Certified Developer Trainee FAQ
Q: Could you help me understand what kind of customers you have and what their development needs are?
A: Startup Commons platform is catering for the key organizations that are part of startup ecosystems around the world like: Universities, Advisory & mentoring organizations, Incubators, Accelerators, Co-working spaces, Service providers (consulting, accounting, legal, etc.), Event organizers, Startup competitions, Investor networks, VC companies, Crowdfunding portals (marketplaces, brokers and other intermediaries), Other funding providers (loans, grants etc.), Startup blogs & other media, Other facilitators within the ecosystem. The needs they have related to platform vary, but typically they have some customization needs they want for the platform functionality that support their own processes or connections to other tools they use etc.
With the certification status there are also additional opportunities to work with other companies and businesses that are part of Grow VC Group where most related to software development needs are www.crowdvalley.com (and their customers) and www.changelab23.com (a digital product design company).
Q: Do you have a in-house team of developers who develops projects?
A: We have developers in-house, and other certified developer partner companies and freelancers that have already worked with the platform for longer period. As we see a continuous steady growth of new customer and needs all the time, we are also continuously expanding the number and quality of the developers we want to work with as we grow.
Q: What type of training mentors will provide is it about your products, about your company or it will be purely related to web technologies?
A: It is about all things needed for being a certified developer for the platform. So naturally it's a lot about understanding the product as detail as possible from how it's technically setup and working, but also for what it's for, understanding the customers, how customer and users use it, history of the product etc. etc. So in that sense it also a lot about the startup ecosystems and startups in general as well.
Q: Am I getting paid for the training session, will there be any live project tasks or test will be carried out by mentors?
A: The is no pay from the training period itself, but there can be additional paid work on top of the training work commitment itself also during the training period. All training will be done working with live tasks and projects that are then evaluated by other developers from the technical side, project management from communications side and business operations manager from business side.
Q: What will be minimum hourly rate offered beyond training hours work?
A: The hourly rate for development needs we order directly as Startup Commons are agreed case by case before starting the program. Then on the jobs you offer to our customers directly as certified developer (if you qualify) you can freely quote the price directly per customer. Startup Commons take 10% commission from any work invoiced from our customers, for costs of running the certified developer program.
Q: How many days of training for become certified programmer?
A: The overall training for Certified Developer Partner is 20h/week for 3 months total. We can also adjust that to 10h/week for 6 months etc. but it really is about total hours however those are distributed.
Q: Is it fine during training period if i work on projects 1-2 hrs a day on weekdays and then complete remaining assignments on weekends?
A: Yes that is fine, this just needs to be communicated with project management, so they can also allocate enough working tasks to be available and also understand the communication patterns coming from your time allocation.
Q: Can trainee hours be reduced on the basis of performance?
A: The required hours ie. the total training period, can be reduced based on good performance at our discretion.
Q: After complete training, will you hire us to work on regularly on product?
A: After the initial period you will get to be in a pool of certified developers from where the required work is sent for by Startup Commons directly as well as our customers and other partners using the platform. The continuance for future opportunities will depend on the skills and the quality of the work provided during the trainee period and that's why the trainee period have been developed for.
Q: Is there paid work opportunities during the trainee period?
Depending on how the training period progress, we may end it short if either you or us feel it's not really working out or optionally we may order some paid work already during the trainee period. In that case, the balance between training hours and paid work can be max 50/50 (so 50% of our time spend it counted towards training) from overall time used and also paid hours can only be calculated towards actual code build (ie not learning, setting up, reading documentations etc.).
Q: What hourly rates are appropriate for the work we are qualifying with this training program?
A: Startup Commons customer needs vary from many different types of organizations and from many geographical locations and markets as well, so also the expected rates for development work may vary depending on the market they operate in. All developers can quote at any price point they see fit for good overall quality and professional communications and delivery levels they provide for their area of expertise.
