Microsoft Visual Basic.Net Developers

Juris Informatica is looking for a couple of really good Microsoft Visual Basic.Net developers. Ideally they would know Microsoft Access well, but this is not required.

In addition, currently we could use a good Microsoft Access programmer for a few projects, even if they do not know .Net or Visual Basic. Knowledge of VBA would be very helpful. If the Access programmer lived near Boston, that would be a huge plus.

Microsoft Shop

Juris Informatica publishes legal Web sites — sites that provide information about legal topics. Most of these sites are published using WordPress. In addition, we have some .Net sites that use Microsoft technologies to develop Web forms.

For our internal “corporate” information systems, we are exclusively a Microsoft shop. Vista Business and Office Professional on the client side, Windows Server, SQL Server, IIS and Exchange Server on the server, Enterprise editions in all cases. We are very advanced users of Microsoft Office, often writing apps that use three or four of them at once (e.g, Access as a front end to SQL Server, connect Word through Access to the SQL Server database, create a mail merge which outputs as an e-mail, which is processed by Outlook).

Internal Corportate Information Systems

We have several information systems which we use extensively, including:

Attorneys and Clients System — Used to process prospective clients for cases, and then to refer these clients to an appropriate attorney
Authority Web Sites System — Used to manage writers, Web designers, domain names and WordPress accounts
Recruiting System — Used to manage the Linkedin recruiting system

Client Database

For our WordPress sites, we have written several forms which are written in PHP and Javascript. These forms are used to add data to our client database. Starting in June 2009, we are making strategic partnerships with other Web sites which will provide us with leads. Thus, there will be lots of different ways data about prospective clients are added to our database. Accordingly, we would like the business logic that is currently encapsulated within this PHP code to be rewritten at the SQL Server level, so that no matter how a client is added to our database, these business rules will be enforced. This would be done using stored procedures, triggers, inline table-valued functions, and/or multi-statement table-valued functions.

Ad Management System

We have developed a system to manage pay-per-click advertising The system is mostly done, but there are several enhancements that need to be made. We are looking for a senior, extremely competent developer who will take over development of this system. He would do the work itself or he would do so combined with someone else. We do not have time to manage this project (Juris Informatica takes all of our time) and thus we want a self-starter, someone who can get the job done without supervision.

We welcome inquires from:

Those who can manage the project — This person should be highly technical, very hands on, roll up his sleeves and do it. We are not looking for the typical project manager who can’t do the work himself. We are looking for a project completer, not someone who simply nags developers.
A senior developer who can work with the project manager.

Social Group

Our CEO runs the most successful “high end” social group in Boston, which we are expanding to other cities. We will be giving parties on a regular basis. Young, very attractive women are admitted for free, the men are charged $100. Each party sells about 250 tickets to the men, grossing $25,000, with very little in expenses. We already have several organizers in several cities who are ready to host parties. We already have made extensive modifications to our Web site to accomodate multi-city memberships, but more changes need to be made.

Visual Basic.Net

Yes, we know that there is strong controversy within the .Net developer community about the merits of VB.Net (just called “VB” hereafter) as compared to C#. Both are great languages and as far as we can tell, Microsoft intends to continue development of VB for the foreseeable future. We have chosen VB because:

Even though all of the .Net languages compile down to CLR, we feel it is important to standardize on one language, and we felt comfortable standardizing on VB if for no other reason than we know it better.
We do perform code reviews, and we simply know VB a lot better than C#.
We very much believe in following standards. For VB, there is an excellent programming standards book, and we can simply say to our developers, “Let’s all follow the standards in this book.” We know of no equivalent standards book for C#. (Of course, the best standards book ever written is Code Complete 2, but that is not specific to any language, and we need a language-specific standards book.)

As James Mitchell likes to say, “Write it so I can understand what the hell is going on.” We have a few specific quirks, such as using Hungarian notation (for us, it simply makes the code easier to read) and separating connecting words with underscores (int_Initital_Purchase_Price rather than intInitialPurchasePrice).

Stored Procedures et al.

As much as possible, we like an application to run at the database level, thereby assuring consistency and data integrity. So we write a lot of stored procedures, triggers, inline table-valued functions, and multi-statement table-valued functions.

Microsoft Access

We use Microsoft Access 2007 extensively, solely as a front-end to SQL Server, never to store data. We know of no other tool that allows for faster development of forms, queries and reports. For our internal systems, we almost always use Access. For forms and systems used outside our company, we would typically write a Web form.

Documentation and Comments

We are sticklers about in-line comments with the code as well as technical documentation. We take this more seriously that most companies do.

Daily Conference Calls

Managing remote, virtual teams of developers is frankly difficult. We have learned that one of the best ways to ensure daily progress and to facilitate communication among team members is to have a daily conference call, typically using Skype. The project manager does not need to spend as much time reaching people because he knows he will be able to talk with all of the team members at least once a day. On this conference call, people make commitments and they know the next day, every team member will be asking, “What did you accomplish yesterday.” It is a fantastic way to overcome some of the limitations of operating remotely, and we use this technique for most of our projects.

Ideal Background

Ideal background includes:

At least four years experience with Visual Studio
Expert in Visual Basic.Net
Highly experienced with Microsoft SQL Server (ideally 2008)
Highly experienced with Microsoft T-SQL, stored procedures, triggers, inline table-valued functions, and multi-statement table-valued functions.
Highly experienced with Web services and writing Web forms
Highly experienced with Microsoft Access 2007
Excellent oral and written communication skills
Willingness to abide by our programming and documentation standards. We document extensively, both within the code and in writing technical specifications. We look for clean, well documented, well designed, well structured, straight forward code that makes sense.

