One of the most important trends in employment today is the organization’s increasing use of freelancers. Freelancers can offer your business the skills you are looking for without having them work in-house and with a full-time contract.
Over the last decade, the gig economy and digital transformation have transformed the way we work and do business. More and more people are working from home or off-site, and more and more people are working remotely and with flexible schedules.
A recent study “Freelancing in America: 2018”, launched by UpWork, estimates that “56.7 million Americans freelance in 2018, an increase of 3.7 million in the past five years”.
“51% of all freelancers say no amount of money would get them to take a traditional job.”
These figures, to name a few, demonstrate the benefits of working as a freelance, for both companies and professionals, but also shows the remarkable growth of the freelance workforce and how the trend is on the rise.
There’s no doubt freelancing will play a major role in our future working lives. As an employer or boss, the chance of your business working with an independent contractor is pretty high. Maybe because it works you to fill a job vacancy or a specific need of your company, maybe because it is the safest way to find a senior profile without hiring a full-time position –saving time and money-, maybe because you believe in remote teams and look for the best talent no matter they work from or when.
So is hiring an independent professional the right choice for your company? And what I need to know about hiring a freelancer successfully?
If you’ve never hired a freelancer to work with you before, you might not know where to start.
Where do I find them? How can I assess their skills and competencies? How much should I pay? How can I track ongoing freelancer performance?
Hiring a freelancer is easier than it seems. But here are three key things you should know about hiring a freelancer successfully:
1. How do I start freelance recruiting?
There’s been a steady increase in platforms that match freelance talent with employers.
Digital platforms in which you will have to perform manual searches, compare opinions of other employers or even fill a non-personalized form or message system to get to know just one professional.
There are flourishing today an entirely new business model as Wisar that offer a much higher quality personalization and service since their Talent Managers take care of the process of hiring.
2. How can I assess the skills and competencies of the professional?
Hiring a professional can be an arduous and long process and here is what you should evaluate:
– In relation to skills and competencies, it is important to focus on their ability to work independently and with flexibility. That is, with a high level of commitment, with good communication skills with the project manager or with the rest of the team members, and with a clear orientation to objectives.
– The technical knowledge, which must be evaluated by experts, is also key. This task can be carried out by internal managers of the organization or externally delegated by experts specialized in hiring flexible profiles, such as Wisar’s Talent Manager. In any case, you should always consider that the characteristics and skills of a freelancer differ to professionals that work full-time in the office.
3. How much should I pay?
It is important to have a scope of work that summarizes the goals, responsibilities, and timelines for the freelance position you want to fill. And of course the budget you have.
The budget is usually determined by the economic capacity of the company, but in some cases, there may be a negotiation with the professional. In fact, highly qualified freelancers know they’ll be compensated for their experience and they usually ask for high fees that you should respect.
In relation to the payment method, freelancers can ask you for a payment in advance before starting any work to ensure they get paid for the work done.
The 50/50 rule is common when dealing directly with the professional. An activity is considered 50% complete when it begins and gets credit for the rest 50% only when it is completed.
When you work with online platforms or specialized contracting services such as Wisar, the payment is made at the end of the collaboration (this payment include the freelancer services and our commission fees for successful transactions), and only for work meeting your expectations.
Ready to hire flexible staff?
We hope these tips will help you to hire a freelancer successfully since the process has its own unique set of characteristics and differ in some ways from hiring a full-time professional.
If you still think it as an arduous task and you do not have the time or resources to carry out this type of hiring process, don’t worry, at Wisar, we will be happy to help you, we are here for it 🙂
