By selectsplat on

Greetings,

I am a long term programmer and developer looking to offload some of the more technical work on a growing/profitable small business.

I Need to hire an hourly php/drupal expert to change and modify functionality of an existing site with several custom modules.

The position is a long term, part time position. I'm looking for someone to work from 5-10 hours per week on an ongoing basis. Ther tasks I have range from fixing bugs, to adding new functionality, and overall code base maintenance of a single site.

Much of the work will involve INVOICING, and PAYPAL API (both subscriptions as well as cart). There will also be some work on a custom search engine type spider/deep link crawler.

Knowledge of 'lmpaypal' and 'weblinks' modules are a plus.

Please do not apply if you do not meet my requirements. NO EXCEPTIONS

- Must be an EXPERT with custom Drupal modules.
- Must be able to work sometime during the hours of 9am - 10pm EST.
- Must be able to communicate via GTALK.
- Native English speaking programmer is strongly preferred.

Programmer will be paid $20 per hour. Continued employment will be based on PRODUCTIVITY. If I don't like how well you produce, I will stop giving tasks, and you will stop getting paid. As I said, I'm a programmer myself, I know what I want, and I know what I should expect.

PM me, or contact me at http://www.adhocads.com/contact if you are interested.

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

Position still available. I'm hoping to establish a long term relationship with a programmer I can trust and rely on.

Arnold Leung’s picture

Arnold Leung commented

FYI: $20/hr is a pretty low rate for an expert drupal contractor in the North America region.

Michelle’s picture

Michelle
she/her
Primary language English
Location Wisconsin, USA
commented

While the security of getting jobs without having to go look for them is nice, that would be a serious pay cut for most freelancers. There's no shortage of Drupal work right now so, for the moment, freelancers have an advantage.

Michelle

NancyDru’s picture

NancyDru
she/her/hers
Primary language English
Location Boston
commented

I would love to do something like this, but $20/hr is 1/3 of my normal rate. While I am somewhat liberal with my timekeeping, I can't think about that rate.

NancyDru

Anonymous’s picture

Anonymous (not verified) commented

the problem is not the rate alone, but at the same time ask for an EXPERT (in capital letters, so it must be an expert expert).

Jeff Burnz’s picture

Jeff Burnz commented

Yeah, theres way to much uppercase in there for us.

Pimp your Drupal 8 Toolbar - make it badass.
Adaptivetheme - theming system for people who don't code.
enfinet’s picture

enfinet commented

Hi, is the position still open?

Anonymous’s picture

Anonymous (not verified) commented

Laughing my ass off. 20$, thats like 10 Euro's per hour, the homeless in Europe get more that.

netgeek123’s picture

netgeek123 commented

This type of thing disgusts me. IF you want REAL professional to do YOUR work you pay for it!!!

If I went to a mechanic and said... Hey, I will give you $20 an hour to fix this... He would punch me right in the mouth and walk away.

Someone should monitor this crap. Please delete this!

nevets’s picture

nevets commented

While I think $20/hr is low, it's a free market and the post is welcome here on Drupal.org.

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

That since I made this post about 8 months ago, I've received over 200 applications, and continue to get more every week. My company has grown to the point where we now have a full staff of 6 php/mysql/drupal/joomla programmers, and plan to add a 7th in the near future. Not a single one of them makes more than $20 per hour, and I would consider all of them experts.

Regardless of what *you* may think you're worth, php programmers and drupal developers are very plentiful, and there are WAY more qualified applicants than there are jobs out there in this economy.

With the worldwide jobless rate what is is today, I'm surprised anyone is knocking anyone else that actually out there hiring.

Michelle’s picture

Michelle
she/her
Primary language English
Location Wisconsin, USA
commented

So you managed to find a bunch of people who don't realize what a shortage of Drupal programmers there is and that they could be making a lot more money? Congratulations.

Michelle

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

Shortage of drupal programmers?

I beg to differ.

Michelle’s picture

Michelle
she/her
Primary language English
Location Wisconsin, USA
commented

Well, you're entitled to have your own opinion. There's no law that says you have to agree with the rest of the Drupal community and all the companies desperately searching for Drupal talent and finding waiting lists. Go ahead and believe whatever you like.

Michelle

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

I can only base my opinion on my own experience.

But it may be possible that they haven't posted in this forum. I posted this message about 8 months ago, and I got over a hundred applications in the first week, and I *still* get several per week. Not all are as qualified as I would like, but many of them are.

I probably have as much drupal work as just about anyone around, and I have yet to have a problem filling a position.

Jeff Burnz’s picture

Jeff Burnz commented

Pay peanuts get monkey's, the adage still hangs true...

Yeah, there's a massive shortage of truly experienced Drupal developers, no doubt about it. Anyone worth their salt is simply charging a lot more than that. Truth is anyone can say they are *experienced*, the real test is to actually know the difference...