Team Leader / Project Manager

In addition to VB.Net developers, we would love to find a good team leader / project manager. Currently we have two such people (James Mitchell and Keith MacKay) and we would like to find a third. Ideal characteristics include:

Demonstrated ability to manage multi-developer software projects
Management ability — the will to manage, to take charge and be responsible for the success of the project
Leadership skills
Outstanding oral and written communication skills
High level of availability. When your team members have a questions, if they cannot reach you for three hours, it’s possible they will be twiddling their thumbs for three hours.
Excellent table and system design skills
Ability to write detailed functional and technical specifications well
Excellent technical skills in .Net and VB.Net. You will be providing technical leadership for the project.

Please note that all of our team leaders/project managers have strong technical backgrounds in VB.Net, SQL Server and ideally Microsoft Access. At our firm, being a term leader means being a technical lead, someone who provides overall technical leadership of the project. If you’re a project manager without such technical skills, we are the wrong firm for you.

Entrepreneurial Approach

We work with our partners on an entrepreneurial basis. This approach allows us to attract a higher caliber of person than if we just paid $X per hour and it aligns our long-term interests with our partners’. In return, our partners make more money — actually a lot more money — than selling their time by the hour. We feel it is only fair and just that our partners enjoy and benefit from our extraordinary success so far and our anticipated success in the future.

Please Read

If you are interested in this position, you should read the following:

If You Are Interested

If you are interested, please write to James Mitchell at jmitchell@kensingtonllc.com and send him the following information. Please include the questions in your e-mails.

What is your full name?
What is your e-mail address?
Please list all of your phone numbers.
Which number is best to call you on? As noted below, please state this in your local time and in Boston time.
Do you have Skype?
If so, what is your Skype ID? (If you live outside the United States, please install Skype (www.skype.com) now (ideally before you fill out this form), so that when we want to call you after receiving your e-mail, we can do so.)
Where do you live?
James Mitchell lives in Boston, and Boston is the same time zone as New York City, namely East Coast time zone. When it is 9 a.m. in Boston, what time is it in your time zone? In other words, how many hours ahead or behind Boston are you?
Are you interested in the team leader position?
How well do you know VB.Net? (1-10)
How well do you know C#? (1-10)
How well do you know Microsoft OneClick? (1-10)
How much experience have you had with Microsoft SQL Server? (1-10)
How much experience have you had writing stored procedures, triggers, inline table-valued functions, and multi-statement table-valued functions in SQL Server?
How much experience have you had with Microsoft Database Mail? (1-10)
How much experience have you had with Microsoft SQL CLR? (1-10)
How much experience have you had with Web services? (1-10)
Do you have any Microsoft certifications? If so, which ones?
How much experience do you have in analyzing network traffic and Web logs? (1-10)
How much experience do you have with Subversion (the version control software package)? (1-10) One member of our team needs to act as the Subversion systems administrator. Do you have the skills to do that? Would you be willing to do that?
How good are you at testing and quality control? (1-10) At least one member of our team needs to be in charge of testing and quality control. Do you have the skills to do that? Would you be willing to do that?
How well do you know Microsoft Access? (1-10)
What version of Windows are you running?
Which version of Microsoft Office are you currently using?
Do you know how to program in PHP? If so, how well? (We ask this because we have some PHP projects also.) (1-10)
For each of the projects listed on this page, please tell us your level of interest.
How many hours per week are you willing to devote to this opportunity?
Over the next year, how many hours per week are you willing to work on this project?
We want to get a sense of when you would be able to work, with times stated in both your time and in Boston time. Monday through Friday, when would you be able to work and for how many hours each day? Again, please state both your local time and Boston time.
On Saturdays and Sundays, when you be able to work and for how many hours each day? Please state in your local time as well as Boston time.
What else is going on your life that we should know about? Job? Kids? Board memberships? What other time commitments do you have?
How soon would you be able to start?
Anything else we should know about you?
Are there any topics for new Web sites you think would be particularly worthwhile?
How reachable by telephone are you in the daytime, nighttime and weekends.
We will most likely want to talk with you on the phone once a day or at least every other day. How do you feel about that?
Are you able to be available for a daily conference call? What times of the day would you not be available for such a conference call?
We are looking for developers with a high level of personal responsibility, who are not flaky, who are good at returning phone calls, who have low total cost of interaction. How does this apply to you?
If we or one of our associates sent you an e-mail through Linkedin, there was a nine digit number towards the end of the e-mail, immediate after their name. It would be in the format of 100-029-987, or something like that. Please list that number if you can find it in the e-mail we sent to you. If you cannot, do not worry about it.
Can you afford an entrepreneurial situation such as this one? We do not need to pry as to your finances, but we will eventually want to know some details as to whether you can afford this. At a minimum, state that you understand this is an entrepreneurial opportunity and you can afford such an opportunity, even if you provide no details.

Please specifically mention that you understand this is an entrepreneurial situation and you can afford that.

If you are interested in the team leader/project manager position, please also tell us:

For how many projects have you been either a team leader, a project manager, or both?
For each of these projects, how large was the project team in terms of personnel?
How good are you at writing detailed functional and technical specifications? (1-10)
How much experience have you had in managing a virtual team? Describe past experiences.
Team leaders and project managers need to have a very high level of availability. How do you feel about that?

We will respond to every inquiry with 24 hours. Our founders have an impressive track record in making a lot of money through the businesses they have started. We are kick ass, get things done types of people and by the end of 2009, we expect to have more than 100 sites operational, with another 200 added in 2010. For the right developers, this could be an extraordinary opportunity financially.