As a certified developer partner, you can quote your prices directly for customers, and even with 15% commission for Startup Commons Certification and for costs of running this program, as a developer specified on our product development with required skills, there should be reasonable opportunity for any professional.
If customers order development work from Startup Commons directly, you can see the basic pricing we use for ie. "training" or "customization work", as a reference point.
In the internal projects Startup Commons or our National partners order directly, we pay at rate agreed at the time of starting the trainee agreement.
Q: What is the purpose of the trainee program?
A: The purpose of the trainee program is for us to be absolutely sure that we can recommend you for our customers and can trust that you will handle their needs professionally, as well as to really know how you operate as a developer. Trust can not be build in instance and this is also the reason why we need long enough time to see your working patterns and commitment to want to be qualified and certified.
Naturally we understand that this is an investment from your side, but it is also an investment from our side. This investment to add for your own credibility will help you to get new customer and have higher profile as an independent developer or development company, helping you to separate yourself from many other developers out there - and as such help you get more work.
Q: Your training agreement is written for an individual and I represent the development company. How will the process be modified for companies?
A: There is not much difference in being that an independent freelancer person or a company in question, as at the end of the day it's anyway a real person that is doing the work or being responsible of the work provided.
Q: How should I give you this agreement with my signature?
A: Fill in the required details, scan or take photos from it and send to us via email for our signature.
Q: What are the next steps after we have signed the agreement?
A: We will give you full access to all our developer tools and documentations to get your development environment setup. After you are setup, studied enough documentations etc. and you are able to start programming, you will be assigned your first task.
Q: How is my work evaluated from developer work perspective?
A: You work is being evaluated based on code quality, security, stable communication with the rest of the team, reliability and predictability. Among other factors.
Q: Where are you operations based actually?
A: Grow VC Group is an organization that operates very globally and we have businesses in various countries (Hong Kong, UK, USA, Finland, etc.). The main Grow VC Group entity is registered in HK and therefore the agreement is also with the HK entity that owns the rights for Startup Commons non profit initiative.
A: Startup Commons platform is catering for the key organizations that are part of startup ecosystems around the world like: Universities, Advisory & mentoring organizations, Incubators, Accelerators, Co-working spaces, Service providers (consulting, accounting, legal, etc.), Event organizers, Startup competitions, Investor networks, VC companies, Crowdfunding portals (marketplaces, brokers and other intermediaries), Other funding providers (loans, grants etc.), Startup blogs & other media, Other facilitators within the ecosystem. The needs they have related to platform vary, but typically they have some customization needs they want for the platform functionality that support their own processes or connections to other tools they use etc.
With the certification status there are also additional opportunities to work with other companies and businesses that are part of Grow VC Group where most related to software development needs are www.crowdvalley.com (and their customers) and www.changelab23.com (a digital product design company).
Q: Do you have a in-house team of developers who develops projects?
A: We have developers in-house, and other certified developer partner companies and freelancers that have already worked with the platform for longer period. As we see a continuous steady growth of new customer and needs all the time, we are also continuously expanding the number and quality of the developers we want to work with as we grow.
Q: What type of training mentors will provide is it about your products, about your company or it will be purely related to web technologies?
A: It is about all things needed for being a certified developer for the platform. So naturally it's a lot about understanding the product as detail as possible from how it's technically setup and working, but also for what it's for, understanding the customers, how customer and users use it, history of the product etc. etc. So in that sense it also a lot about the startup ecosystems and startups in general as well.
Q: Am I getting paid for the training session, will there be any live project tasks or test will be carried out by mentors?
A: The is no pay from the training period itself, but there can be additional paid work on top of the training work commitment itself also during the training period. All training will be done working with live tasks and projects that are then evaluated by other developers from the technical side, project management from communications side and business operations manager from business side.
Q: What will be minimum hourly rate offered beyond training hours work?
