oDesk – What a Response!
Almost 9 days have passed since I first posted my iPhone App Job post and I gotta say. “Wow, what a response!” I am very pleased with the amount of applicants that I have received from oDesk.
In almost 9 days I received a total of 17 job applicants for my iPhone App. I must say that I am very pleased with that result. Now begins the process of sorting through all the applicants and creating my short list.
How did I Short List My Applicants?
The process I used probably could have been a little bit more streamlined and faster. However, I am very thorough and want to get the most bang for my buck out the the most qualified Apple iPhone App Developer. I chose to be very meticulous as well because I really do want a quality end product.
I short listed my oDesk Candidates by doing the following:
- How they presented themselves in their introduction. If they had lots of poor grammar and or well presented I gave them a low rating. I used a rating system of 1 to 5. 1 being the lowest.
- I created my Short List from applicants who had similar experience and created similar apps to what I am creating. I felt this was a very crucial part of the short list process.
- The Applicants Hourly Rate. The applicants I had to choose from had hourly rates starting at $15.00 USD up to $28.00 USD. I don’t want the cheapest and I don’t want to budget for the most expensive.
- Their Reviews. The reviews are probably the most crucial part of selecting any applicant or candidate from oDesk. I thoroughly read their reviews and got a feel for who I might be hiring. I also read through previous projects and prices to get a better idea of how much money I Might be Spending.
Example. I had one applicant who applied without a cover letter. No introduction. Nothing. Can you say ‘Red Flag’? All this applicant had was a link. When I clicked on the link I got a 404 Not Found Error. That’s okay. It saved me time.
Sorting through all the criteria that I am after and having taken a few hours to go through all the applicants. I have finally came up with my shortlist of three candidates.
Open a Word Document
I had a blank Word Document open and copy and pasted over applicants who I thought were suitable. After I went through their portfolio, read their cover letter and clicked on their links. I would then type in a few things about what I thought about the applicant and the rate them 1 to 5.
The majority of the applicants received a 3 from me. Which isn’t bad. Some applicants who received a 2 may have received a 4 or even a 5 but since their Apps didn’t meet my criteria I rated them lower as I knew I most likely Would Not continue further with them.
Again, it is very important for me to short list or hire somebody who has made a similar iPhone App that I am designing.
Initial Contact
I will now contact the applicants and decide in the next couple days. I will make my decision based on their correspondence and how timely they are to respond.
I will be contacting them about roughly how long many hours it will take to complete my iPhone App and what exactly they need from me to get started. I want to be prepared as much as possible.
I’m No Expert
Again, I have never done this before and am definitely not an expert. I am sharing my experience with you to hopefully save you money and trouble by avoiding my pitfalls, should I experience any.
The Readers Turn
I know a lot of entrepreneurial readers have come across this blog and may have similar experience with hiring and short listing applicants and candidates for iPhone Apps.
I would like to ask you what was your experience? Who did you use to hire for your App? What did you need to have prepared for your coder or your developer?
What a great app! Smart, clean and flawlessly designed. Too bad it doesn’t have marketing and sales job postings though, cause we are hiring for our new office in New York, hint hint.