6 Questions to Ask When Hiring a Freelancer

As a company owner, regardless of the branch of the industry, when times come to add fresh blood to your staff and team, making that decision is not easy. Namely, new isn’t always better, and you as an employer seek an individual that can really contribute in the long run, and for that, they simply need to have a certain set of skills and be eager to improve as well. That’s what makes this so troublesome, as finding someone matching this description can take time. Before the Internet, you had to go through many scheduled interviews in order to find employees, but luckily, there are other options, and if you don’t need employees to be physically present at the job as it is not an office-based business, finding new staff is much more manageable.

How to find a freelancer

First one needs to find a reliable source or platform on which they will look for a freelancer. Now, this is what makes the online community so great as if someone has everything your business needs but live in the other part of the world there are no obstacles not to hiring them anymore. They can be as productive working from any place in the world they are currently living in. It’s needless to say how much this speeds up the whole process for both employers and employees, and why so many companies are focusing more and more on hiring freelancers than having classic office hours. Of course, for someone unaware of what they are dealing with or how to find the right freelancer, these platforms can seem overcrowded, but there is a way to find the best fit for your business, and you just need to know what questions to ask when hiring freelancers.

1. Let’s start from experience

Some folks believe that having experience doesn’t necessarily mean that a freelancer is a perfect fit. Now even though we don’t entirely agree with this, we must add that what’s even more important than experience is the type of experience, as you want to hire someone who really knows what they are doing and already have a few leads and ideas on how they would actually do the job if they get the chance. Making mistakes is a common part of any job, and even experts in some fields make them, so focus more on the type of experience and how and what freelancers can do.

2. What about skills

Sometimes experience is not the most important factor for hiring someone, and there are people able to do everything we expect from them but do not have enough experience to prove that. If they do not have enough experience, we need to ask them about their skills and see if they are qualified for the job position. We can see their skills from their understanding of the job description and requirements since the best freelancers will recognize the necessary skills and offer them although they are not directly mentioned.

3. Method of communication

We live in a digital era, and thanks to that, we have many different modes of communication, and we can get in touch with people from all over the world. Since we are all different, it is necessary to understand that some people prefer to communicate via video calls, some like to speak via phone, and some feel the most comfortable writing emails or text messages. Because of that, it is necessary to ask a candidate what they prefer and make things much easier for both of you. Remember, you are in the lead, but accomodating potential future employees by simply adjusting team meetings to some new platform can be great proof that you really care about their opinion and preferences, which can only lead to more efficiency and overall productivity. Smooth communication is crucial in every company, and although it is difficult to find the perfect method, it is necessary to find the one that most workers prefer. It is also preferable to ask them about the time of the day they are free to communicate, to make the communication even easier.

4. Samples of previous work and references

Hiring a person that you do not know and probably will never see is not an easy decision because it may look impossible to check their work background, but it is not. Because of that, you should ask the candidate to provide you samples of their previous work similar to the one you need to be done to have a better insight into their skills. Furthermore, asking for references from previous clients can also be helpful in choosing the best candidate, and you can see a lot about them from other people’s opinions.

5. What is the price

Sometimes the price can be the most important factor for choosing one freelancer over another one, and because of that, it is necessary to ask them how much they charge for their work. Higher charges are not necessarily the sign of the higher quality, and it is important to be careful with the final decision and consider other factors, not only the price, but if everything else is the same, lower price might be the deciding one.

6. Allow them to ask

At the end of the conversation, it is polite and useful to ask a candidate if they have any questions for you. In that way, they will have the opportunity to ask if there is something unclear about the job proposal, and you will have a better insight into their way of thinking and seeing it. It will improve communication and make things much easier if you decide to work together in the future.

Final Thoughts

Now when you have the questions, it’s all up to you and your gut when making that final decision. Of course, it’s also about finding a reliable platform where one can find and hire professionals, and since there are so many of them, that can be even more challenging than finding the right person for the job. For those who don’t know where to start, make sure to check a great platform with top expert freelancers https://ithire.com/freelancers.