I’m often hiring and referring freelancers for creative or marketing jobs. Here’s my checklist to evaluate a potential hire or referral.
The Basics
- Abilities—What abilities does the freelancer have to offer? Examine their skills.
- Portfolio—Whether online or on paper, work examples are a must.
- Technical Experience — Do they have experience with the software requirements or the project?
- Professional—Does this person have the professional standards needed to represent your company?
- Attitude & Chemistry—Will this person mesh with your team and PM? Are they excited and Motivated to kick off the project?
- Process—How does this person go about working on a project? Are they organized and timely, or more flee-flow?
- Insightful—Is their past experience adding value to the project that your internal team lacks?
- Innovative—Does this person have new ideas and adapt, or is everything recycled from somewhere else?
- Budget-Match—Do both you and the freelancer agree that the work asked is worth the money offered? If they want hourly or per word rates. can they commit to a project limit?
- Vision—Is the freelancer clear on your and goals? Do they share the same project vision?
- Timeline—Is your expected tirneline a realistic match with their schedule? Are there any foreseeable delays or time off?
Project specifics
- Subject Matter Expertise—What is the freelancer’s special subject matter knowledge for this project? Have they worked in the industry or participated in this area as a hobby?
- Voice & style—What is the freelancer’s style? How can this match with the needed voice, brand, tone?
- Communication Process—What collaboration and communication tools does the freelancer use? Will there be issues communicating with our team?
- File Handoffs—How will your freelancer deliver the project? Qill you have to provide them anything additional like Dropbox access or new paid cloud storage? Can they provide their own platform? Costs to onboard.
- Project Briefs and Prompts — Does this worker understand your communication style or will they need additional instructions and feedback?
- Revision process—How do they revise? Understand charges, timelines, and expectations.