Hiring remote workers is something that has made a huge difference to my business. I have hired a lot of freelancers for different projects.

There’s a lot of pros and cons in making that choice. You have a huge pool of people and skills to choose from. It can save you time and money. But there are also considerations like loyalty, meeting deadlines, turnover, and engagement.

In this two-part series, I’m going to explain in detail how I found my remote workers, the processes involved in hiring them, and how I manage them once they’re working. Hopefully you’ll find this a useful guide!

Where do you find them?

There are two websites that I have found most helpful in my experience – Upwork and Fiverr. I have personally had more success on Upwork so will be going into depth about that throughout this post. However, I recommend also keeping Fiverr in mind in case you do not find what you’re looking for.

Upwork is a site full of freelancers, where you can place a job posting. They can take a look at all current postings and apply. You can also invite freelancers directly to apply to your posting.

How do you make contact with them?

There are several points involved in finding who best fits your job. The format on Upwork is that you post a job, which includes a few headings. Then, you have a section to write your own job specs.

1. Make a job posting

You start off by choosing between prompted items, such as the title, type of work, and job category. You also create a job description – but I’ll go into detail on that in my next point. Depending on the job category you choose, it will then prompt you to select different skills, deliverables, services, software abilities, specific features and styles that you’re looking for.

You can then choose the scope of the project, the timeline, the level of experience you need, and the budget. Prep all of these things beforehand so that you know which to click when you’re posting.

2. Create your job description

Before creating your job description, it’s a good idea to look up similar projects and see how they’re put together. Take note of their layout and what’s included. Make sure your job outcomes are measurable and clear.

You need to give as much detail as possible. Ensure you include the following:

  • What you want done in written format and wireframes
  • The deliverables
  • The timeline
  • Your budget
  • Whether you’re paying with fixed price, per hour, or per day

These points are included in the job posting options you can select (as explained in the section above). But applicants may just skim the job description so it’s always worthwhile to include them there as well, in your own words.

3. Put effort into it

One thing that I have found very useful is to list a predefined question for the candidate to answer. Make it specific to avoid any canned responses. Here are a few examples that I have actually used in the past:

  • Will you be doing this work yourself?*
  • What past project or job have you had that is most like this one and why?
  • How many hours can you allocate to this project each week?

*This is a really important question, as you want to avoid hiring someone who will pass the work onto their friend.

4. Search for candidates yourself

Don’t just wait and see who replies to your posting. Some of the best workers will have enough people approaching them that they don’t need to respond to listings. You should seek them out.

Look for the 95% project success rate as a minimum if you’re searching on Upwork. Ensure also that they’ve done a lot of projects, rather than that rating being based off only a few. Look for any projects similar to yours. Read their reviews and look for reviews on projects similar to yours.

Invite them to apply for your posting. By querying them directly, you’re also opening up space for negotiation on time and rates. They may even have a cheaper rate already than that you’ve listed in the project. That’s happened to me before!

Summary

So now, you know where to start looking for candidates, how to look for them, and what to post.

Part 2 of this series will focus on deciding which candidate to choose, and how you manage the situation once they’re hired. I’ve made a few mistakes in my time, so you can learn from them here instead of making them yourself!