At last, you decided to collaborate with freelancers rather than hire full-time employees?
Great, you’re in for a good ride!
Freelancers are more productive, affordable, and above all, available to you with just a few clicks. Take our Brybe Marketplace, for example. You can easily create your Buyer’s account here, fill in the profile with basic personal and business information, and you can immediately start your search for an ideal freelancer. It’s that simple!
However, once you have multiple candidates for the job, it’s important to ask the right questions to find out which is the right freelancer for you. This is where we come in. Our team will help you hire the best freelancer for your business.
Here are the questions you should ask any freelancer:
1. Why choose the freelance lifestyle?
Once you go over the basics like personal information and the dreaded “tell me a bit about yourself” question, it’s perfectly fine to ask about this question.
There’s a common misconception that employees take freelancers for granted and by asking this, you’re showing that you genuinely care about the person behind the CV.
Also, knowing why the freelancer has chosen the freelance lifestyle will give you an idea about the freelancer’s principles and work ethic.
For example, if you receive an answer similar to “I don’t know why I’m freelancing” or “I just want to test the waters, see what’s out there”, you might find out that that’s not in your best business interests. But, if the freelancer has prepared a straightforward answer like “I love freelancing because it suits my lifestyle and skills”, then you know you’ve stumbled across a professional freelancer. This question may be the key to discovering whether someone is suitable for your business or not.
2. What kind of projects do you like to work on?
New freelancers are passionate about all projects - they just want to gain experience, trying to find the ideal freelancing niche.
But experienced freelancers have their preferences when it comes to choosing freelance projects. For example, developers may decide that they only want to work with specific programming languages only. Marketers may want to be hired by business owners that offer products only, not services. Designers may decide that collaboration with small businesses is the one that gives them the biggest benefit.
Just by asking this question, you’ll see if the freelancer is more of a going-with-the-flow type of freelancer or more determined to reach a certain goal.
3. May I see samples of your work?
This is another question to establish the preparedness and expertise of the freelancer. A good freelancer knows that their working experience means a lot, but it’s not enough to close a deal. That’s why having a sample is a great way to prove the working experience.
Working samples can be created in many forms. For marketers, that might be a published article on a prominent website or a successful campaign with a high ROI. For developers, it can be a side project.
It’s better if you ask for the samples early in the interview process, so you can be sure that their style of work and quality is exactly what you’re looking for.
4. Do you have the capacity to take on this project at this moment?
One of those questions where you’re asking one thing, but you’re trying to find out another thing. Sure, you’re interested to know if they can take on your project, but you’re also interested to know how many clients they actually have at the moment. It’s not your job to organize their work - they’re freelancers after all - but it’s your job to make sure that if you choose that particular freelancer, that they’ll get the job done for you.
Read between the line, check out the facial expressions, and see how they will describe their current freelance arrangement.
5. Are you available to finish the project by the proposed deadline?
This is another way for you to find out the professionalism of the freelancer. A skilled freelancer may ask you more questions in order to give you a precise answer. Or, they will take a minute or two to analyze the entire project during the interview and let you know about the deadline with better arguments.
It’s questions like these that give you a bit of insight into the freelancer’s way of thinking and communicating. Honesty goes a long way, and this is a type of question to really discover the type of person you are willing to work with.
6. What happens if you can’t meet the deadline?
Missing a deadline is nothing to be scared or ashamed of. Most freelancers have missed a deadline at some point in their career and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. However, the way they deal with the missed deadline tells more about their work ethic and professionalism than the actual missing of the deadline.
When you ask this question, notice with how much certainty the freelancer answers. If they answer you with a firm tone of voice, then probably they know what are they doing. Also, it’s important to see if they’ll take time to include you in the process, meaning if they’ll communicate with you the actual process of missing the deadline.
7. Have you ever had a client who ended their collaboration with you?
This is a question that will help you find out more about the freelancer relationship with former clients.
If they’re putting all the blame on the client, or are still holding some unresolved issues with the clients, that might be a red flag. You should aim to collaborate with freelancers who know that it takes two to tango, meaning, a failed professional relationship is something we all experience in our career, but it’s important to remain professional about it.
8. What are your working hours and how do you prefer to communicate?
These questions are more work-oriented but they’re equally relevant to acknowledge. If you’re collaborating with top-rated freelancers, they know at which time of the day they’re the most productive, but they also know the importance of being available for the client in their time zone. Most freelancers work in their working schedule, but they’re ready to compromise if the client has specific requirements for the working hours.
9. How can I help you?
Last, but not least. You need to make sure that both of you are on the same page. You can ask this question to find out if the freelancer needs any help with the contract, the schedule, the deadlines, anything. You can also check their enthusiasm about the job if that’s something that’s relevant to you. The bottom line is that you want to leave a good impression of an employee who cares about their freelancers.
Most importantly, take your time when choosing the right freelancer. When scrolling through the many Brybes and Catalogs at our Marketplace, think about your goals and the specific requirements. That way you’ll be able to come up with a decision that benefits your business the most, and you’ll be able to hire the best freelancer for your business.