Ask It Right!
What can be tougher than sorting spam job applications from a real one? You guessed it right: Asking the right questions to help you hire the best experts in the freelance world. Since you will be interviewing someone who may be miles away from you, and who works in totally new ways that are far from the traditional way of doing work – you need to ask the right questions, based not only on a freelancers skills and expertise, but on how one works in freelancing.
Questions to Ask a Freelancer During a Job Interview
For a start, hiring a freelancer can be truly overwhelming. Asking the wrong questions may give you the wrong people and that is the worst scenario you have to avoid. You need to define first what you are looking for before you even post a job and invite people for an interview. Ask freelancers these:
1. How Do You Get Your Freelance Gig?
Verifying previous employers or work references can be tough when you are hiring someone from the other side of the globe. This question will help you know if your applicant has repeat clients, or if the candidate is just starting out. You need to know if work is done on legit freelancing sites, or if there are good feedback and client testimonials for you to see.
2. How Do You Charge for Work?
This is very important for you to know, since freelancers may charge you by the hour, or by a fixed price. Also, know how much percentage they charge for upfront fees, what the payment schedule will be, and how you will be paying for the service ( Paypal, wire transfer, bank deposit, etc ). You want to make sure you pay your freelancers on time.
3. What Will Be Your Turnaround Time for the Work?
One of the pet peeves of outsourcing is: DEADLINES. If your remote worker cannot meet your deadline, your project will suffer. Know how many hours a freelancer can allocate for your project each week. Is he/she busy with other freelance projects as well?
4. Do You Provide Work Guarantee?
A good freelancer will give you some kind of guarantee if he or she fails to deliver results on time, or fails to meet your expectations. Will he/she be ready to give a refund? If you are hiring a designer, ask how many revisions are they willing to make. You may also ask for other types of services they provide to help you weed out the top notch from those who are not.
5. What Type of Projects Would You Like to Work On?
Know that any person will excel at anything he or she loves to do best. Always look for someone who does something out of passion, and not just for the sake of pay. This question will also help you decide the best task that a job candidate is suited for.
Though a lot of freelancers won’t tell you how they mess up a previous project, the good ones will be honest about it. No one is perfect and what is important is that the experience helped them become better freelancers. A major red flag to watch for is someone who is ‘bad mouthing’ previous clients, or being too defensive about trivial things. Trust Your Gut Instincts!
Job Interviews & Offers : How to Ask Job Reference Questions
Something Interesting:
