If you are starting a business, then you’re likely to be looking to hire an independent contractor to help supply goods or services for your business.
Hiring an independent contractor is one way to expand your workforce to get the job done. Now the big question here is; How do you hire an independent contractor?
Hiring an independent contractor is a good thing as it helps you fill the gaps that you don’t have the expertise to handle yet. In addition, they help you meet your day-to-day demands and milestone, which in turn affect the success of your business. As a result, an independent contractor will help move your business forward by filling one or several roles in your business.
How to hire an independent contractor
In our previous post, we discussed steps on how to start an independent contractor business. But if you have a business, you are like to consider hiring independent contractors for your business to help you handle things you can’t handle.
And so, here are 8 simple steps to hiring an independent contractor.
1. Define the contractors’ projects
Before you even reach out to a potential contractor, first of all, define and analyze the role they are going to be playing in your business. Ask yourself questions like:
✔ Do you really need an independent contractor?
✔ If yes, is it for the short or long term? And
✔ Can one contractor manage to job, or do you need several?
After this, you can now move to evaluate contractors’ qualifications.
2. Determine Contractor Qualifications
Now that you are certain that you need a contractor, now determine the type of qualifications you need from a contractor. To be sure, you will have to separate their qualifications into three main categories;
✔ Education & Certifications,
✔ Work experience
✔ Works schedules
Keep in mind that each task is different; some may require higher qualifications than others; thus, classifying each requirement accordingly will help you get the right candidate.
Now onto the next step!
3. Define the job description
It is essential to determine what you need an independent contractor to help you with and write them down. Keep in mind strong, and clear job descriptions will save you lots of time and help you attract the right candidate. Holding meetings with more than 10 different contractors that don’t fit your need is disappointing and time-wasting. So, to save yourself, you need to create a clear job description highlighting everything you need a contractor to help with.
A clear job description should have the following:
✔ Job details
✔ The required credentials
✔ Length of job
✔ The ideal contractor you would like to work with
✔ Your company profile (a brief description of your company)
✔ Payment details
4. Search for suitable candidates
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With everything all set, all you need now is to venture into to wild to search for the ideal independent contractor to help you solve your business needs. Depending on the role as well as your business needs, you can opt to search for potential candidates at places such as:
✔ Freelance websites, such as fiver, Upwork, freelancer, etc.,
✔ On Google (simply do a Google search), or
✔ Through word of mouth
5. Compile a list of the best applicants and start screening
While creating a final list of suitable candidates, you will have to remove some contractors that don’t fit the mold before doing final evaluations. So, to ensure you complete this step accordingly, you will have to refer to your qualifications and job description to ensure you pick the best applicants.
Be aware that what an applicant poses as part of their qualification might be too high for your budget, below the required standards, or attractive but not practical. Screen their capabilities by researching their previous jobs and reaching out to their references to know more about their abilities and professionality.
Therefore, while compiling the list, ensure every set requirement is met to ensure you select the perfect contractor that fits your intended profile.
6. Evaluate their pricing
After compiling the final list of the best applicants, start requesting quotes from each independent contractor. So, before this stage, it is important to have a rough copy of what each contractor might charge for their services. This will help you compare their actual price with your estimates.
Before you head over into bargaining, ensure that you meet with them first to discuss further details in person. At this time or after that, you can start burgeoning or finalizing the pricing if you agree with their quotes.
7. Invite top applicants for an interview
After reviewing all bids and selecting the best applicant, you can now take the step of interviewing them. Utilize this meeting to:
● Ask important questions and get to know them well
● Assess their capabilities and compare them with your research
Basically, you need to be prepared with an important question to ask them in order to cage their abilities.
8. Award the project and prepare Independent Contractor Agreement
Start by extending the offer, but remember, this isn’t making the offer official; rather, it is typically a verbal offer. This will involve things like pricing, roles to be accomplished, contract duration, and the final expectations.
Once your chosen independent contractor accepts the offer, you can now proceed to prepare Independent Contractor Agreement. This agreement will be a legally binding document that will make everything official once all parties involved sign it. If you don’t know how to Create an Independent Contractor Agreement, you can use this independent contractor agreement template.
Bottomline
Overall, it is important to note that an independent contractor doesn’t work as your employee but as a contractor. An independent contractor works as a self-employed person or a freelancer. Therefore, some rules that govern your employees in your business won’t work for them. So, if you know how to hire an independent contractor, it will also be ideal to discuss some crucial things that will govern your collaboration. This will help avoid unnecessary inconveniences or differences from occurring.
In general, before hiring an independent contractor, ensure you define if it is best to work with an independent contractor (Self-Employed) or employee.