Tips to Keep In Mind When Hiring a Freelancer

| November 26, 2015

Tips to Keep In Mind When Hiring a Freelancer

Freelancing is a growing trend among people in India, especially youngsters coming out of college with the world of technology at their fingertips. For most people, it’s not a choice they’d make if they had other options available, but it’s still something that would earn them bread and butter. With the growth in the number of freelancers, there comes a growth in the number of people comfortable hiring freelancers.

However, it’s not uncommon for people to get singed here. You might find some hidden gems amongst freelancers but there are also those who’re not very good performers. So how do you get the best work out of freelancers? Here are some tips.

Communicate Clearly

In most cases, when you’re communicating with freelancers, you communicate via email. Unfortunately, there’s a slot of space for misunderstanding and mistakes here. When you give freelancers an assignment, it’s absolutely vital to ensure that they’ve understood it properly. Communicate your goals and intentions to your freelancer clearly. Let them know what the expected result is. This would help the freelancer understand the scope of the project and do good work.

Look at the Experience

Most freelancers would post samples of their work, showcase their work history, and give you a list of their skills. For example, if you want to hire a graphic designer, you can ask for their portfolio and observe their past designs. Looking into the experience of your freelancers would tell you if the freelancer is right for the job. If the portfolio showcases work that appeals to you and would be in-line with your requirements, that particular freelancer would prove to be a good hire.

Experience would also tell you just how good the freelancer is on delivering the promise. If they’ve ample of experience and still get consistent work, it’s likely that they’ve a good work ethic and complete projects in a satisfactory manner.

Freelancer’s Communication Skills

It’s vital for your freelancer to communicate well with you as well. There are some who aren’t approachable by mail or don’t pick up your phone call. Such professionals should be avoided at all costs. At first, this might not seem relevant, but it’s important to keep in mind that communication requirements might change from time to time. For example, if you need some urgent changes in your project, you need to tell your freelancer. If they’re not available or don’t respond, those changes might not be applied.

Engage

It’s vital to engage freelancers regularly during the course of the job. Unlike your regular employees, freelancers have several clients calling for their attention. In some cases, they might work exclusively for a single person, but more often than not, they’re working on two of more projects from different people at the same time. It’s easy for them to let a project slide and focus on another. You can prevent this by constantly engaging them during the project. You can ask for updates, discuss the progress whenever possible. This way you can ensure that the project is moving as planned.