Working as a full time employee along with a slew of other activities I have, I sometimes don't find enough hours in a day to dedicate to my own personnel project(s). Now I get paid well in my job and I was considering hiring a helping hand over the internet. Where would be the best place to find someone to help me out, and what are your experiences with hiring that kind of help. Since Iam concerned that the person might not be as skilled as I would want them to be, or they might be a sloppy coder, or they might be skimping me on actual work paid for.

"Hire" help from a university. If you are an experienced programmer in senior level positions, then it should be very easy to convince some professors to send you some of the more keen students your way just so they can 'get experience' working on a project. Just keep in mind that this route will likely require you to allow at least part of the source code and copies of the finish product to be handed out as part of a portfolio.

"Hire" help from a university. If you are an experienced programmer in senior level positions, then it should be very easy to convince some professors to send you some of the more keen students your way just so they can 'get experience' working on a project. Just keep in mind that this route will likely require you to allow at least part of the source code and copies of the finish product to be handed out as part of a portfolio.

the thing is these are my own personnel projects, so I dont think i can get away with that. I dont mind actually paying for the work either, I just want to be sure that Iama get an acceptable return from whoever would be helping me.

It would help if you mentioned what you are working on and the type of work needed. I dont know if you talking games, art, house work, etc.

It would help if you mentioned what you are working on and the type of work needed. I dont know if you talking games, art, house work, etc.

Its a web applications to help people learn about music, Ive already done a good amount of workload, but I have so many things that I want to do with it, that doing it all myself seems a little cumbersome.

The thing is who ever jumps aboard has to use my library of functions when building anything, because its a series of small little applets that collectively create the whole experience, so I could have him/her
work on one applet/aspect of the program while I work on another, and I did do alot of the basic functionality, and already posted up the website and I hope to release it to the public within a months time.

But theres a few things I want to get done before i start advertising the site itself, as I dont wanna show the public a website that doesnt have a solid set of apps and features since they might not be interested
in returning after their first visit.

Hiring interns from a local school/university is a start. Doesn't matter that it's your personal project, schools love to give kids work. Though you might get a better response from a private or small local school than a well-known or state institution.

Craigslist works if you want local assistance.

Cheapest and largest pool of talent will be from Vworker.com / rentacoder. You can have someone build you a website for $1. If you want someone knowledgeable just look at past projects and don't pick the cheapest bidder. It's definitely an employers market, especially on that site.

[color="#1C2837"]the thing is these are my own personnel projects, so I dont think i can get away with that. I dont mind actually paying for the work either, I just want to be sure that Iama get an acceptable return from whoever would be helping me. [/quote]
The "lacky" is called a "contractor". You hire them through a simple agreement called a "contract". It specifies the terms and ensures that you get what you want and they get paid. It applies just as well to housework as it does to creating art and programming work for your games.

There are many good books on the subject, like this one that includes well-written easily-adaptable templates.

Hiring interns from a local school/university is a start. Doesn't matter that it's your personal project, schools love to give kids work. Though you might get a better response from a private or small local school than a well-known or state institution.

Craigslist works if you want local assistance.

Cheapest and largest pool of talent will be from Vworker.com / rentacoder. You can have someone build you a website for $1. If you want someone knowledgeable just look at past projects and don't pick the cheapest bidder. It's definitely an employers market, especially on that site.

[color="#1c2837"]the thing is these are my own personnel projects, so I dont think i can get away with that. I dont mind actually paying for the work either, I just want to be sure that Iama get an acceptable return from whoever would be helping me.

The "lacky" is called a "contractor". You hire them through a simple agreement called a "contract". It specifies the terms and ensures that you get what you want and they get paid. It applies just as well to housework as it does to creating art and programming work for your games.

There are many good books on the subject, like this one that includes well-written easily-adaptable templates.
[/quote]

Thanks for the advice I actually starting looking in craigslist for local help, I think i would feel more comfortable there, and great website! i can imagine these resources on contracting and law will be very useful to me in the not so distant future

You don't need to officially intern someone either. Someone might like to make extra money without getting college credit, it will look good on their resume anyway. You could just go to a college and post it on a board too.

Students at your local university is a good idea if you want it cheap, since they are learning and can actually visit in person. You need to be prepared to do some mentoring.

Or you can hire someone under a professional agreement. In which case Craigslist will get you 1000 losers applying. It depends if you are on a budget that can afford a professional - who will cost about the same as you do - or you hire a cheap freelancer. For instance you can hire me at $50-100/hr
If you are going blindly into the internet and looking to pay more like $10-20/hr, it's a very mixed bag and hard to find someone. However since you are a techy yourself, you should be able to smell BS. Ask for code samples or set simple coding tests or talk to them over Skype.