A: The hourly rate for development needs we order directly as Startup Commons are agreed case by case before starting the program. Then on the jobs you offer to our customers directly as certified developer (if you qualify) you can freely quote the price directly per customer. Startup Commons take 10% commission from any work invoiced from our customers, for costs of running the certified developer program.
Q: How many days of training for become certified programmer?
A: The overall training for Certified Developer Partner is 20h/week for 3 months total. We can also adjust that to 10h/week for 6 months etc. but it really is about total hours however those are distributed.
Q: Is it fine during training period if i work on projects 1-2 hrs a day on weekdays and then complete remaining assignments on weekends?
A: Yes that is fine, this just needs to be communicated with project management, so they can also allocate enough working tasks to be available and also understand the communication patterns coming from your time allocation.
Q: Can trainee hours be reduced on the basis of performance?
A: The required hours ie. the total training period, can be reduced based on good performance at our discretion.
Q: After complete training, will you hire us to work on regularly on product?
A: After the initial period you will get to be in a pool of certified developers from where the required work is sent for by Startup Commons directly as well as our customers and other partners using the platform. The continuance for future opportunities will depend on the skills and the quality of the work provided during the trainee period and that's why the trainee period have been developed for.
Q: Is there paid work opportunities during the trainee period?
Depending on how the training period progress, we may end it short if either you or us feel it's not really working out or optionally we may order some paid work already during the trainee period. In that case, the balance between training hours and paid work can be max 50/50 (so 50% of our time spend it counted towards training) from overall time used and also paid hours can only be calculated towards actual code build (ie not learning, setting up, reading documentations etc.).
Q: What hourly rates are appropriate for the work we are qualifying with this training program?
A: Startup Commons customer needs vary from many different types of organizations and from many geographical locations and markets as well, so also the expected rates for development work may vary depending on the market they operate in. All developers can quote at any price point they see fit for good overall quality and professional communications and delivery levels they provide for their area of expertise.
As a certified developer partner, you can quote your prices directly for customers, and even with 15% commission for Startup Commons Certification and for costs of running this program, as a developer specified on our product development with required skills, there should be reasonable opportunity for any professional.
If customers order development work from Startup Commons directly, you can see the basic pricing we use for ie. "training" or "customization work", as a reference point.
In the internal projects Startup Commons or our National partners order directly, we pay at rate agreed at the time of starting the trainee agreement.
Q: What is the purpose of the trainee program?
A: The purpose of the trainee program is for us to be absolutely sure that we can recommend you for our customers and can trust that you will handle their needs professionally, as well as to really know how you operate as a developer. Trust can not be build in instance and this is also the reason why we need long enough time to see your working patterns and commitment to want to be qualified and certified.
Naturally we understand that this is an investment from your side, but it is also an investment from our side. This investment to add for your own credibility will help you to get new customer and have higher profile as an independent developer or development company, helping you to separate yourself from many other developers out there - and as such help you get more work.
Q: Your training agreement is written for an individual and I represent the development company. How will the process be modified for companies?
A: There is not much difference in being that an independent freelancer person or a company in question, as at the end of the day it's anyway a real person that is doing the work or being responsible of the work provided.
Q: How should I give you this agreement with my signature?
A: Fill in the required details, scan or take photos from it and send to us via email for our signature.
Q: What are the next steps after we have signed the agreement?
A: We will give you full access to all our developer tools and documentations to get your development environment setup. After you are setup, studied enough documentations etc. and you are able to start programming, you will be assigned your first task.
Q: How is my work evaluated from developer work perspective?
A: You work is being evaluated based on code quality, security, stable communication with the rest of the team, reliability and predictability. Among other factors.
Q: Where are you operations based actually?
A: Grow VC Group is an organization that operates very globally and we have businesses in various countries (Hong Kong, UK, USA, Finland, etc.). The main Grow VC Group entity is registered in HK and therefore the agreement is also with the HK entity that owns the rights for Startup Commons non profit initiative.
