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First day with a Filipino.. (26)

09-05-2012 08:46 AM #1 usernameistaken (Member)
First day with a Filipino..

.. not a mail order bride, but a virtual assistant.

I interviewed a bunch of them, decided to hire two for a trial. One flaked on me this morning the other showed up. So far so good!
I am not really self motivated so hiring someone who relays on his monthly pay check from me and actually helps me to get my work done is a godsend for me.
So far i am a way more productive course i dont want to have this guy sitting at home playing xbox while i am paying him. Can only recommend it.
Flippers start at $300/month, but you get what you pay for. Mine charges $600 / month but has quite a skill set. Relaying on people on fiverr to get stuff done has been a nightmare lately, so having someone beside me who can handle all the psd2html, simple php scripts, scraping urls and all the other time consuming tasks is really helpful.

09-05-2012 09:01 AM #2 julien (Member)

Very interesting man, keep us updated

09-05-2012 09:15 AM #3 Mr Green (Administrator)

Congrats man!

I've been through a tonne, finally got one set of guys that are well worth their wages.

09-05-2012 09:22 AM #4 nickster (Member)

Where did you get them from?

09-05-2012 09:41 AM #5 jonemd (Member)

misleading title - was hoping for something a bit more interesting ;-)

09-05-2012 10:09 AM #6 usernameistaken (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by Mr Green View Post
Congrats man!

I've been through a tonne, finally got one set of guys that are well worth their wages.
Thanks, i hope he shows up tomorrow too Always a struggle with those guys.

09-05-2012 11:17 AM #7 deondup (Member)

I've been through a few...none have met my standards and work ethic.

Had MUCH better results with people from India - much better English and much better tech for the same price

09-05-2012 01:09 PM #8 jimcrim (Member)

We've had better success with Indian tech folks too. No bashing on the Filipinos though, just personal experience!

09-05-2012 01:24 PM #9 Connaissance (Member)

Surprising. I hear nothing but horror stories about Indians, and have one of my own to tell.

09-05-2012 01:39 PM #10 bbrock32 (Administrator)

I think at the end it boils down to what kind of person you get.

I've been working with 3 filipinos for nearly a year now and am happy , but had my fair share of failures before with both filipinos and indians.

My advice is try very hard finding the first guy , test him a lot before. After that you can ask him to get local coworkers / friends.

09-06-2012 04:48 AM #11 usernameistaken (Member)

Guess who didn't show up for work today...?!

09-06-2012 05:24 AM #12 rockstar john (Member)

Its prob a holiday. They are hardcore about holidays and celebrate lots of them! A holiday every other week. Lived there for 6 months

09-06-2012 05:41 AM #13 usernameistaken (Member)

Na, this one is just slacking off..

#ASSiSTANT 12:07 PM
Sir, I will be late today, and maybe start working midnight..I am still here in the store getting a new PC/Computer. Can you please send me the PSD that needs to be done in my email?

#ASSiSTANT 12:11 PM
Sir, I can extend til Saturday, I am currently here on the store getting a new computer. I will be back in the next 2hours..Really sorry it took much time. i need this new system to work smoothly

09-06-2012 05:42 AM #14 Connaissance (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by bbrock32 View Post
My advice is try very hard finding the first guy , test him a lot before. After that you can ask him to get local coworkers / friends.
That's a great idea bbrock. Never thought of that somehow. I guess the one good local guy who already understands your tasks is the best to find someone else. The risk is that he hires his deadbeat cousin, but if he is smart in the first place, he wouldn't go there.

09-06-2012 06:21 AM #15 tical (Member)

Take my advice... from someone that's spent well over 300k outsourcing various projects over the years, be ready for a ton of frustration going the indian and/or filipino route. I don't even bother reading their bids anymore, no matter what their ratings are. I just delete them.

If you want quality work done, try eastern european / russians. They might cost a bit more, but you get what you pay for.

I'm working with a Romanian now that has been a God send. Works from his own home (not some sweat shop), is always online, and never says "I don't know how to do that." He actually spends time figuring things out instead of pestering me with questions. The minds of developers in that region are second to none.

When you're hiring someone, make sure you are vocal about working with someone that will not pester you with questions and instead figure things out himself. Be very clear with what you're after, read their history and types of jobs, make sure that they actually reply to YOUR job posting (i.e., they read it and didn't cut and paste some BS). Ask what they can offer you, etc.

Lay out some hypothetical tasks about the kind of work you'll be requiring and ask if they have experience doing these kinds of tasks, example:

Task 1: Install Word Press on a specific domain. Integrate a specific theme, create 5 pages, schedule 10 blog posts.

