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HELP! Unreliable freelancers are driving me INSANE!

Topics relating to managing people and relationships

Testament

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Hey all,

So over the past few weeks, I've come to have a laundry list of horror stories I could tell about odesk/elance/freelance internet contractors in general. Right now I'm trying to find a WordPress developer to make a site for me, as I've been tasked with being put in the role of something of a program manager for one of my mentor's projects.

So far (other than a guy I hired in December), I have almost nothing but bad things to say about the quality of worker I've gotten, and I'm wondering if this is par for the course or if it's something I'm doing specifically that someone might be able to help me with.

I've been putting up postings and getting a fair amount of qualified candidates applying to the jobs and this is how it goes: I'll usually ping them with one message telling them that their profile looks good and asking if they're free for a short Skype interview at a certain time. I'll add my Skype name to the message and ask that they add me to their contact list.

At this point, they'll respond back very enthusiastically and tell me that they'll add me and we can go from there. And almost unfailingly, they never add me. I also had a few Skype interviews with guys who were very clearly not AT ALL qualified for the job I was posting but decided to ping me anyway for some reason. And oddly they had all 5 star reviews.

Anyway, I finally thought I hired a good WordPress developer on Friday...but the freelancer gods seem to have been unkind to me once again. On the interview, the freelancer agreed to join a chat client that my mentor's team uses. It's been several days now and he has ignored the email invitations to join.

I and my mentor have each emailed him several times, he has yet to respond via email. So I logged into Elance yesterday morning and saw a message from him telling me that he was delayed in another project and wouldn't be able to start on our WordPress site until today. Not knowing what else to do, I told him it was fine for now and I would ping him tomorrow to go over specific details of the site. I asked him if he would be free to go on a Skype call at 11:30, and once again got nothing but radio silence.

I can see from his Elance login that he hasn't logged in since the last time yesterday, so I went ahead and sent him an email and also set up a google calendar event and invited him to that as well. Still nothing. He's logged onto Skype either.

I don't get it - I can see that he's made almost 30k on Elance, and has about 29 reviews with an overall star rating of 4.7...how is this quality happening right now?

Anyway, I've got a deadline fast approaching and I'm thinking I'll have to fire him and try to spin the awful freelancer roulette wheel again and I'm starting to get seriously worried...especially since I still have another position I have to fill on top of this one.

It's starting to seem like maybe I had a career kicking puppies and stealing baby candy in a previous life or something. :(

So my questions are:

1) Is this par for the course with freelancers? Even the ones with really good reviews? Or is it most likely something I'm doing?

2) What do you guys do for reliable freelancers/contractors?

Thanks for the read!
 
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D

Deleted20833

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I don't hire any high paying freelancers without proof of prior client work...and I prefer more than 10 examples and ways I can contact the clients they have worked for.

To find a great freelancer is a pain in the a$$ and they usually charge more but not always

I've had horrible people trying to charge me more than if I went to a agency

You're going to have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince

but once you do, you make sure you get their contact info so you can
contact them outside of elance or whatever

And never pay or at least the 100% amount until the work is delivered

**********************************************************************************************
Right now I'm trying to hire an employee for my office and it's close to a month
and nobody qualified has came through the door...which my main criteria is
an enthusiastic personality...everyone walks in like living zombies with stone cold
faces.
 

Lex DeVille

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It's what you're not doing.

Right now you post ads and wait for people to apply. (Unless I misread)

That puts you in a responsive position, and ensures you only get candidates who need jobs.

If they're applying it means they don't have enough work as it is, and there's probably a reason for it.

When I look for freelancers I go through profiles and look for people who have done a lot of great work and can back it up.

I comb through every inch of their bio looking for signs that they're a good fit or not.

- Do I like the profile?
- How good is their writing?
- How good is their rating & feedback?
- Do I like their previous work?
- Did they leave negative feedback for any clients at all whatsoever?

Look at the other jobs they were hired for. When you look at the original job contract, you can see who else the original client contacted (On Odesk at least). Those other contacts are people who were also considered, so they might be worth your time. Once you have several names, then make a private gig and invite only those who can clearly meet or exceed your needs.

Make them interview on Skype call, not chat. Be open with them about your needs, and be flexible if at all possible.

Schedule a time to interview and set a deadline. Let them know if they don't meet the deadline, they lose out for good.
 

Testament

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Thanks for the quick and helpful replies guys!

Hugo - I feel ya man! Seems like 99% of the people applying are just awful fits for any position ever. Hell, I wouldn't hire most of them to be a...well, a specific joke job that would be impossible to screw up. :)

Lex - Thanks for the feedback man, I never considered that I'm only getting candidates who are having to search for some (most likely not great) reason. I'll start combing through profiles from now on using your guidelines and messaging people personally!

I actually just looked through the guy's previous ratings and found the only 1 star review, all it said was "Very rude." And he responded:

“A very difficult client to work with. This was a two week project , she couldn't make up her mind and it turned into a three month project, the client client offered no compensation for extra time spent outside of the contract and had no appreciation or thanks to offer for the extra mile or time spent helping her. Will not be working with client again. It was not a good fit. I believe my 5 star track record up until now will speak for itself.”

From my perspective, that seems like a very reasonable way to respond...but I obviously have no idea about this stuff. So would that be a massive red flag for you?
 
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Lex DeVille

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I actually just looked through the guy's previous ratings and found the only 1 star review, all it said was "Very rude." And he responded:

“A very difficult client to work with. This was a two week project , she couldn't make up her mind and it turned into a three month project, the client client offered no compensation for extra time spent outside of the contract and had no appreciation or thanks to offer for the extra mile or time spent helping her. Will not be working with client again. It was not a good fit. I believe my 5 star track record up until now will speak for itself.”

