Chapter
12
Selecting the Right Contractor
In This Chapter
• Similarities versus differences in hiring online and in person
• Organizing and rating the inflow of proposals
• Key factors in assessing proposals
• Actions you can take to further your selection process
• Hiring more than one contractor to test-drive their services
• The mechanics of selecting your hire(s)
Evaluating the contractors who bid on your project is a critical part of the entire online work world equation. Just like in traditional hiring, you can make good and bad decisions regarding picking the right person. In fact, you might think the problem is worse online as you don’t have the normal ability of meeting face-to-face.
However, you do have a surprising number of tools at your disposal that aren’t commonly thought of or used in traditional hiring. I will go through these tools and other advantages that hiring online provides. And I will take you through the process of sorting amongst the virtual stacks of job proposals submitted by contractors to find the gems that lie within.
Part of the challenge is simply adjusting to the new view you will have of your prospective hires. This isn’t good or bad, it just is. Businesses worldwide are increasing their freelancing and online hires. If they can make it work, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to as well. Let’s get started!