Pimp your Drupal 8 Toolbar - make it badass.
Adaptivetheme - theming system for people who don't code.
selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

As I've said, I've been pleased with the programmers I've hired.

bojanz’s picture

bojanz commented

http://www.lullabot.com/blog/show-me-money

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

Hello bojanz,

Thanks for the input. There is some good information in there.

However, I think there's a pretty big difference (massive, actually) between the services that are provided by a 'Drupal shop', and the services from a php/Drupal programmer off the street. After all, a Drupal shop has overhead to pay for, not just the programmer. When I hire a programmer, I manage and pay that programmer myself, cutting out the need for alot of that overhead.

I also think that the very select few that were invited to participate in this survey are probably of the same geographical location and/or the same professional peer level. Obviously, good programmers in Russia and India are willing to work for alot less than programmer in the UK, for example. And obviously, a member of the Drupal development team is not on the same tier as the random developer off the street. And it's very likely that this member of the Drupal development team would invite his/her peers to participate in this survey.

My point is that this survey absolutely does not include the full spectrum of good php developers out there with expert experience in Drupal. If you want to see the full spectrum, browse through any of the freelance/rentacoder websites and look for Drupal projects. You'll see bids that range from $10 per hour to bids at over $200 per hour. No, all of them won't be experts, but I've interviewed so many, I can tell the difference in less than 5 questions.

Yes, I know, more established programmers will charge more, and many have said that you get what you pay for, but I'm here to tell you that in this economy there are an absolute ton of *very good* php/drupal programmers out there that need work and are perfectly willing to work for $20 per hour. Since this post has been bumped to the top of the forum again, I've again started to receive dozens of applicant emails per day, and all of them have offered to do the work for less than $20 per hour.

All I'm saying is that if you think there aren't alot of good php/drupal developers out there that will work for $20 per hour, you're kidding yourself.

VM’s picture

VM commented

It would be interesting to see the quality of work being performed rather than just reading statements about that quality but I digress.

bojanz’s picture

bojanz commented

If selectsplat is happy with the work he gets, and his coders are happy with the pay, that's fine by me.
Drupal is diverse enough that not everyone needs chx to make a project work.

upod2000’s picture

upod2000 commented

can i double his pay to $40 an hour? anyone interested in contact me?

bojanz’s picture

bojanz commented

You will have more success if you open your own thread detailing what you're offering (details about the project(s), amount of work, etc).

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

I can forward you some, if you'd like.

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

Current project is at www.adhocads.com. Register and browse the inventory to see the custom functionality..

arcaneadam’s picture

arcaneadam commented

This is the good work that you are having done? This site is done in TABLES! TABLES!

Is there anymore that even needs to be said?

Adam A. Gregory
_____________________________
Drupal Developer and Consultant
https://goo.gl/QSJjb2
Acquia Certified Developer-Back end Specialist

duckzland’s picture

duckzland commented

Wow you right Adam, didnt notice it before.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
if you can use drupal why use others?
VicTheme.com

Jeff Burnz’s picture

Jeff Burnz commented

Don't miss those inline styles either, the devil himself invented those...

Pimp your Drupal 8 Toolbar - make it badass.
Adaptivetheme - theming system for people who don't code.
selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

It's a little concerning to me that you think this conversation has anything to do with design. I honestly couldn't care less whether it's designed with tables or css. The developers I hire have *nothing* to do with design. This is simply a template monster template, and it fits my needs just fine for now.

The work I hire for is much different, and has nothing to do with the html tables.

bcn’s picture

bcn commented

...I've interviewed so many, I can tell the difference in less than 5 questions.

Could you give us a sense of those questions (if you don't mind sharing)?

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

I like to ask specific questions about drupal specific hooks and functions. A real drupal expert will be familiar with various hooks used off the top of their head. For example, "If you want to add a new tab to the users 'my account' page, what hook is used?"

Also, I like to ask the developers about some of the global variables used on Drupal. For example, "How do you reference drupals' active database connection?" This is used often enough that they should know this without looking it up.

It's always a good idea to test the developer's knowledge of SQL at little as well with questions such as, "How do you optimize a query to improve performance?". it they don't mention the execute plan, that's a bad sign.

And performance in general is always a good thing to ask, such as, "Name some of the ways to improve performance of a Drupal site". Page cacheing, gzip compression, image compression, and css/js consolidation are answers you're looking for.

And you obviously, want to make sure the developer knows how to develop without editing the drupal core, to keep upgrade ability intact, and that they know how to make adequate backups, work in a development environment, etc.

Now, I'm sure that someone here will say that good answer to these questions do not prove they are an expert in Drupal, but I think it's a very good start, especially if you are interviewing through IM, and they give answers on the spot. IMO, if they answer all of these questions correctly off the top of their head, then it's safe to assume they know what they're doing.

aamin’s picture

aamin commented

@Selectsplat: Although the questions you mentioned are decent but I beg to differ that you can base your decision about hiring a programmer on answers to these questions alone. Knowing answers to these questions does not make someone a good developer and vica versa.

