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!
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!
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
