More and more businesses are trying to find freelancers on the work exchanges to do work that requires experience and relevant skills. The growth of the market for freelance services is of great benefit for small and medium business owners. Perhaps, in the near future, we will see an even greater increase in employers' loyalty to independent specialists and will witness a trend in the provision of a social package for freelancers.
The increasing competition among freelancers inevitably leads to an improvement in the development of their professional skills, as well as to a decrease in the cost of services. And this cannot but please potential employers. How can you find a suitable freelancer whom you can entrust any urgent task or an important project? Our smart tips will help you not to fail when choosing a freelancer and working with an employee distantly.
Tip 1: Look for a reliable freelancer among friends and acquaintances
The best way to find an adequate freelancer is to look for trusted people in your circle or seek advice from friends and partners who have already worked with freelancers. You will have more guarantees that you have found a responsible performer, and he or she will cope with the task at the proper level.
If you do not have a database with specialists and smart advisers, go to the freelance exchanges. They are very convenient because each performer has a rating, and you can also see reviews about him or her. However, if your company regularly resorts or plans to resort to such assistance, it is better to create one account for several coordinators for working with exchanges.
Due to this you as a company get a higher rating due to more good reviews, your approach to work is clearer, and if you leave one coordinator, you do not lose the accumulated base of people.In addition, those freelancers who have "sins," for example, the disruption of deadlines and poor performance, will be less willing to send their requests to the company which has many positive reviews.
Tip 2: Think of the criteria a freelancer must correspond to for meeting expectations
Before starting to work with freelancers, you as a customer should clearly understand what result you want to get and what criteria for the successful completion of the task should be met. Otherwise, even if you find a professional and responsible freelancer, there is a risk that he or she will not suit you. Why? Because you yourself do not know what you want, that's why any result will seem unsatisfactory to you.
Tip 3: Make assignments clear and concise
Good freelancers are waiting for understandable tasks. The more accurately and in detail, you will write the working conditions and requirements to a freelancer, the higher the probability that you will find the right person and get the desired result.
So, make a general description of the task, a list of the most important characteristics of the ideal result, requirements for the performer, clearly specify the time and budget, the availability of additional materials for the work (templates, prototypes, etc.). Send the assignment to several people at once and try your assignment help. So there is a higher probability of finding a freelancer who will meet your requirements best.
Tip 4: Check whether the freelancers in front of you is a real professional
All professionals make it clear why you should work with them. In their profile on a freelance exchange or in their CV, there is no water. During the conversation they focus their attention on their experience, trying to support every word with illustrative examples.
Also, a good specialist can name the criteria by which you will be able to determine the quality of his or her work (for example, increasing conversion, the uniqueness of the text, customer names). If a freelancer does not have the necessary work experience in the sphere of your business activity, but he or she is a responsible executor, he or she will accentuate your attention on this point.
Tip 5: Give preference to narrow specialists
Be sure to carefully read the questions of the potential performer before you hire freelancers online. According to them, you will be able to judge how well you will work together, his or her understanding of the job and the level of professionalism. If something embarrasses you, then most likely you are right. But for reinsurance, so as not to miss an intelligent employee, you should ask once again.
By the way, if you need a real expert, then look for those who really carry out serious orders in a particular field. This is fixed in the profile and portfolio. Multifunctional specialists often do not study the topic deeply. A person who feels passionate about one field of knowledge is much more valuable for your business. Some companies think that it is better to hire freelancers who can perform several functions, however, in rare cases, such people can provide you with the high-quality performance of all responsibilities.
Tip 6: Check the professional portfolio
Transparency is one of the most important criteria that should be taken into account when hiring a freelancer. A trustworthy employee will indicate the online sites where his or her works are located, or will gladly provide a portfolio with the works to have a look at. Also, if necessary, he or she will be able to prove that this work is his or her, and not the one found on the Internet.
Tip 7: Pay attention to the response time of a freelancer
Those freelancers who have a serious attitude to their work respond within 24 hours to a request for a job offer or any other customer questions asked already in the process of work. Otherwise, they warn when they can get in touch. They also stipulate when they will be able to deal with your project, why there may be delays, etc. Do you wonder why it is so important for online jobs hiring? The response time shows the level of the time management and attention to you.
Tip 8: Check whether a freelancer demonstrates initiative
The work of a good specialist is always done at 101%. A good freelancer will provide you with work aligned with your technical assignment and even beyond that – give recommendations on working with the finished file, show his or her own vision of the problem and possible solutions, accept edits the right way. A bad worker will start to resist adjustments and definitely forget some points from the technical assignment.
Tip 9: Check the freelancer's rating and cost of his/her services
A large presence of negative reviews is a bad sign while a couple of drawbacks in the rating of a performer should not frighten you. There is some percentage of those customers who are always dissatisfied.
If a performer does not have justifications for the inflated price, and he has not studied the nuances of the assignment, then his request to increase the payment indicates that he or she probably will not do all the work by himself or herself. If a performer asks to pay a part of the money without fulfilling the minimum part of the technical assignment because he or she needs money urgently, most likely, you have met a problematic freelancer.
Tip 10: Check whether a freelancer is punctual
If a freelancer constantly delays the delivery of work, does not respond to your requests to be more punctual, responds with delays – it is better not to continue working with such a person in the future, even if the quality of his or her work suits you. You can hardly rely on such a person in difficult or critical situations.
Tip 11: Specify all the details at once
Before you start, talk about how to communicate with the performer so that you can "reach" him or her at any time during the day. If the employee does not appear at the appointed time or even disappeared – look for a new person and write to the technical support of the exchange in order to get your advance payment. If you have been recommended this freelancer, then ask a friend who did it, whether such disappearance is typical for him or not. It is possible that it is worth giving a second chance to a person if the reason proves to be respectful.
Do not try to over-control freelancers. Your main task is to stipulate important nuances, establish deadlines, control points and provide prompt feedback. So, you have more chances to get the work done on time and, if necessary, adjust its implementation or, in extreme cases, transfer it to another employee. Use virtual services to setup and control the execution of tasks – schedulers, Google Docs, etc.
If you are not competent enough to assess the quality of the finished work to find freelancers online, ask colleagues or freelancers on the exchanges to evaluate the implementation. Perhaps, it will turn out that the work can be improved, although personally, you don’t see any errors. Do not entrust it to people you don't know well to work with the important data sources if you do not have the ability to quickly restore the information.
Also, remember that only proven people can be transferred to work outside the exchange, where there is no control of work and wages. Otherwise, you risk sending prepayment and staying without money and without solving your problem. Generally, for payment, use employment contracts and secure payment services on the freelance exchanges. You do not know yet what to expect from an unknown freelancer.
