If you have a project that needs finishing and your employees are already too busy, you will need to hire outside help in the form of a freelancer. There can be a lot of issues when hiring a freelancer so here are 6 things you need to know before you do.
1. How did you find them?
When hiring a freelancer, you should always ask the people closest to you if they have someone who they could recommend. If not, try credible online sources like LinkedIn to find the right candidates.
2. Their Design Background
If you have a project that requires a certain kind of designer, you will need to know their background. You don’t want to waste your time and theirs when they clearly are not the right person for the job.
3. Honesty is the best policy
We recently hired a freelancer to do front-end development work in HTML5, CSS and Java Script through an agency to build responsive templates for my eCommerce Saas platform Gloople. We had two interviews with the freelancer, who also had a good CV and after two days working for the company, we knew he hadn’t been honest about his ability. We were then behind on our time frame which made the whole process a lot more stressful. Make sure you really know who you are hiring.
4. They work on Deadlines
Freelancers are used to working on tight deadlines so don’t give them the chance to have free reign over work that needed to be completed. As soon as you give them an inch, they will take a mile and run. Whenever discussing a project, make it very clear that the date of completion is final.
5. Constant Communication is Needed
When working with a freelancer, regardless of whether they are working in the same environment with you or outside the workplace, you will always need constant communication to keep up with the work that is being completed.
6. Listen, Listen and Listen
Hiring freelancers can be tough so you need to find someone who you can respect and vice versa. If you are working with someone, there needs to be not only communication but exchange of ideas and listening to one another. If you are hiring a freelancer that doesn’t have the ability to listen carefully, it won’t work for the business.
If you are looking for a freelancer, you should use Twitter and Linkedin as well as Freelancer.co.uk, recruitment agencies and most importantly, ask your community.
Remember that hiring a freelancer will be a long process because they need time to adjust to how your business works. Are you ready to take on a freelancer?