From my perspective, that seems like a very reasonable way to respond...but I obviously have no idea about this stuff. So would that be a massive red flag for you?

There's a reason job interviewers always ask, "What did you like most about your last boss?" followed by, "What did you like least?"

Employers don't really care that you talk bad about your old boss.

They care about the underlying meaning. It's all about problem ownership and accepting responsibility for one's actions.

If you blame your boss for all the problems, then you assume you couldn't possibly have been at fault.

"A very difficult client to work with." - Assumes the client was the problem.

"She couldn't make up her mind." - Avoids ownership of responsibility for poor communication.

"client offered no compensation for extra time spent outside of the contract" - Did he ask for compensation? Or did he just assume it was owed?

Communication is key.


"I believe my 5 star track record up until now will speak for itself."
- No, because it's not a 5 star track record any more because he's not a 5 star freelancer. If he was, this wouldn't even be an issue and he would have found ways to end the contract without hurting his or the client's reputation.

Even when the relationship isn't a good match the gig should still end on a positive note.

People who accept responsibility for their actions don't talk bad about clients, ever.
 

FastNAwesome

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I don't get it - I can see that he's made almost 30k on Elance, and has about 29 reviews with an overall star rating of 4.7...how is this quality happening right now?

That rating is HORRIBLE. On such websites, anything below 5.0 rating (or maybe 4.9) is too low. My guess it that many people just don't feel good bashing someone, so they just give 5 star rating and move on.

Another thing - earnings and number of project also don't have to be a reliable indicator. These things can mean:

- It's a great freelancer who worked for many years
- It's a sweatshop, you're talking to a guy who manages a dozen of other guys, they take all the projects they can get, and then complete them however they can...
- There are also freelancers who know their craft but simply don't take it too seriously, and will get drunk or go hiking or whatever, while you wait for their response

So basically...

You're going to have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince

And to be fair...sometimes...sometimes...you'll find a really great expert, reliable and cheap.

1) Is this par for the course with freelancers? Even the ones with really good reviews? Or is it most likely something I'm doing?

It's not you, it's just reality that great developers are in huge demand. There's more demand than there's supply.

2) What do you guys do for reliable freelancers/contractors?

Maybe someone here on the forum can recommend you someone. I'm on the other side of the coin (developer myself), would gladly offer to help you if I wasn't spread too thin right this moment, but you can always PM me for advice, or if you need clarifications on any technical things...

One thought...although I haven't tested it...is to find developers who are known in Wordpress community (as you mentioned you need wordpress help). These would be the authors of popular plugins/themes...and to contact them directly and ask if they're interested.
 
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Digamma

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I did some jobs on some freelance platform and one thing that always made me wonder is how enthusiastic clients were. To listen to them, it sounds like they never actually worked with a professional before.
Then again, after reading about the FizzBuzz affair I realized how different the perspective is from inside. My reality is fundamentally skewed from the fact that I live and breathe code and network with others seriously skilled people. What we don't see is the sea of hacks flooding the market because those guys, well, don't hung on the same spaces we do.

To relate what I'm rumbling about to your problems, the thing is most people on these websites suck so hard it's not even funny.
I managed to do better work than the average of these sites literally one day after picking up a new technology, and that is the coding equivalent of driving a airplane while a angry Japanese woman tries to stab your eyes with a fork.

FastNAwesome is on the right track, but unless you are ready to spend premium cash, you won't get very far with developers who are know in the community. Rates can go up to several hundreds an hours, as they consult.
You could base yourself on activity on platforms like GitHub and StackOverflow. Both things are a sign that the developer is serious about what he does. If I were you, though, would just go out of those platform and look for good freelancers outside of that. Contact them directly through their website/portfolios. I guess there are social networks for that? Behance?
 

Hooked

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I agree with SinisterLex about seeking out the freelancers yourself. I've had substantially better results with the freelancers I find myself compared to those who come to me through job postings.

Anybody can make you believe they're the right person when they know exactly what you want to hear. But they can't tailor their profile to say what every individual wants, so it tends to be more honest.

I also think even the best hiring process will end up with some horrible freelancers slipping through the cracks. Despite a pretty thorough screening, many of my freelancers haven't finished their first week of work.

The few I've been working with long-term are all great though. So they're out there. Once you find them, keep them!
 

Testament

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Wow, thanks for all the AMAZING help guys! Really, this is brilliant! Yesterday I was terrified of the prospect of having to find someone new, but now I feel GREAT about it! :)

And @healthstatus , thanks for the heads up on your webinar! Just listened to it and took notes, it was fantastic! One quick tip I thought was especially ingenious was looking over the freelancer's past work and seeing how many repeat clients they had - that's just something I never would've thought of but makes a ton of sense.
 
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healthstatus

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thanks for the heads up on your webinar! Just listened to it and took notes, it was fantastic!
That will probably pay you back on your INSIDERS investment a couple of times over.

Repeat customers tell you a ton about a freelancer, if people work with them and then come back for more that is golden, I would put that as more critical than their ratings, but to get the best people, you need to use all the criteria I outlined.
 

Bellini

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Funny, I just recently joined oDesk / elance and I can't even find work for the most basic stuff, even with my rate cut in half of what I would make in the real world. It's very hard to compete with freelancers in the Philippines that only charge $3 an hour :-(
 

Testament

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MEAH

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sincerely wish you all the best as I know what you are going through.... I have lost over 20k on Elance alone over the years getting scammed
 

Method

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I have decent experience working both as a freelancer and a client. It's essential, as a client, to complete due diligence during the candidate vetting process. Reach out to a freelancer's past clients and ask them about said freelancer. That should give you a good idea how good/bad the freelancer is.

If you need anymore help, feel free to shoot me a PM. I'd love to help out.
 

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