When you put out clear requirements for the job you are offering, you will get several applications. So, what makes many freelancers to apply to your job post?
With more and more experts joining the freelancing business, the competition is becoming fiercer.
Before I delve into today’s topic, here are additional things that makes many freelancers to bid on your offer.
NOTE: Only clients who have been hiring freelancers for a long time can quickly tell an honest freelancer and one who is not.
Budget
It’s obvious, freelancers want to be paid well for the service they are rendering.
If the requirements are clear and your budget is good, many freelancers will apply to your job post.
Timelines
If you need the project done quickly and you indicate when you want the project delivered in your job description, any available freelancer will bid. Freelancers see this as an opportunity to make a quick buck.
Non Disclosure Agreement
Serious freelancers love to sign an NDA. This is a binding contract and it means that, if anything happens, you are in discretion to decide not to pay the freelancer.
In this case, you attract serious freelancers. At the end you will have hard time selecting the one to work with.
There are other many other additional things that will alter the number of applications like Freelancers level of experience, payment method verification and more.
So how do you sift through many freelancers bidding on your contract? Well it starts with your job posting. That’s where you set the rules.
Eliminate Freelancers Who Haven’t Followed Your Bidding Instructions
Not all the freelancers who apply to your job post read the post itself. Instead, they copy and paste generic cover letters.
There is nowhere in the cover letter that they address your needs. Usually 10-20% of the applicants fall under this category.
Correctly Answered Questions
If you had additional questions that you needed freelancers to answer in order to qualify, check on them thoroughly.
Make sure that they are correctly answered. You will find some who their answers do not match with your requirements thus you should eliminate them from the list.
Honesty
Only clients who have been hiring freelancers for a long time can quickly tell a honest freelancer and one who is not.
Look thoroughly between the lines of their cover letters for honesty.
Most of the honest guys will for instance not exaggerate timelines or what they can deliver and what they can’t.
Review their Ratings
This is only applicable to long term freelancers as new freelancers have no ratings. Reading their reviews will tell you the kind of personality the freelancer is.
Some may have good cover letters, portfolios, but have poor history regarding to meeting timelines and delivering the actual project. No one likes such experiences.
Check Their Location if it Was Part of Your Requirement
While some freelancing sites will help you on this, not all of them will do. If you were looking for a freelancer within a certain city, you can then look into this and eliminate those who do not fit into the criteria.
Budget
Once you have all the requirements met, see how much each of the remaining freelancers are charging you.
Focus on the ones who fit within your budget. This way, both of you will be happy working together.
At this point, you will be remaining with few freelancers, and you can now start shortlisting them.
Always aim at hiring a freelancer for a long term. You can achieve this by hiring a few of them to do a trial project then narrow in to one who has the best characteristics you are looking for.
Looking at this in a long-term perspective will give you time to focus on the most important things in your life.
That is, it from me today.
How do you sift through the list of freelancers applying to your project? Share it in the comments below.
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Until next time, bye bye and take care.
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