The age of full time Freelancing is just here, are we ready for it ?
In today’s world of instant connectivity and information, the landscape of work and talent acquisition is rapidly changing. “Work from where you are” and “Hire talent from the remotest of places” are the mantras in today’s “4-hour work week” culture. Though this is a welcome change from our boring 9–5 routine and formal job hiring processes, new problems are cropping up every day that need to be addressed immediately.
In this blog, let us take a look at the insights we gathered from talking to industry experts and freelancers about the changing work-culture and the roadblocks along the way. Let’s also go through proven methods to overcome common obstacles, and understand how we, at Prolanceer, are here to make the process easy for you.
Why you need to consider hiring freelance Software Developers
Automation and digitization are the industry buzz words today. Whether your company directly deals with software development or not, it is not easy for you to escape the great wave of digitization that’s hitting businesses today. The demand for software developers is such that by 2020 it is expected to increase by 30%!
The growing need for replacing manual tasks with computer-operated systems, the challenge of collating and analyzing heaps of data, the increasing need to hasten communication, all call for the introduction of new and improved software every day. Should your company hire an in-house developer or work with a freelancer then?
Outsourcing software development operations has the following advantages:
- Having an expert on-board for a short term: It may so happen that you need expert help with a project that you are working on for a short span of time. Your company may not need this particular skillset after this project. In such a case, it makes more sense to hire a freelancer with the desired skillset only for as long as the project extends. This sort of flexibility is not possible with full-time employees.
- Financial feasibility: Working with freelancers gives you the flexibility of hiring skilled developers from all across the globe. This can cost you less than hiring local talent, who would charge you in accordance with the norms of the job market existing in your country.
- Venturing into Unknown: When you are not sure if it is feasible to hire a full-time in-house team for that new exciting project or when you are trying to explore a new uncertain business model, it’s a good idea to hire freelancers who are flexible with your requirements.
- Meeting deadlines and growth targets: When you are trying to scale your business or have got a sudden burst of projects, but, you are unsure if that will sustain, then it’s a good idea to strategically supplement your current teams with temporary talent to hit those growth targets.
Who should you be looking for?
Now that we all agree on the benefits of hiring freelancers, let us take a look at the selection criteria you need to set:
- Qualification & Experience: This is the most obvious qualifier. The candidate you seek to work with must have the requisite skillset to manage her responsibilities to the best of her ability.
- Dependability: The not so obvious deciding factor is whether or not a candidate fits your work culture. This is especially important when you are hiring someone for a long-term project. It is important that the person you hire fits your company’s culture, takes responsibility, and is dependable enough for approaching with even impromptu tasks.
- Communication: Oral and Written communication skill becomes a major factor in determining the productivity of a freelancer, when you are communicating virtually with her. So this easily qualifies as one of the important skills of a good Freelancer
- Passion: It’s easy to lose focus and discipline when someone is not passionate enough about her work. Try to find freelancers who are extremely passionate about what they do and who try to stay updated with the latest trends in their line of work.
The challenge of finding the right match
With the need to compete against world-class peers, businesses today face the need to focus their efforts on continuously improving product quality and reducing release time. With project deadlines looming close, and countless tiring maintenance processes to handle, outsourcing work to freelancers is a great idea.
However, this prospect is not as rosy as it seems. The following are some hurdles facing businesses seeking to work with freelancers today:
- Spotting the right talent: With access to the internet, Developers from around the world are just a click away. Posting a job description on a freelance job board will instantly fetch you countless bids. How, then, can you make sure that you trust your project with a responsible, competent Developer? How can you ensure that the person you hire is the right fit for your company’s work culture?
- Ensuring confidentiality: You may already know that the freelancers you work with may have access to important information about your company and its projects. It is, therefore, important that you hire someone who can be trusted with crucial information that cannot be divulged. With freelancers working outside office premises, and given their freedom to choose their work, how can you make sure that your information is in the right hands?
- Meeting deadlines: The importance of meeting deadlines and staying accountable can never be stressed enough. Being globally competent requires businesses to be prompt in meeting project deadlines. With freelancers working from different parts of the world, in time zones different from yours, how is it possible that your deadlines are never missed ?
Problems such as the ones listed above are common to the freelance work landscape. Being prepared for these problems gives freelancers the much-craved for autonomy over their work, and companies in turn gain access to competent workforce from across the globe.
At Prolanceer, we make it our job to clear hurdles such as the ones listed here, and ensure that the right talent always meets the right opportunity. We set a rigorous process for scrutinizing and screening candidates to make sure that none less than the top talent from all over the globe reaches you within least amount of time.
