we need error messages, GUI elements, documentation, or tech support requests translated to/from Japanese or another language. We also have hired interpreters to sit in at meetings when customers visit us, or to accompany one of us when visiting customers in Japan. Sometimes we happen to know an expert in the field of a particular contract that we've taken on. In those cases, we usually subcontract the person at either their normal rate or our normal engineering rate. > What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services? We look for bright, self-motivated graduate or undergrad students from the local university. Everyone who has been hired full-time at the company has been an intern at some point, and we are always looking for interns who we could consider hiring full-time when the opportunity arises. Ever since we gave a simple project to an intern who completely failed to produce anything even remotely like the spec we provided him, we've used that
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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)If you are still collecting these, here's mine...
Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
I am the owner (and Technical Director) of a small software development company. Our clients are approximately 80% government, 19% small/medium business, 1% individuals.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
Probably never. I prefer to contract workers as needed.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When I have a project that requires a resource for that period of time.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
When I have a small project that requires a resource for a shorter period of time, or if I am giving a trial run to a potential candidate for a longer project.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
Communication skills are top of the list, followed by technical skills. Workers need to be keen and motivated, with the ability to think for themselves, but know when to seek clarification. We tend to pay commensurate with the contractor's experience, however usually pay slightly higher than the contractor would receive going through a larger "body shop". Hope this helps!! Please let me know how your assignment turns out.
-------------------------------------------------------- Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in fruit salad!!
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If you are still collecting these, here's mine...
Harvey Saayman wrote:
Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in.
I am the owner (and Technical Director) of a small software development company. Our clients are approximately 80% government, 19% small/medium business, 1% individuals.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff?
Probably never. I prefer to contract workers as needed.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months?
When I have a project that requires a resource for that period of time.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis?
When I have a small project that requires a resource for a shorter period of time, or if I am giving a trial run to a potential candidate for a longer project.
Harvey Saayman wrote:
What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services?
Communication skills are top of the list, followed by technical skills. Workers need to be keen and motivated, with the ability to think for themselves, but know when to seek clarification. We tend to pay commensurate with the contractor's experience, however usually pay slightly higher than the contractor would receive going through a larger "body shop". Hope this helps!! Please let me know how your assignment turns out.
-------------------------------------------------------- Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in fruit salad!!
Thank you Damian Ill let you know how it goes
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming) -
> Firstly please specify what your position in your company is and in what industry you work in. I'm the operations manager for a small software company that develops code analysis tools. Right now we mainly service the aerospace and automotive industries, and we've done some work for financial/insurance companies in the past. Currently we have one commercial, shrink-wrapped product which is selling worldwide, but the majority of our work still comes from contracts. > When will you employ someone as a permanent member of staff? Yes, we currently have several full-time staff, as well as some of long-term contract workers for software engineering and translation services. > When will you employ someone under a contract for a period of months? We often employ 1 or 2 interns during the fall and spring semesters, as well as during the summer break. We also have one person who we originally hired under contract for a period of a few months, and we've made his contract more or less permanent since he has continued to be extremely reliable now for several years. > When will you employ someone on a daily or weekly basis? Occasionally if we need someone to do some technical writing and all of our developers are busy on contract work, we'll farm out some of the writing for someone else to do a first draft, then we proof it to make sure the writer had a grasp of the technical terms and concepts. We contract out translation work (usually on a per-word basis) when we need error messages, GUI elements, documentation, or tech support requests translated to/from Japanese or another language. We also have hired interpreters to sit in at meetings when customers visit us, or to accompany one of us when visiting customers in Japan. Sometimes we happen to know an expert in the field of a particular contract that we've taken on. In those cases, we usually subcontract the person at either their normal rate or our normal engineering rate. > What qualities would you look for in the people who applied, and what would you expect to pay for their services? We look for bright, self-motivated graduate or undergrad students from the local university. Everyone who has been hired full-time at the company has been an intern at some point, and we are always looking for interns who we could consider hiring full-time when the opportunity arises. Ever since we gave a simple project to an intern who completely failed to produce anything even remotely like the spec we provided him, we've used that
Thank you for replying i appreciate it
Harvey Saayman - South Africa Junior Developer .Net, C#, SQL
you.suck = (you.passion != Programming)