One of the big problems with programmers is that 1 out of 10 can do the work of the other 9 combined. That's just what programming is like. This isn't just running ColdFusion, this includes real time database integration, POS with god knows what patchwork scripting that's been done over the last 10 years. If there asking for a senior position that in my mind is THE programmer, everyone else is just entering data. I wouldn't trust any out of school programmers, to waste time and money patching it up. You hire a programmer to come in, he changes everything to his way of thinking, then gets a better job offer. You get a kid with a 2.9 out of school and he'll more than likely screw it up for a month before it gets back to where it was. The problem with programmers is they are always looking for another job. That’s why you pay them enough to keep them. They have all the secrets to what they’ve done, and then you find yourself right back where you started.
Advice:
Get a top shelf programmer, chart out what you need, give him everything you have and $75K, 2 months later he’ll come back with an amazing system that a junior college computer science graduate could maintain. You could get him for $25K, give him the phone number of the real programmer and he’ll never leave.
Programmer and head babysitter for programmers (retired);
Craig