Task 2: Setup & secure a new webserver (httpd, vsftpd, iptables, mysqld)

Task 3: Design a landing page that is similar to ABC. Once approved by me, slice it into cross browser compatible HTML/CSS and upload to somedomain.com.

etc.

Good luck!

09-06-2012 10:47 PM #16 having fun (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by tical View Post
Take my advice... from someone that's spent well over 300k outsourcing various projects over the years, be ready for a ton of frustration going the indian and/or filipino route. I don't even bother reading their bids anymore, no matter what their ratings are. I just delete them.

If you want quality work done, try eastern european / russians. They might cost a bit more, but you get what you pay for.

I'm working with a Romanian now that has been a God send. Works from his own home (not some sweat shop), is always online, and never says "I don't know how to do that." He actually spends time figuring things out instead of pestering me with questions. The minds of developers in that region are second to none.

When you're hiring someone, make sure you are vocal about working with someone that will not pester you with questions and instead figure things out himself. Be very clear with what you're after, read their history and types of jobs, make sure that they actually reply to YOUR job posting (i.e., they read it and didn't cut and paste some BS). Ask what they can offer you, etc.

Lay out some hypothetical tasks about the kind of work you'll be requiring and ask if they have experience doing these kinds of tasks, example:

Task 1: Install Word Press on a specific domain. Integrate a specific theme, create 5 pages, schedule 10 blog posts.

Task 2: Setup & secure a new webserver (httpd, vsftpd, iptables, mysqld)

Task 3: Design a landing page that is similar to ABC. Once approved by me, slice it into cross browser compatible HTML/CSS and upload to somedomain.com.

etc.

Good luck!
have a couple links to find these type?? thx

09-07-2012 03:02 AM #17 robbycpa (Member)

Let me know how they perform, been toying with the idea.

09-07-2012 03:04 AM #18 usernameistaken (Member)

He is back and i havent fired him yet. At the end of the day you get what you pay for. I will look for a russian/ukrainian over the weekend.

09-10-2012 07:42 AM #19 fjk87 (Veteran Member)

I'd recommend you to get some sort of VA 'manager' who handles all the shit for you. You communicate and settle only with him, he coordinates everything. I've found a great Pakistan guy who makes my life a lot easier with his team. Depending on how many VAs you need, it will save you a shitload of time while he will assure quality as he'll want to secure he cuts his margin on his workers.

ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS pay on time / little earlier than before to have this argument in your favour. Payment is what it's about from the employers side when using VAs imo.

11-18-2012 12:48 PM #20 weekendwarrior (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by tical View Post

If you want quality work done, try eastern european / russians. They might cost a bit more, but you get what you pay for.
Have had good experiences with Eastern Europeans too. I use them when quality is required. When its 'brute force' work filipinos. Indians terrible in my experience.

11-19-2012 06:19 AM #21 crysper (Member)

I can vouch for Romanians... i have lots of friends who are working on outsourced projects and clients are happy, but they are seeking more for programming jobs. If I wouldn't have been so busy now I might helped you with filtering some guys than post their email here so you can contact them.

However, send me a PM with your skill requirements, i might post on my college group, even if they look for jobs paying over 800$, maybe you'll find some cheaper guys who want to work from home.

11-19-2012 10:31 AM #22 Finch (Moderator)

Eastern Europeans all the way.

I've been working with a couple of Ukrainians developers and not only do they offer cheap rates, but they have a default "can do" attitude. No excuses, no fluffy reports... just good hard workers.

11-19-2012 10:59 AM #23 andyscraven (Member)

Quote Originally Posted by Finch View Post
Eastern Europeans all the way.

I've been working with a couple of Ukrainians developers and not only do they offer cheap rates, but they have a default "can do" attitude. No excuses, no fluffy reports... just good hard workers.
@Finch: Do you have a good source for these guys? It is something that really interests me.

11-19-2012 11:36 AM #24 bbrock32 (Administrator)

Quote Originally Posted by Finch View Post
Eastern Europeans all the way.

I've been working with a couple of Ukrainians developers and not only do they offer cheap rates, but they have a default "can do" attitude. No excuses, no fluffy reports... just good hard workers.
Same question as andyscraven, is there any local site you hire them or just the usual odesk/freelancer.com ?

11-19-2012 11:53 AM #25 mehdi (Member)

I'm just about to hire a filipino designer/webmaster to handle my lp & banners work but one thing I was wondering is how you guys get over the timezone difference, it's about 10 to 12hrs with US/LATAM so it makes it impossible to get together on Skype, do you guys only use emails ?

If there's a way for (mid)cheap east europeans designers/webmasters i'm interested too



Mehdi

11-19-2012 02:02 PM #26 usernameistaken (Member)

elance
scriptlance
for flippers check out http://easyoutsource.com/

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