Finding 5-Star Freelancers: A Guide to Hiring Independent Contractors

According to predictions, over 50% of the US workforce is likely to become freelancers by the close of 2027. 

If you want to attract top talent, become more agile, and save on overheads, hiring independent contractors is the way to go. 

Businesses of all sizes are recruiting freelancers. From SMBs to behemoths like Google, which reportedly employs more freelancers than traditional workers. 

However, if you want to enjoy the advantages of hiring independent contractors, you need to pay careful consideration to your recruitment process. 

The talent you attract is only as good as your hiring process.

Keep reading for a guide on how to find and engage 5-star freelancers for your business or organization.  

Evaluate Your Needs

The first step when hiring independent contractors is to evaluate your needs. What goals are you hoping to achieve? 

Once you’ve established this, you can then list out your goal-based needs. 

You should also flesh out specific details such as project timelines and deliverables. There’s no point in going halfway through the hiring process, only to find out the freelancer you chose doesn’t have the space in their workload to meet your timelines. 

Write Clear Job Descriptions

When you’ve clarified your needs, the next step in hiring freelancers is to draft clear, detailed, yet concise job descriptions. The more clear, specific, and accurate your job descriptions are, the more chance there is that you’ll attract the right applicants. 

List the responsibilities, give a clear scope of work, and give a brief summary of high-level and daily activities.

Also make sure you list your necessary requirements, qualifications, and skills. These might include things like:

• Geographic location requirements
• Language requirements (ie. a native English speaker)
• Minimum qualifications
• Minimum experience levels
• Expectations (eg. fast turnarounds, hours of availability, etc)

Also, don’t forget to stipulate what soft skills you’re looking for. These might include traits like:

• Ability to work within a team
• Openness to constructive feedback
• Strong communication skills
• A positive, proactive attitude. 

Finally, be sure to include information on your company culture and contact preferences.

Pick the Right Platforms for Job Postings

Another important step to attracting top talent is to choose the right platforms for your job postings. 

There are many highly skilled independent contractors on platforms like Freelancer and FreeUp. However, sorting through your options on these mega marketplaces can be time-consuming.

Therefore, you might want to also look into smaller, more niche hiring platforms. Ones that are specific to your industry or to the type of projects you are going to post.

If you only want to receive applications from vetted freelancers, you can also choose more exclusive platforms. Here, all freelancers are pre-screened before gaining access to job postings.

When picking a platform for your job posting, you should also decide whether you want your projects to run through the platform.

A lot of freelancer marketplaces incorporate features like escrow. They also frequently require freelancers and employers to use them as an intermediary for the duration of projects. 

Take Time to Sort Through Applications

After your postings have gone live, you will then need to devote time to sorting through the applications that come through. 

Here are some of the tasks you may want to complete to make sure you only select the best applicants:

• Assess their qualifications
• Review their work samples
• Do a background check
• Reach out to references

Interview Candidates either In-Person or via Video

Once you have created a shortlist of candidates set up interviews with each applicant. Ideally, these should be in person. But, if geographical constraints don’t allow this, you can also conduct video interviews. 

Draft a Comprehensive Independent Contractor Agreement

Before you hire independent contractors, you should also draft a comprehensive independent contractor agreement. This could include details like:

• The scope of work
• Ownership of the work
• Compensation
• Data protection and confidentiality clauses
• A non-compete clause
• Notice and termination clauses
• Governing law (this clarifies which local laws apply if there are legal disputes)

Speaking of governing law, it’s also critical to make sure you aren’t breaching any labor laws by employing freelancers. Both locally and internationally. 

Attracting Talent With a PEO

As you can see, finding and attracting the best freelancers takes time. Fortunately, there is a way you can dramatically streamline this process and guarantee that you only engage top talent. 

If your organization isn’t interested in trawling through applications from platforms like Freelancer, Fiverr, or FreeUp, we’d recommend that you utilize a Professional Employer Organization (PEO).

Statistics reveal that 80% of big corporations plan to substantially increase their usage of flexible workers over the coming years. But these organizations aren’t posting jobs on freelancer.com. Instead, they’re leveraging the services of PEO companies like Bradford Jacobs. 

Here at Bradford Jacobs, we don’t just help organizations find the best contractors and permanent employees. We also work closely with you to ensure your needs are seamlessly met. 

One of the first ways we help brands and organizations find the right talent is through skills mapping. This ensures efficient talent hiring and accurate targeting. 

We also work with employers to establish rate bands that meet but don’t exceed budgets, while still resulting in competitive rates that attract premium talent. 

We also handle everything to do with local legislative requirements, so you can rest easy knowing your organization isn’t breaching any local or international labor laws. 

Do You Want to Start Hiring Independent Contractors the Easy Way?

By hiring independent contractors you can control costs, make yourself more competitive, and get access to top talent. But, finding the best freelancers can be a hit-and-miss scenario if you’re relying on online job boards. 

Do you want to make your freelancer hiring process more effective and streamlined? Bradford Jacobs can help. 

We offer a full-scale contractor management service. This service gives you access to top-quality talent. While we handle all the details to make sure you’re building your workforce in an efficient, compliant, and cost-effective way. 

We also take responsibility for day-to-day processes such as payroll, benefits, taxes, etc. 

If you’d like to learn more about our contractor management service, contact Bradford Jacobs today.