Employing a web designer/developer VS training one

[Idiosyncratic]

Hi folks!

As many of you know, I freelance in web design/development a fair bit, doing work I can find etc. Now, I never thought I'd be saying this, but is seems that I finally have more work than I can actually cope with! I'm looking at my options... I can either:
1. Employ a trustworthy guy and teach him the "dark arts" (I can always buy courseware and have him learn HTML5, CSS, etc. himself)
2. Employ a web designer (Now we're talking big money in expenses, right?)

No, I'm not really looking to outsource to someone here (just in case anyone wanted to introduce themselves ) since I know where to go when I want to outsource stuff. I'm looking at expanding - getting another dude (or dudette ) onboard will help the process.

Just in case someone is concerned about person in scenario 1 running away - I'll make him sign a contract to work for me for like 2-3 years.

Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Ancalagon]

I wouldn't be concerned with anyone running away. If you go into this with the idea that he will, you will make it more likely to happen. Give the person the training and trust they need, and it will be rewarded.

That being said, I think you are too small to hire someone that needs extensive training. Every hour that you spend training this guy, is money that you cannot bill to a client. How much cheaper will a graduate/newbie compared to someone that can hit the ground running?

 

[Idiosyncratic]

I wouldn't be concerned with anyone running away. If you go into this with the idea that he will, you will make it more likely to happen. Give the person the training and trust they need, and it will be rewarded.

That being said, I think you are too small to hire someone that needs extensive training. Every hour that you spend training this guy, is money that you cannot bill to a client. How much cheaper will a graduate/newbie compared to someone that can hit the ground running?

I agree 100%. Just mentioned it in case someone wants to bring that up - this is MyBB after all!
If I have this guy self-study then I can spend time working on my clients' projects... The thing is, there's money to train someone, however I am not sure that I have the guts (at the moment) to fork out the R15k+ a month that you have to pay someone with some design experience.

That being said, I think you are too small to hire someone that needs extensive training.

Here's the thing, I'll need to get someone to help in the very near future. There's sadly no 2 ways about it.

 

[Ancalagon]

I agree 100%. Just mentioned it in case someone wants to bring that up - this is MyBB after all!
If I have this guy self-study then I can spend time working on my clients' projects... The thing is, there's money to train someone, however I am not sure that I have the guts (at the moment) to fork out the R15k+ a month that you have to pay someone with some design experience.



Here's the thing, I'll need to get someone to help in the very near future. There's sadly no 2 ways about it.

I don't know what area of the country you are in, but I doubt that an experienced web designer will go for R15k per month. Seems way too low. I would have thought double that at least.

Hiring a graduate and then telling him to self study in most cases will not end well. Only in the rare and exceptional case of someone who is self motivated and intelligent will it work.

 

[eternaloptimist]

Well, you could scout for some talent at meetups (organizers will point you to the right person). There's always people that are really keen to learn there.

 

[DJ...]

Prepare for a PM-explosion from Thor187.

Quite sure if he hasn't seen this yet someone will let him know about it. He's certainly got the requisite energy...

 

[Thor]

Prepare for a PM-explosion from Thor187.

Quite sure if he hasn't seen this yet someone will let him know about it. He's certainly got the requisite energy...

That's false sir. I have a good job

 

[DJ...]

That's false sir. I have a good job

 

[Thor]

 

[[)roi(]]

Hi folks!

As many of you know, I freelance in web design/development a fair bit, doing work I can find etc. Now, I never thought I'd be saying this, but is seems that I finally have more work than I can actually cope with! I'm looking at my options... I can either:
1. Employ a trustworthy guy and teach him the "dark arts" (I can always buy courseware and have him learn HTML5, CSS, etc. himself)
2. Employ a web designer (Now we're talking big money in expenses, right?)

No, I'm not really looking to outsource to someone here (just in case anyone wanted to introduce themselves ) since I know where to go when I want to outsource stuff. I'm looking at expanding - getting another dude (or dudette ) onboard will help the process.

Just in case someone is concerned about person in scenario 1 running away - I'll make him sign a contract to work for me for like 2-3 years.

Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated!

The debate is whether you could easily find someone that has the ability to grow / acquire the knowledge vs., just finding someone who already demonstrates the ability and aligning them to your needs.

