When you’re looking for a FileMaker Developer, and you’re UK based, should you be talking to UK-based or overseas developers? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how can freelance job boards help or hinder you?
A client of mine found my details on a freelance job board, and approached me directly about a project he had in mind and was looking for a developer to take on. They had posted this project on at least once freelance job board, with the intention of having sensible conversations with a few developers and choosing one to give the project to, based on their own criteria. In theory, this is a good idea, as you will often get project bids from a handful of experienced developers and be able to open discussions with them privately once you’ve received their bids
The experience my client had, however, was less than ideal. They were flooded with ‘proposals’ from people who hadn’t even heard of FileMaker, let alone had any development experience telling my client that he “was doing it all wrong” and “shouldn’t be using FileMaker” for this particular project. Of course, they were wrong. Not because FileMaker is the best solution for developing absolutely everything, because it isn’t necessarily, but because that was what the client had decided and there was no reason based on the content of the board posting to suggest otherwise.
The problem here, in my view, is one of language and culture. Whilst I’m sure that there are many overseas developers who are perfectly fluent in English and that understand our work culture, they aren’t the ones that regularly post irrelevant responses on freelance job boards. As a developer, for some reason I’m fairly regularly contacted by offshore (usually Indian) software developers suggesting that I stop developing and effectively become a reseller for them. None of them I’ve ever spoken to have had any sort of experience with FileMaker development, yet tell me that they can “learn it quickly” and be at skilled developer level within a week.
The trouble is, when I mention offshore here, I’m talking about the likes of India, the Phillipines, and so-forth. There is no reason why an American developer couldn’t work for a UK client, and deliver an outstanding solution, however there would be little if anything to gain in cost savings, which appears to be pretty much the only reason for “offshoring” everything these days.
Disadvantages of a UK client working with a UK-based FileMaker developer? Not sure there are any, and I’m not just saying that because it’s what I do. You speak the same language, are in the same time zone, and if necessarily can physically meet. Yes the project might cost you more than going overseas for the work, but I’d bet you’d spend less time chasing missed deadlines, explaining in piegon-English how your business works and worrying how much it’ll cost to fix broken code written in a language you don’t understand.
