In 1994 I had an interview like no other. All the programmers (6) from a company were at my interview. It took 3 days to set it up. They had code snippets and specific problems to discuss. “How would you solve this”? After analyzing the room I suggested they could pay me for my answers or hire me. I then walked out of the meeting. I later found out they were trying to solve many problems without hiring anyone.

As far as being responsible for your code, let them pay for what they need. Set up a contract and be reasonable.



>I've got a friend who was called in for multiple interviews with a particular company and the interviews would basically be 'what would you do to achieve (insert result here)?'. She'd answer their questions and when she'd be called back for another 'interview', she's notice that they'd implemented her suggestions from the last interview. When she got called in for the 4th interview she told them that they'd either have to give her the job or start paying her per hour for consultation. The interviews quit.
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>Having said that, I'd be tracking the time I've spent already and when the number of hours approached a certain number; whatever is comfortable for you to give away for free, mine was about 10 hours; I'd mention that I'd spent x hours working for free, and it's just business, but I'd need to start charging for my time after this.
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>>I've got a client that is replacing my 15 year-old system with something new and has decided not to use me. "Nothing personal, just business" and we parted amicably.
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>>Once they made that decision, the Client has not used me for anything. They didn't ask for my help with an RFP, they didn't involve me in the data conversion, etc. They do however ask me questions - How does Table X relate to Table Y? What data structure do we pass the credit card processor and what format do they send back?
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>>Those questions are quick and easy to answer, but they are quick and easy to answer because of my expertise and years of experience. I feel like I'm selling myself short giving away that knowledge at my hourly programming rate. Also, and maybe it's petty, but I don't really feel like helping out the guy who's replacing me.
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>>So what to do? Suck it up, answer the questions, and charge the hourly rate? Tell them they are on their own at this point? Have a different hourly rate for this expertise? Tell them that if they want me standing by ready to help they'll have to pay me a retainer?