I've been on both sides of the table, and I can vouch for HyperZonk's advice above. The technical questions to ask a consultant are the same you would ask any candidate. In this case, you can even concentrate on the specific items you need: Perl, CGI (I assume), SQL. After you've gotten past those, consider the business questions: have a budget (both time and money) and see if you can work out a contract.

As for gambling: well, every time you add a person to a team, you're taking a chance whether they'll work out or not. On a number of occasions, I've had a person who interviewed very well turn out to be a dud (both permanents and consultants). It happens to the best of us. At least with a consultant, if the person doesn't work out, you can cut your losses quickly. On the other hand, if they work out great, you may want to bring him/her back for the rewrite.

Speaking personally as a consultant, I would love an opportunity where the client called me in to fix one specific thing. It would give me a chance to show what I'm capable of much more than any interview ever could. So don't feel uncomfortable about giving the person what may seem like a small (trivial, tedious, pick your adjective) task.

HTH

In reply to Re: Best use of Perl Consultant? by VSarkiss
in thread Best use of Perl Consultant? by Ovid

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