[VPM] Fwd: Perl programmer needed for small project

Peter Scott Peter at PSDT.com
Tue Jan 6 17:09:54 CST 2004


At 02:02 PM 1/6/2004 -0800, Darren Duncan wrote:
>On my part, this position you forwarded sounds like something I could do,
>and depending how good their code is, something that could be simple and
>easy.  And I am technically unemployed right now.  And that job does go
>straight to my expertise.
>
>My main reservation against taking this position is that I am trying to
>create something of my own as soon as possible, and doing another person's
>project, especially if recurring, could seriously hamper this.
>
>So does this sound like a valid concern or would I be better off to
>contact that person?
>
>Something I'm considering is contacting the person to say that I could be
>available, but that I have existing projects on the go and would prefer to
>"be the backup option" if another suitable person can't be found.  Also, I
>prefer to work either from home or from a Sidney/Victoria location
>(their equipment in the latter case).
>
>If I do volunteer, and I don't know the overhead of trying to understand
>another person's code, should I request to get paid by the hour or for the
>job?
>
>In the end, what action of mine would best reflect on VPM?

Firstly, any professional and courteous action reflects well upon us 
whether it results in the work being done or not.  That's all I was 
getting at and it was a minor point at best.

Secondly, everyone in this field who appears to know anything at all 
about what they're talking about says that you should bill by the 
hour.  The client of course usually wants a fixed figure but this is 
not likely to be in their best interests any more than it is in 
yours.  I am currently in favour of the model espoused by "Planning 
Extreme 
Programming" 
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201710919/) as the best 
way to work with a customer to mutual advantage.  (It's too long to summarize.)

If you think you might have the time to take this on depending on how 
long it would take the best thing is to be up front about how you need 
to understand enough of the problem first to estimate whether you can 
get it done in time.  Volunteer to be a backup only if you believe 
you're likely to have enough time to do it anyway.


-- 
Peter Scott
Pacific Systems Design Technologies
http://www.perldebugged.com/
*** New! *** http://www.perlmedic.com/




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