Outsourcing, Specifications & Project Management

[VTK]

Hey guys, we've managed to get our business to the stage where it's largely becoming automated and growing nicely. We're not however big enough to have an in-house marketing/graphic design/web-development/SEO team etc and will need to outsource. Is there any advice that you would give in terms of finding freelancers, effectively specifying jobs and overseeing completion? We've had some hits and misses so far. Cheers!

 

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[NMdad]

Hey guys, we've managed to get our business to the stage where it's largely becoming automated and growing nicely. We're not however big enough to have an in-house marketing/graphic design/web-development/SEO team etc and will need to outsource. Is there any advice that you would give in terms of finding freelancers, effectively specifying jobs and overseeing completion? We've had some hits and misses so far. Cheers!

This has worked well for me in hiring contractors:

1. When you post the job, include 1 or 2 small tasks that applicants need to complete. For example: ask them to include a goofy word--like frijoles--at the top of their reply. That way, you easily weed out people who aren't detail-oriented & haven't included your secret/goofy word in their application. If you want to include a 2nd task, I like to make it specific to the job you're hiring for; for example, for a Microsoft SQL programmer, I might ask them to send me the most recent trigger they wrote, and a 1-sentence explanation of what it does.
2. For applicants who pass step #1, hire 2-3 people for a small, well-defined task, then see how they do. You might choose to omit a key detail or 2 in the task description--that way, you can see who asks for the needed clarification.
3. For candidates who pass those filters in #1 & #2, you can give them an incrementally larger task, have them prove themselves, then repeat. That way, you figure out how much guidance & detail you need to provide when handing off tasks.

I've found that good candidates nearly always demonstrate promptness in replying. If they're not prompt during the application phase, they won't be prompt when they're working for you. People put their best foot forward when applying for a job, so if someone looks mediocre in their application, they're likely going to do mediocre work.