

HN Contractors: Add Yourself - scottru

Over the last few months, I've seen a lot of HN members talk about being contractors, and why - designing to bootstrap their business, building an iPhone practice, moving to China to work and live, etc.<p>I'm often on the other side of that transaction, where I need to hire contractors for one or more projects, and I'd like nothing more than to hire from this group of experts, but I don't remember to bookmark every talented and possibly hungry person. I'm sure there are many other people on both sides.<p>So here's a Google Spreadsheet for adding yourself and your expertise so that folks who need to hire have a quick way to find HN folks: include your contact info [if you want], etc.<p>Spreadsheet is at https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlD_6iEb8Ed9dGs3clVJYi0yYVBka181Z0ZKRW9kQ0E&#38;hl=en, I promise to leave it there and hope that nobody's a jerk about it.<p>(If someone has already done this, by all means let me know or add to this thread - I just want the list, not the credit.)
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Rust
Clickable:
[https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlD_6iEb8Ed9dGs3clV...](https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlD_6iEb8Ed9dGs3clVJYi0yYVBka181Z0ZKRW9kQ0E&hl=en)

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noilly
I bolded the top row if you don't mind...

sans serif font + italics = no go

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illumin8
You're better off doing this with a Google form that feeds to a Google
spreadsheet automatically. Then, you can publish the spreadsheet read only and
not worry about anyone blanking it or corrupting the data.

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papersmith
I am actually thinking of making a web app for this, perhaps along with non-
freelance profile/job postings, if anyone's interested. :)

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kungfooey
Aren't there already other apps meeting this need? The problem with a
"directory" format is that it lacks personal depth. I've never gotten a
qualified business lead from a directory (and I'm listed in several thanks to
some certifications I've earned int he past). They are always looking at the
rate and keywords rather than "Is this person good to work with?"

At the end of the day, personal referrals are the way most people do business.
It's inefficient, yes, but so far I've never seen a suitable replacement.

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papersmith
That makes sense. Though I wonder if the problem of freelance match-making is
similar to the problem of online dating.

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rbitar
I love this. So much, in fact, that I made an app for it tonight

<http://hnhackers.com/>

Let me know what you think! you _should_ be able to claim your profile using
the forgot password link. Email me at rbitar [at] gmail if something doesn't
work. I'll get to it in the morning.

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dejv
Just for fun: quick word cloud visualization of core consulting skills form
the spreadsheet <http://twitpic.com/1fe1zt>

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aonic
What did you make that with?

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dejv
IBM Word-Cloud generator: <http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/wordcloud>

It works quite well, but you will need to tune parameters to get good output.
I am using simple script which generate few variants of settings and than hand
pick one image.

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SMrF
Are contracting rates really this low? I would have expected $150-$200/hour
range for serious programming skills, which most on this list seem to have.
Instead it looks like the number is somewhere between $75-$100.

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aeontech
In my experience most companies that pay 150-300/hr are big companies who get
their people through contracting agencies. Which agencies of course take about
half of that for themselves. As a lone programmer, unless you are very good at
marketing, you find work with smaller shops, or startups, which can't afford
that kind of rate. So you end up with roughly the same range ($90-150/hr) in
pocket, whether working alone, or through a contract firm.

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SMrF
So the problem is not that the market for programmers is too big, it's the
other way around: the market of jobs available at a better rate is too small
and larger companies have this market cornered.

My hourly rate expectation was based on a few years working at Accenture and
seeing rates for Java programmers. I figured it would be adjusted down for
individual developers, but I didn't realize it would be that much.

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aeontech
Well, yeah, of course certain languages and skills are in much higher demand
in corporate world, hence pay a lot higher.

But my personal criteria for now is more about whether I will enjoy working
somewhere and learn useful things, rather than the amount of money I can make.
I could get a dead-boring programming job and make probably 50% more than I do
now, but right now I feel like I am learning a lot more, and like people I'm
working with a lot more than I would in that situation.

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bpick
I am going to go on a hiring spree for all of my ideas. It'll be a knock-down
drag-out round robin tournament of start-ups. At the end of each week (month?)
we have elimination.

Survivor: Silicon Valley

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wlievens
Would be awesome if you had the cash :-)

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bpick
And if I did?

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ajju
Awesome. I am on the other side as well, and the next time I need a
contractor, I'm going straight to this spreadsheet.

Aside: Best answer to "Why are you doing this" is by cmos: "To support my cat"
:)

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mtarnovan
This one was also funny, although I think accidentally: "Extra money for my
new child's college fund."

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leftnode
That was me, and it's not accidental. I just had a new baby and making extra
money would be a great way to fund his college :)

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nopassrecover
Are spreadsheets private? For instance does this data appear in Google results
or is it cached indefinitely or anything like that?

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vital101
This might be useful to add under the "Jobs" link on this site. I know that it
is meant for people looking for work, but I feel that it could work just as
well in the opposite direction.

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scottru
BTW, I will clean up some disorganization once the editing slows down.

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kungfooey
Wow, wouldn't this be a recruiter's dream? What prevents them from harvesting
this and spamming us all?

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aheilbut
This is extremely useful just to be able to see rates across different areas
and skillsets.

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vgurgov
its funny to see how amazingly cool google docs shows how some 30 ppl
contribute to this spreadsheet at this moment ))

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ableal
Now 37. A bit twitchy ... filled some info, but will check back tomorrow when
it's calmer.

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scottru
For anybody who's tracking, we're up to 140+ folks, and the spreadsheet has
moved into high-traffic mode. Thanks all - this will be great and I'm happy
for it to be linked from a more permanent location.

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pmjordan
Someone just blanked the whole table, is there a way to make this add-only? I
vaguely recall being able to set up a form with Google docs. Even better: some
way of undoing the vandalism?

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ableal
Try reloading. I also thought that (Firefox 3.5).

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pmjordan
Looks like someone restored it.

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scottru
Right, thanks to the anonymous person who fixed it. I'm trying to keep an eye
on it.

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ableal
Out of curiosity, was it really wiped and restored ? I thought the browser
just might have tripped and lost track, being machine-gunned with (correct?)
updates, thus showing a mostly blank sheet ...

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pmjordan
It was wiped as I was almost finished entering my data. It was restored back
to the point where I was about halfway done. I did try in multiple browsers
before it was restored.

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NEPatriot
Anyone doing this in order to find a co-founder/project to join?

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carnive
Yes

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bensummers
I love the way HN provides free load testing for Google Docs! Although usually
we trigger the low bandwidth version. :-(

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scottru
We did. :)

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whalesalad
Looks like this thing is getting pretty full! If you hit the "Insert > Add
Row" at the end you can enter your info.

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rs
This is absolutely fantastic! Exactly what I wanted at the right time.

I don't have much bandwidth to work on the UI & design side of XP-Dev.com as
I'm focusing more on functionality and other products, and in bad need of a
web designer <http://bit.ly/9FafRq>

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Ixiaus
I have to say, watching everyone add data in real time is pretty cool...

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sheraz
This is a great idea. Let's see if we can get those other areas filled up as
well under marketing and design. Surely there are more?

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kadavy
This is why I love HN

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markmywords
Lots of low rates ...

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matrixownsyou
is anyone making a google app for this? hncontractors app id is not available

