10 Interview Questions To Ask Before Hiring a Freelancer
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If you’re considering hiring a freelancer for your business, then there’s information you’ll want to know before you make your decision. Freelancers are often expensive and as a business, you always want to be cautious about how you spend money. Maybe it's for a single project or a long-term association that you require a specific skill set. Certain situations demand people with expertise on what they’re doing.
Regardless of the reasons to hire a freelancer, here are 10 important questions you should ask before hiring a freelancer for your business.
1. What motivates you?
2. What Are Your Charges?
3. How Would You Rate Yourself?
4. What Are the Timings That You’re Available?
5. Would You Be Able to Work Within the Required Deadlines?
6. What Projects Have You Worked On in the Past?
7. How Do You Make Sure Your Clients Are Satisfied With Your Work?
8. How Do You Prefer to Communicate?
9. Any Clients I Can Contact as a Reference?
10. Do You Have Any Questions for Me?
1. What Motivates You?
A question that's often asked for interviews and for the right reasons. It’s a question that can reveal a lot about the person and his relationship with the work he does. You’ll want someone that’s interested in the work they do as this ensures their intentions and means more dedication on their part.
Asking why they do the work, also gives you a chance to know a little about the person’s background if they chose to say it. It’s hard to find dedicated people in the hiring game and questions like these help you better identify the intentions of a person towards the job.
2. What Are Your Charges?
Knowing exactly what the freelancer expects will help you evaluate their potential better. Ignoring any negotiation possibilities, the freelancer will name his price and this is crucial to your budget and assessment of the person’s need. Do you really need a freelancer? If so, you have to decide if it's worth it or not.
Most businesses will have a budget in mind and will have already evaluated the need for a freelancer before the hiring process. Knowing the rates per task, additional charges and any demands in terms of price are important as you’ll have to avoid any chance of misunderstanding.
3. How Would You Rate Yourself?
Confident people make the difference and if you’re planning to have a freelancer work with your already established team, they’ll have to be confident. Asking someone for an evaluation of themselves is done to bring about honesty, along with a show of self-confidence.
This would also reveal information about how the freelancer thinks about his work. Does he believe he’s the best at what he does or does he want to improve on his abilities? You can plan your next questions based on your assessment of the answer.
4. What Are the Timings That You’re Available?
Asking the freelancer about his/her availability is crucial as they may have other clients waiting on them as well. Moreover, not everyone is a full-time freelancer and you might be just another client.
Knowing about the freelancer’s honest availability means you can make future decisions about the project accordingly. This should also be a chance to ask the freelancer about his perspective on deadlines.
Damini Bhandary
5. Would You Be Able to Work Within the Required Deadlines?
As far as the business is concerned, you need to know if the person you plan to hire can actually get the work done within the specified time. If not, ask them how long they need and see if you can work with that.
Some people don’t prefer being rushed as they like taking their own time and this may be why they got into freelancing in the first place. By confirming they’re okay with the proposed deadlines, you make sure they are comfortable doing the assigned work.
6. What Projects Have You Worked On in the Past?
This is yet another question that gives you an insight into the freelancer’s experience and interest in his field of work. Working on personal projects means being on the edge of learning and constant improvement.
As someone in charge of hiring freelancers, you should be aware of any projects the person has worked on in the past. If you find any particularly interesting ones, be sure to ask about that project in more detail.
7. How Do You Make Sure Your Clients Are Satisfied With Your Work?
A freelancer who’s been in the field for some time is bound to take care of customer satisfaction. After all, his clients are what keep him running. By asking this question you’re expecting the freelancer to explain anything he does to make sure his clients are satisfied.
Since you’ll be a client yourself after you hire the freelancer, it's good to make sure what steps are being taken to ensure a happy transaction.
8. How Do You Prefer to Communicate?
When working in a team or as part of a group, communication is important. The freelancer should be able to freely communicate between any members of a team (if one is present) or the company without any hassle.
Some prefer information to be handed to them in the form of text while others prefer hearing about it through a call. By respecting these preferences the process will be a lot smoother for both parties.
9. Any Clients I Can Contact as a Reference?
References can tell you much about the person you’re dealing with. Happy clients reflect the freelancer’s work and this can only mean positive things for your business as well. You get to know more about how they handle clients and the overall experience.
Most experienced freelancers have clients who’ve hired them multiple times. Getting to know the person through his references means that you can get a better overview of the individual before you hire them.
Piyush Mishra
10. Do You Have Any Questions for Me?
A rather simple yet essential question, it’s about giving freelancers a chance to be open and free with their questions. Anything they might want to ask about the company, the rates or deadlines will be put up before you and you can answer them accordingly.
Often people have questions regarding a project that they might not ask unless given a chance to. This way you can be sure there are no errors that might be caused due to poor communication between the client and the freelancer.
Conclusion
These questions are sure to help you develop a deep understanding of the freelancers you plan to hire but feel free to ask anything else you need to know. Once you have an idea of the kind of individual you’re dealing with, the choice is up to you. The process can seem enduring but it’ll all be worth it when the results show up.
FAQs
What should you ask before hiring a freelancer?
What motivates you, What are your Charges, How would you rate yourself, and What projects have you worked on in the past are some of the questions you need to ask before hiring a freelancer.
What should you know about freelancing?
Successful freelancing takes time, Money management is key, and How to charge depending on your work are some of the things you should know before you start freelancing.
What are the most important freelance skills?
Programming And Software Development, Social Video Marketing, Web Design And Development, Content Marketing/Writing, Graphic Design, Copywriters, and Video Editors are some of the important freelance skills.
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