#hihostels

One of our first clients to employ We Got Coders trainees, HiHostels, are a global federation of Hostel accommodation providers. With the help of our consultants, they have recently completed a project to migrate their bookings and point of sale platform onto a modern, API-backed, service-orientated architecture. After a 14-month multiple-supplier software build, HiHostels found that the return on investment with the agency model gradually produced diminishing returns, and began consider other approaches to provision software development. We asked Operations Director Ivan Salcedo what his rationale was for working with We Got Coders to provide junior developers for their development team.

“We faced a series of headaches on a major e-commerce project; we were running behind schedule, running out of budget and we still had a large amount of work to complete before we could launch the project. Our appointed web agency were delivering less and less value for money, and other specialist agencies would not take the project on without rebuilding the code from the ground up. We were in a tricky position.

Enter We Got Coders. Dan was personally recommended by people I trust in the industry, and I was struck both by his passion for web development and his faith in his students. But what impressed me most was the commitment, dedication and talent of the developers that he had been working with. The project presentations would shame many “professional’ developers, and so we arranged to take two alumni for three months.

Commercially, this made a lot of sense to us. We could afford more resource than through a “conventional’ agency, and we had the security of knowing an experienced senior developer would be on hand to mentor, guide and get stuck in to the code if required.

Dan had assessed our codebase before committing to the project, and was able to advise as to whether his junior developers would be up to the task. They didn't flinch from the challenge; within a very short space of time both developers were contributing direct improvements to our codebase and at the end of the twelve week placement I had no hesitation in offering both of them contracts.

If you are looking for skilled, committed and eager developers, I strongly recommend using We Got Coders; whether in a situation where you are looking to control costs, are building a new team or you are actively looking to bring a fresh perspective to your current dev team. I was impressed by the wider industry experience that the We Got Coders consultants bring with them, as well as a resolute approach to coding using industry best practices with Test Driven Development and Agile development.”

Its five months since our first wave of web developer hopefuls began their quest to become full-stack web developers. They began with no Ruby web development experience; only what they had learned from self-study and some hard work. Now they are all contractors, working for We Got Coders as Ruby consultants.

What makes us unique is that we invest in entry-level developers, and provide them with the training that they need in order to cover the breadth of the skills required of a junior web developer. However, its only when given the opportunity to hone their skills and apply their knowledge, with the support and guidance of a mentor, that we believe talented web developers can make a meaningful contribution to their new teams.

In each case, the clients concerned were looking for people who can hit the ground running. Joe and Jason were snapped up by http://www.hihostels.com/, a booking service for hostel accommodation. HiHostels were coming to the end of an agency project and were looking to build an in-house team to maintain the project and take it forwards. As a global organisation increasingly relying on tech, HiHostels realised that without having in-house Ruby expertise and being beholden to expensive agencies for on-going work, that they would not be in control of the destiny of their web offering.

The application, a sophisticated service-orientated web application built on the Ruby Padrino framework, is a departure from the basic MVC applications covered in online tutorials and most bootcamps; but our preparation in this area meant that they are already contributing fixes and helping move the project towards its next phase of development. 

Edgar landed a role at http://supadupa.me, a rails platform that provides boutique e-commerce to merchants. As a startup, SupaDupa need all hands on deck when it comes to development and need to prioritise those features that contribute to the bottom-line. As a We Got Coders consultant, Edgar is now driving business value that is moving the entire project forwards.

Michael joins the team at http://handshq.com, a rails platform that provides legal documentation for the contractor industry. The concept began when two founders approached freelance Ruby developers to create their MVP; but were frustrated by the cost and commitment level of an experienced coder. To take their project forwards, HandsHQ sought to build their own team and work alongside a junior developer who is supervised by our senior development team; simultaneously delivering quality and value for money; whilst building up the team for the long-term.

By the end of March, the work experience programme will come to an end and our trainees will have completed our six-month fast-track programme. We aim to then secure full-time permanent positions for the consultants, who will have by then amply demonstrated their prowess; stay tuned to see how they get on!