PHP Developers

Surprised you found someone in the Netherlands that was cheap. Euros don't help things.

However , that's probably an anomaly. In addition , the application you wrote is small (if he charged $10 per hour that's 100 hours work) , which is two-three weeks work max. The code probably only needs to work , and can be pretty easily maintained due to its lack of complexity.

Thus , proper structure , validation and other supporting stuff would probably not need inclusion , so
hiring a cheaper worker would have a better chance of working out.
 
I think finding good devs is just plain ol' difficult.

I would never want to get back into PHP. Everyone thinks it's "easy" and that it is just a bunch of scripts you can throw together. Everyone is quick to use an open source system and then customize it.

They don't realise it is easier and better to build a custom solution according to the business's needs.

Heck, I even find it hard to motivate for why a system takes 50+ hours in .Net when clients automatically think it is a simple thing you can just whack together with duct tape.

Our industry is just misunderstood and PHP developers have the worst end of that stick.
 
I do C# at work and PHP after hours. If you're interested drop me a line and we can talk. Been doing both commercially for 7 years now.
 
retromodcoza said:
Surprised you found someone in the Netherlands that was cheap. Euros don't help things.

However , that's probably an anomaly. In addition , the application you wrote is small (if he charged $10 per hour that's 100 hours work) , which is two-three weeks work max. The code probably only needs to work , and can be pretty easily maintained due to its lack of complexity.

Thus , proper structure , validation and other supporting stuff would probably not need inclusion , so
hiring a cheaper worker would have a better chance of working out.
Click to expand...

Not true. He clearly commented all different functions and sections. Had a complex Admin system with xml/json fetching and more. BUT I agree, this probably doesnt happen often anymore and most freelance devs take chances or come up with excuses.

We still chat today, so it was probably a great find for me, point is, it's not impossible to find a good developer or two on freelancer.
 
retromodcoza said:
Surprised you found someone in the Netherlands that was cheap. Euros don't help things.

However , that's probably an anomaly. In addition , the application you wrote is small (if he charged $10 per hour that's 100 hours work) , which is two-three weeks work max. The code probably only needs to work , and can be pretty easily maintained due to its lack of complexity.

Thus , proper structure , validation and other supporting stuff would probably not need inclusion , so
hiring a cheaper worker would have a better chance of working out.
Click to expand...

$10 .... omg man thats less than £7 an hour. Are you sure this dude was in Netherlands. you cant survive on that low income in Europe

edit; UK minimum wage is £6.70 an hour.....
 
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I used to do freelance perl work as a kid. I'm sure my rates were pretty cheap :p

Haha, I remembered I even had a site kinda like a precursor to freelance.com etc. I just googled the address and came across a thread asking for feedback on the design of another page for selling a script I made. I actually sold a few copies of that, nothing hectic but enough to buy myself a new pc.
Found a 100% intact copy of the site I set up for selling the script from 2010, but the last update on the site basically 2002/2004. Surprised it was still up in 2010. Everything looks super lame now :p
 
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Hitchcock said:
Forget hiring a PHP developer. Problem in SA is that companies expect to pay these guys peanuts and need them to do more work than what they are worth. If you are about to hire a developer, you will probably get ****! A real competent PHP developer will probably ask for a salary of no less than R1m per year.

Outsource your work to established companies or make use of freelancers.
Click to expand...

obviously the bold part is not true. I know quite a few "real competent" php guys on much less than that.

For medium sized dev houses, corporate salaries kill the market. Average developers asking massive salaries, and not being able to deliver value.

A junior is just that, junior, pretty much worthless in probably the first 6 months, with exceptions. R10k-r15k seems fair to me. Hell, you are getting paid and getting a free education
 
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_kabal_ said:
obviously the bold part is not true. I know quite a few "real competent" php guys on much less than that.

For medium sized dev houses, corporate salaries kill the market. Average developers asking massive salaries, and not being able to deliver value.

A junior is just that, junior, pretty much worthless in probably the first 6 months, with exceptions. R10k-r15k seems fair to me. Hell, you are getting paid and getting a free education
Click to expand...

Nope, no jokes and no lies.

Most SA companies, in fact, I doubt any SA company has ever appointed or made use of a real PHP developer. They all make use of normal developers and pay them 200 - 500k per year. No serious competent PHP developer will work for that salary.

You will not hire a real PHP developer with 15 years experience and competent in all facets of this coding language for anywhere less than R1m to R1.5m per year - and then you will be lucky if you do find such developer willing to work for that salary.

South African companies are more accustom to the 'Jack of All Trades' - those developers who has to make a call every hour to friends to get help on projects they are assigned to.
 
Ok......

You know exactly what you are talking about.....

Ps. That is sarcasm, you have no idea what you are taking about. That, or you are attempting some sort of satire
 
Whatever the case may be, I don't like the 'jack of all trades' approach taken in S.A., at least that part is true. I'd rather specialize and be very proficient at a core set of technologies with others on the team doing their speciality.
 
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That's exactly why they're rare in SA. Your company offers a salary of R60k a month where most companies in Cape Town offer that a year. Companies are too damn cheap here so no one sees the benefit in developing their skills beyond knowing enough to edit existing frameworks.
 
I am looking at the salaries thrown around in this thread and I am thinking that I should be teaching myself PHP.
 
Kilgore_Trout_Redux said:
I am looking at the salaries thrown around in this thread and I am thinking that I should be teaching myself PHP.
Click to expand...
We have to consider the other side as well: with salaries like that why did the previous guy leave and why aren't the positions filled yet?
 
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