If you apply for this project we will probably not respond to you until approximately July 12, 2008.

To apply for this job...

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Please Submit Your Sample Source Code

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Please provide us with some sample source code you have created in the past in Lisp or Ruby or Python or Perl or C++ or Java or some other language. However, please do not submit source code have created in PHP.

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Please Submit Your Monthly Rate

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Please bid the monthly salary you require in US dollars for working 200 hundred (two hundred) hours per month.

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Repeat: Please Submit Your Sample Source Code

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Yes. We mentioned above that we want you to submit your sample source code but many candidates don't bother submitting their sample source code to us initially. Therefore, we'd like to persuade you to submit your sample source code to us along with your bid.

If you bid your monthly rate but fail to submit sample source code to us then we will send you a personal message via GetAFreelancer in which we request you to submit sample source code to us. We will also be mildly annoyed with you because we will feel you have needlessly wasted our time.

Please understand that if we merely know how much money you want to earn we will not have enough information to decide whether or not you seem like a good candidate. We need to get an idea of how well you write code.

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$30 Test Project for you on GetAFreelancer

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If the source code you submit to us is good enough and if your salary requirement for working 200 hours per month is low enough, then we will create a small $30 test project just for you on GetAFreelancer. Therefore, please save us time and yourself time by submitting source code to us along with your bid for working 200 hours/month.

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Work whichever hours of the day you prefer

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We will permit you to work any hours of the day you prefer. In other words, we do not care which hours of the day you work.

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More about your sample code

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Regarding your sample source code, perhaps you created the code 2 weeks ago, 2 months ago, or even 2 years. If you are worried that by submitting the sample source code to us that you may be violating something like a client confidentiality agreement or non-disclosure agreement for source code you created as a "Work for Hire" then you may submit merely a snippet of the source code, not the entire source code. We are not looking to steal anyone else's software. Not at all. We merely want to review a sample of code you have created in the past so we can properly judge the quality of your code.

Please don't copy and paste your sample code into a GetAFreelancer Personal Message (PM) because the indenting will be lost. Instead please attach your sample code into a GetAFreelancer Personal Message (PM) so that the indenting will be maintained.

Please do not package your files in Visual Studio or any other framework. Your files must be available individually and not packaged (except as, say, a .zip or .rar file). We have had trouble in the past with tests that candidates have submitted C++ which they created with Visual Studio.

The software architect normally uses Linux and Macintosh but not Windows. Please make it easy for the software architect to review your code.

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About You

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We are currently looking for 1 or 2 or 3 very clever, full-time software application developers (not mere coders) to work with us for at least a year but hopefully longer.

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About Us

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We have many challenging new development projects that we need help with (no maintenance). If you remind us we'll tell you more about us if we like your source code

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Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL)

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You must develop software for us using Steel Bank Common Lisp (SBCL) [url removed, login to view] Our development server runs Apache and mod_lisp.

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But I don't have any Lisp experience?!?

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Of course, we assume you have practically no experience developing with Lisp. We know that very, very few developers use Lisp. Therefore, we recommend you review "Practical Common Lisp" [url removed, login to view] and "Common Lisp HyperSpec" [url removed, login to view]

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Lisp? Why Lisp?

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Why did we choose Lisp? Isn't Lisp almost, well, almost a dead language? Sort of. We realize that Lisp is hardly used in software development except by a very small group of elite software developers. We chose Lisp for one simple reason: we believe it is the best tool available for building most of the software we need. In other words, we think Lisp is a great language. If you study Lisp we suspect you'll think it's a great language too.

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Are you sure you want to use Lisp? Really?

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Yes. We did not inadvertently or naively choose Lisp. Not at all. We very carefully weighed the pros and cons of various languages and chose to use Lisp.

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If you prefer to use Java or .NET

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If you prefer to use Java or .NET then you definitely should not apply for this job. We do not like those languages at all. We feel strongly that those languages are like diseases. However, we do not mind if you currently develop in one of those languages and, like a refugee from a war zone, are seeking to escape.

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If you prefer to use Perl, Python, and Ruby on Rails

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Even though we like and respect Perl, Python, and Ruby on Rails, if you prefer to use one of these languages then you should not apply for this job either. We know Perl is for the old-timers, Python is what they use at Google, and that all the cool kids these days use Ruby on Rails.

We are not trying to be "old school" [url removed, login to view] or to be like Google or to be cool. No. We are attempting to develop great software.

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Clever and Eager Autodidacts Wanted

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You must be willing to teach yourself Steel Bank Common Lisp. We will *not* pay for you to learn Steel Bank Common Lisp. You must currently have a *reliable* high speed Internet connection (DSL, Cable, T-1, etc).

