Without the ability to look into a crystal ball and instantly decipher what the future will hold with a potential freelance engagement, finding the best freelance talent for your project comes down to a mix of intuition and best practices.
These tips from The Hiring Headquarters—Upwork’s resource for entrepreneurs, executives, and freelancers—will arm you with valuable insights to help you make the right choices for your company.
Know What to Look for in a Freelancer
Evaluating the abilities and experience of a freelancer you’re considering working with can be a challenge, especially if you’re new to engaging contractors.
“3 Tips for Finding the Best Talent on Upwork” delivers tips on how you can identify what sort of help your project needs and how Upwork programs help take much of the guesswork out of the equation. It highlights Upwork-specific features like the “Top Rated” and “Rising Talent” badges, as well as the Job Success Score, which can provide helpful information at-a-glance about a freelancer’s track record with clients on Upwork.
You’ll find other insights woven throughout the piece that can help you make the right decision when it comes to finding the skilled professionals you’re looking for.
Delegate Program Management to Someone Else
“The Program Manager: Your Connection to Freelancer Success” explains the multi-faceted roles that program managers have on your team and why they’re so valuable when working with freelancers.
Your project can run more smoothly when there’s one person responsible for finding excellent freelancers, getting them on-boarded smoothly, handling ongoing administrative tasks like payments, and keeping projects on-track.
The article specifically digs into five core areas where a program coordinator can have the greatest impact, from finding and interviewing freelance candidates to maximizing your contingent team’s overall efficiency.
Be an Awesome Client to Work For
The way you interact with freelancers often sets the overall tone for your professional relationship and can affect outcomes on several different levels. If you treat your freelancers well, are reasonably flexible, and offer competitive rates, they’ll be more inclined to do better work and value your business. If you set them up for success, you’ll reap the benefits when everything runs like clockwork.
A key aspect of this involves getting a better understanding of how freelancers operate. “6 Ways Business Owners Can Be Even More Awesome When Working With Freelancers” offers tips to help you create this harmony by first touching on the ways that freelancers are different from employees. It also offers advice to business owners to help gauge a freelance relationship before getting too deep into a given project.
Each point aims to equip companies with the information needed to drive successful outcomes when working with freelancers—they range from testing new freelancers with a smaller project before committing to a major endeavor, to looking for both the right attitude and necessary skills before bringing a freelancer aboard.
Bring in Experts Help to Speed Up the Process
Most companies source and hire freelance talent themselves, but industry surveys have shown that many would appreciate assistance with prescreening and evaluation—something freelancer sourcing services can help with.
“Find Skilled Freelancers Faster: 6 Tips Smart Companies Use” shares what to look for in a first-rate freelance sourcing service. This includes types of questions to ask and specifics to inquire about when you’re evaluating potential partners.
For example, a service’s area of specialty, prescreening processes, size of candidate pool, and systems for verifying work histories are just a few of the key points that can factor into your decision-making process; leveraging them can help you decide whether a service is best equipped to serve the needs of your business.
Eager to level-up your business by working with freelance talent? Find everything you need to get started right here at The Hiring Headquarters.
The post How to Find and Foster the Best Freelance Talent appeared first on Upwork Blog.
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