Clearly both options have pros and cons, but IMO option 1 is never a guarantee. Focusing on option 2 however should put you in touch with similar minded / skilled developers that you could work with when needed in a type of quid pro quo. Strict employer / employee scenarios also work, but quite often you don't want the overhead of having to keep consultants on book.

Personally I always opt for the latter.

 

[rward]

Interviews take a lot of time.

I'd advise asking for CV's and then filtering those to ones that actually have some sort of experience.
Have a small html/css/js/xxx test (related to what you want the person to be doing) that should take under 3 to 4 hours to complete and send it to the potential candidates.

Check the responses, take the top 10% and interview them.


This should work for both an inexperienced person and an experienced person.


About 2 years ago I struck it lucky and managed to interview and employ an awesome person that wanted to learn more and soak up what I showed/taught them. A year later and he got offered double the pay doing phoneapp dev (which he learnt while working for me) at a big company (we were 3 people). I told him he would be a fool if he didn't take the job.

The awesomeness was having been involved in the development of the person and helping them to get to the level where they were employable by a big company and to 3 months later be leading a team of 3. It was a great personal reward and growth experience, even though I lost a very valued employee.

Remember, you're a small business. Unless you have an awesome business plan and intend to grow to be a big company then whoever you employ is coming in with a glass ceiling above them. It's only a matter of time before they hit it so remember to include this in your management strategy.

You may even look at taking on an intern. There should be some kid nearby that is keen to learn and looking for an opportunity.

 

[Idiosyncratic]

You may even look at taking on an intern. There should be some kid nearby that is keen to learn and looking for an opportunity.

Now that's an idea! There's actually a pretty nice bloke who contacted me a while ago about the possibility of this... Thing is, I don't want to sacrifice too much precious time training someone. I believe a designer/developer should be able to work alone, and thus should also be able to study alone. Would it be worth it investing in the training of a keen young fella and then have him work for me for a while? I don't mind losing someone 2 years on... By then I could have someone else.

I don't know what area of the country you are in, but I doubt that an experienced web designer will go for R15k per month. Seems way too low. I would have thought double that at least.

Hiring a graduate and then telling him to self study in most cases will not end well. Only in the rare and exceptional case of someone who is self motivated and intelligent will it work.

That's why I said R15k+
If it's possible to scout for someone who is self-motivated - would that be my better option then?

 

[rward]

This is going to be a bit time consuming but if you do get the right person then it's worth it:

You're unsure what to do so I think you should put out two job adverts.

One for an intern type and one for a more experienced type. Get some cover/motivation letters and CV's.
Cut out the ones you don't feel good about and who you don't think are able or have the necessary experience/attitude.

Possibly send a quick test to them, some html/css thing that can be done in under 4 hours. Check how they code, if it's responsive, are they using classes or is the css inline, that kind of thing.

Filter out the people who can't do it/don't respond.

Meet the rest of the people, see how you interact, what they are like, how they think.
A nice question we used is "Talk me through how you would develop an online video store". See if they include customer liason, overall design of the system, db design, payment provider, etc. They don't need specifics, just to know what kind of components would go into a system like that and how they would fit together.

What you're obviously looking for is someone with technical ability and that shares similar values and beliefs regarding work as what you do.


If it turns out that you like one of the "intern" people more than the "experienced developer" then hire that person. I think it's easier to have someone you get on with and train them up than to have someone who is good but that you clash with.

 

[Idiosyncratic]

This is going to be a bit time consuming but if you do get the right person then it's worth it:

You're unsure what to do so I think you should put out two job adverts.

One for an intern type and one for a more experienced type. Get some cover/motivation letters and CV's.
Cut out the ones you don't feel good about and who you don't think are able or have the necessary experience/attitude.

Possibly send a quick test to them, some html/css thing that can be done in under 4 hours. Check how they code, if it's responsive, are they using classes or is the css inline, that kind of thing.

Filter out the people who can't do it/don't respond.

Meet the rest of the people, see how you interact, what they are like, how they think.
A nice question we used is "Talk me through how you would develop an online video store". See if they include customer liason, overall design of the system, db design, payment provider, etc. They don't need specifics, just to know what kind of components would go into a system like that and how they would fit together.

What you're obviously looking for is someone with technical ability and that shares similar values and beliefs regarding work as what you do.


If it turns out that you like one of the "intern" people more than the "experienced developer" then hire that person. I think it's easier to have someone you get on with and train them up than to have someone who is good but that you clash with.

I reckon this is fantastic advice - I'll go with that!