Q: How do I find good programmers?

Short answer: Take the most expensive programmer in that field, who has not worked as a project manager in a big company.

Longer answer:

Why expensive? People don't make negotiations when they're not willing to step away. Very few people will highball double their expected salary and walk away when they don't get it. Whatever they ask for, it's anchored against other offers.

Software development is a pure creation job. As in you only get paid accordingly to the wealth you create. A marketer or writer can bullshit easily, but a developer has to build.

That is also why I say be careful with project managers. A project manager's job is not creation. A good one can bullshit, win lucrative contracts, fail at them, and still get substantial bonuses.

People in big companies have to be treated with caution too, because it's easy to seep into the cracks. But those people will usually find their way into management, or end up in a poorly paid job where they can't get fired.

But a good programmer is still the pillar of a technical team. When the team is under stress, parts may crumble but the pillar stands. Good programmers won't get fired even when their managers do. Their salaries are always raised to match. They often outlast their teams and can have disproportionately higher salaries.

So okay… a programmer would have deservingly high salaries. But is it cost effective to take the most expensive?

Let's say you have Task A. Task A would take a fresh graduate (RM2,500) around 10 days to complete.

For cost effectiveness, Task A would be solvable by a RM5,000 programmer in 5 days, or a RM10,000 programmer in 2.5 days, or a RM25,000 programmer in one day.

But if you look at the real software industry, it's not like this.

A RM5,000 programmer is more than twice as good as a fresh graduate, probably 3 times better, because they make much less mistakes.

At RM10k, they are probably reputable programmers, community leaders. They can work twice as fast as the 5k programmer because rhey are aware of a different range of tools, can pick the best, and have awareness of different situations.

RM25,000 is a legendary level. Legend does associate with bullshit, but usually they have slain dragons. They have soloed million dollar projects, spoken in international conferences, rescued entire companies. They might not work 5x the speed of the veterans, but they are able to rescue the big ones.

But again, not the case with consultants or managers. Also note that it's within a certain market. A mid range person on the global market makes about $50/hour, way higher than the Malaysian higher end. So hiring an average skilled American programmer is usually not worth it.

The true global legends are the type who can create $100,000 of wealth in a month, sometimes generate half a billion dollars in a decade.

When it comes down, the wage gain for a programmer is much slower than the skill gain. But unlike many other forms of engineering, there’s practically no cap on the skill level of a programmer. Most of the time, you get what you pay for.