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Employee Benefits? None. Zero.

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We will provide you with no benefits whatsoever. No medical benefits. No paid holidays. Nothing. But we will pay all fees you will be assessed to receive your money, such as fees charged by GetAFreelancer and ATM machine fees.

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Taxes?

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We will not withhold any taxes from your compensation whatsoever nor will we report your earnings to you local tax authorities. That will be your responsibility alone.

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10 Hour Probationary Period

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If we pay you $30 because you have successfully completed the test project we posted for you on GetAFreelancer then we will assign you one 2 hour project which you must complete and submit to us within 24 hours (not including Saturdays and Sundays). Therefore, if we assign a project to you on Friday, you will not need to complete and submit to us until Monday.

If we are satisfied with how you have performed then we will assign you a second two hour project which you must complete and submit to us within 24 hours (not including Saturdays and Sundays).

If we are again satisfied with how you have performed we will repeat this process three more times until you have completed five such two hour assignments.

If we are satisfied with how you have performed then we will pay you for 10 hours. Then you will advance to the 50 day probationary period.

However, if at any time during this 10 hour probationary period we are *not* satisfied with how you performed then we will pay *not* you any monies whatsoever for any of the 10 hours. Instead we will terminate our relationship with you.

In other words, we require that you work 10 hours for us yet risk receiving no compensation whatsoever. Therefore, if you are not willing to risk working 10 hours for free, then you should not apply for this job.

After the initial 10 hour probationary period we will pay you within 48 hours (not including Saturdays and Sundays) for your work. Therefore, you will not need to, essentially, extend much credit to us. In other words, normally you will only need to trust us to pay you for up to two days of work.

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The 50 days following the 10 hour probationary period

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During the 50 days following the 10 hour probationary period, we will allow you to work as few as 50 hours each month but may allow you to work up to 200 hours per month. In other words, after the 10 hour probationary period we may allow you to begin working full-time with us.

However, we will not require you to begin working full-time during this 50 day period. Why? Because we realize you may currently, for example, have a full-time job which you probably don't like, but at least "pays the bills."

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After the 50 day probationary period you must be available to work 200 hours per month

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However, after this 50 day probationary period, we will require you to work 200 hours each month with us. Therefore, if you currently have a full-time job or other commitments which would interfere with you working 200 hours each month with us, then 50 day probationary period you will almost certainly need to quit your current job and/or abandon your other commitments.

In other words, after the 50 day probationary period we are not interested in working with you on a part-time basis. We are only willing to work with you on a part-time basis until you complete the 50 day probationary period so that both you and we may become confident that we should work together on a full-time basis. Please do not apply for this job unless you are willing to work 200 hours each month with us after you complete the 50 day probationary period.

In other words, we realize that many software developers reviewing the opportunities on GetAFreelancer are looking for part-time work. After all, this website is called GetAFreelancer not GetAnEmployee. However, if you are looking for a "side job" or some part-time work to supplement your current income and are therefore hoping to work, say, 50 to 100 hours per month, then please do not apply for this job. We are only interested in working with candidates who will be willing to work 200 hours each month with us after they complete the initial 60 day period.

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What about vacations?

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We do not provide any benefits whatsoever. None. Zero. Nothing. Of course we know you'll take vacations. Immediately below we describe how you would not be paid for vacations you take.

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Paid within 48 hours (not counting Saturdays and Sundays) for each hour you work

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We will actually pay you for every hour you work, not a set monthly rate. We would allow you to work more 200 hours per month. For example, if you were to work 250 hours in one month, then you'd be paid for 250 hours. Of course, if, say, you were to take a vacation and therefore only worked 50 hours in a particular month, then you'd only be paid for 50 hours for that month. To determine your hourly rate we will simply divide your monthly rate by 200.

However, except when you are sick or go on vacation, you must be willing to work 200 hours per month. And no, you may not take 4 or 5 "vacations" per month in order to work, say, 75 hours per month so that you can keep your current full-time job, stay in school, fulfill your military service, etc. You must be willing to work 200 hours per month.

If you work more than 200 hours per month we'll pay you more, but if you work less more than 200 hours per month we'll pay you less. We are not a paternalistic organization. We won't "take care of you." We are interested in a simple and straightforward contractual relationship in which we pay you for each hour you work and in which you commit to work 200 hours/month.

If you want a job with any sort of typical benefits such as paid vacations, medical care, retirement pensions, etcetera this is not the job for you. We are going to pay you strictly by the hour. If this approach seems too brutal or callous or unforgiving we suggest you get a "regular" job with a "regular" company.