But I think I agree with you about the availability of programmers for $20/hr in the current scenario (I have a few friends working for $15/hr as interns just to gain experience). But again you get what you pay for so it evens out. Would you pay $100 an hour to someone who nails a task in 1 hr or $20 an hour to someone who would do a mediocre job in 6 hrs?

pobster’s picture

pobster commented

Well here's a bug...

You have been subscribed to newsletter Text Link Advertising news.

I chose not to subscribe to any newsletter...

edit: Inventory??? I'm actually struggling to find the custom content?

Pobster

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

Thanks. I had forgotten about that.

Once you register there should be a giant breen button in the left column. click on that.

Also, the 'search' feature will take you there. Just search for any keywords.

pobster’s picture

pobster commented

The paths are a bit unnecessary!

http:// www. adhocads.com/buy-text-link-advertisements.html?sort=asc&order=%3Cnobr%3E%3Cimg+src%3D%22%2Fimages%2Fyahoo-backlinks.jpg%22+title%3D%22Yahoo+Backlinks%22%3E%26nbsp%3BBL%3C%2Fnobr%3E&page=1

Also there's some occasional oddness like when you type an invalid URL on node/add/weblinks the search box also gets a red (error) border. Without looking through the code it's hard to judge the security but from a little messing around trying to XSS it - I couldn't find anything obvious.

Pobster

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

I'd like to further discuss this with you, if you are available. You can reach me at the 'contact us' page at the top of the thread. Obviously, I'll compensate you for you time.

Yes, we use alot of query string to handle a lot of the functionality, such as the sorting. I think the bit you are referring to is the result of when we added an 'icon' instead of just a link to re-sort the results on the appropriate column. You're right in that this whole section is most likely unnecessary.

%3Cnobr%3E%3Cimg+src%3D%22%2Fimages%2Fyahoobacklinks.jpg%22+title%3D%22Yahoo+Backlinks%22%3E%26nbsp%3BBL%3C%2Fnobr%3E

pobster’s picture

pobster commented

I'm happy to advise for free on here but I can't commit to any new business at the moment - I've so much to do already (too much!)

What you need to look at is very simple though, I'll assume the table you're creating is code and not created in Views? So, when you build the header you can specify the field/ link 'key' (and so the path), generally this is used in conjunction with the db field name (e.g. n.title, td.name, etc) but obviously this isn't a given, you can handle this any way you choose but note that you *have* to handle it... There's info here on how it should look; http://api.drupal.org/api/function/theme_table/6

Thanks,

Pobster

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

Thanks very much for the advice.

selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

Agree with most of what you say here.

I didn't say I hire a developer based on those 5 questions. I said I could tell the difference between a developer that knew what they were doing with Drupal and a developer that didn't.

Also, I manage my programmers rather tightly. I come from a development background myself, so I have a firm understanding of how long tasks I assign should take. I normally give the developer the task, and the amount of time I feel is acceptable for them to complete the task. I tell them that if they have issues that prevent them from completing the task in the assigned time, to let me know.

That usually works out pretty well, and I almost always get my tasks completed on time.

MBR’s picture

MBR commented

I think selectsplat's comment:

I manage my programmers rather tightly. I come from a development background myself ...

makes it pretty clear what's going on. If you have someone with solid software engineering experience managing the overall architecture and the software development (perhaps more than one such local software engineer, depending on the size of the project), then that person (people) can hand out small bite-size chunks to junior developers. That person also has to keep a very close eye on them to make sure they're delivering what's needed. Selectsplat's doing this part of the task himself, so the associated cost, although it still exists, does not appear in the financial calculations.

If you allocate local software engineers to "tightly manage" the programmers overseas, you can save a bit over having all the coding done by experienced software engineers in the U.S. The downside is the greatly increased risk you face if you don't have the right people "tightly managing" the Indian (or Ukrainian, or wherever) programmers you've outsourced the coding to. Lots of companies who thought they'd save a lot of money by shipping software jobs overseas, have instead gone belly up.

Jeff Burnz’s picture

Jeff Burnz commented

I ask a lot of questions about Drupal API's, mainly because while there are many grads and other hackers out there who know enough SQL & PHP to be dangerous, its the in-depth knowledge and appropriate use of Drupal's API's that makes the difference. How often do you inherit sites that ignore or make little use of the API's and instead write raw SQL in tpls files and other ugliness? All the time.

Pimp your Drupal 8 Toolbar - make it badass.
Adaptivetheme - theming system for people who don't code.
selectsplat’s picture

selectsplat commented

Absolutely agree.

aamin’s picture

aamin commented

As long as it works for you..you should not have to justify it to anyone else :)
Cheers !!

jazzdrive3’s picture

jazzdrive3 commented

Selectsplat,

Can you send me some of the questions you ask as part of your interview process?

I would appreciate. Thanks!