Do you know who is really working for you? Last week someone asked me to join a fraudulent scheme with them.
At the backend of last week I had a call with a prospective client about a small software development project they needed help with.
I have profiles on a few platforms where I occasionally pick up new work, and through one of those platforms I received a message from a company who said they had an existing codebase they needed help with. They were looking for an extra pair of hands on a part time basis to help them through a busy period.
Sounds perfect I thought, so I set up a call to find out a bit more and see if it was something we at BitSphere could help with.
At the start of the call I explained briefly what BitSphere does, bespoke software development for businesses, and then asked about the project they had mentioned. What stack, timeframes, requirements, the usual things.
That was when things started to twist a bit.
The person I was speaking to said:
"Actually we need help with interviews."
My first thought was that they meant they needed help interviewing and assessing candidates. I asked the question and the response was:
"No, we need help with taking part in interviews as a candidate."
I asked them to explain.
It turned out they help freelance developers find projects and boost their profiles across sites like Upwork and Fiverr. Their model involved having someone else attend interviews on behalf of the developer so they "didn't lose time working".
Which obviously raised the question… why would anyone hire someone based on what somebody else can do?
Their answer was:
"That's the good thing for you. The client thinks they are hiring you, but you don't actually have to do anything."
At that point it was pretty clear what they were asking for, and I ended the call.
But it did leave me thinking.
How often do companies interview someone, assess their competency, feel comfortable they have the right developer… only for that not to actually be the person who ends up doing the work?
To be clear, this obviously isn't how most freelancers operate. There are plenty of very good developers working independently and delivering great work.
But it does highlight a risk that probably doesn't get talked about very often.
When you hire someone to build software for you, you are trusting the person you interviewed to actually be the one doing the work.
If that isn't the case, it raises a fairly obvious question about what exactly the interview achieved in the first place.
One of the things I have always liked about running a small development company is that the people clients speak to are the same people writing the code.
If you're looking for a software development partner you can work with directly, contact BitSphere to discuss your project.