6 Tricks To Hire Better On Upwork

You probably encounter this when hiring for game projects. 

Are you frustrated with hiring the wrong candidates repeatedly?

Do you need a better hiring technique?

Here are 6 tricks you can implement in your hiring methods.

******************************************************************

1) Create a test

A test is a great way to filter unwanted candidates. It’s a way of saying “hey if you’re as good as claimed on your profile, you should pass this with flying colors”.

If you’re hiring

Make the test lightweight, but challenging enough for a skilled person to take.

If you end up hiring the candidate, be sure to compensate her the test taken. This small token of gratitude goes a long way.

******************************************************************

2) Go for fixed rate, with add ons

Freelancers hate projects that drag long. Especially people from the creative field.

If you know what you need, set a fixed price per job. In the job description, add a note that says “high potential for future projects”.

Freelancers appreciate this. On one hand, they know they can give a go at this fixed price project. If it doesn’t work out, they can part ways easily. If it does work out, they’ll be happy to addon more jobs from you.

What if nobody applies for the job? Chances are, the prices you set are too low. Come back after a day, view the responses, tweak the prices accordingly.

******************************************************************

3) Use simple English

There are 10 million freelancers on Upwork. A big percentage of them are international. If you’re aiming for highly productive freelancers, it’s natural to cater your job description to the worldwide audience.

Write clear, simple English in your job descriptions. Avoid sentences longer than 10 words. Avoid too much jargon.

******************************************************************

4) Always pay via Upwork

There’s no point skirting around the system. The deal is simple. For every dollar you pay the freelancer, she gets 90 cents.

Completed jobs will be evaluated by three parties

If you bypass this, you’re not doing good to any party. Everyone needs to get feedback, so they can improve the system, and eventually filter out the bad freelancers.

As a client, having offered more jobs is a good sign to the freelancer. It’s a sign of reliability, not some “shady client”.

If the freelancer asks for payment outside of Upwork, insist on using Upwork, or else decline and move on.

******************************************************************

5) Cheap does not mean good

Cost is often the number one thing clients look out for. A close second is quality. Since the job hasn’t been performed, to closest we can get to this, are the reviews gained by the freelancer.

Take time to dig into the freelancer’s previous jobs. Compare with your job description, to find a match. If there’s no match, extrapolate them to hopefully meet your expectations. Filter out fake jobs meant to boost their profiles.

Also, this goes both ways. Expensive freelancers do not equal good freelancers either.

******************************************************************

6) Be a real human

Transacting on a job over the internet can be dull. There’s very little human element in this. The most you’ll probably ever see, is the icon of the freelancer’s real face.

It helps to talk to the freelancer like she’s a real person. It helps to say thank you. It helps to follow up on future projects. It also helps to keep in touch outside of Upwork, if she’s open to it.

*******************************************************************

With these 6 tricks, you should be on your way to hiring the best freelancer for your game projects!