A growing number of companies are hiring independent contractors. One reason for this is that many ICs are skilled workers who can provide expertise that companies don’t possess in-house. Additionally, it allows companies to save time and money on hiring full-time employees.
But if you’re interested in hiring independent contractors, how do you go about finding them? The following resources can help you find professionals who offer the qualifications and reliability you need:
LinkedIn is a great resource for finding and hiring independent contractors. Here you can post jobs and search for likely talent with the right qualifications yourself. Moreover, since member profiles can include endorsements, you can quickly see if someone has many satisfied clients.
WorkMarket
WorkMarket is a freelance management system that allows companies to find and hire skilled professionals and curate pools of proven performers. Added visibility with assignment tracking and valuable reporting and analytics make WorkMarket a great resource to find high-quality freelance talent.
Staffing agencies
Typically, staffing agencies place temporary, temp to perm or direct hire talent. However, many also represent independent contractors who work on a project basis. The advantage of going through staffing agencies is that they know their talent’s capabilities and qualifications. As a result, they’re often able to quickly suggest professionals who are a good fit, saving you time. Nevertheless, remember to check their credentials. Depending on the type of talent you’re looking for, most independent contractors will have a portfolio or website with their résumé, as well as samples of their work or descriptions of projects they’ve worked on.
Stack Overflow
With more than 50 million programmers visiting the site each month, Stack Overflow is the largest online community for developers — and a great resource for finding coding talent. You can perform a candidate search, review profiles, post jobs and promote your company to the community through ads. In addition, the site provides expert support throughout.
Chamber of Commerce
If you need an independent contractor for onsite work, the business directory of your local Chamber of Commerce can be a good place to start. Simply perform a search under the appropriate category to find listings of professionals in your area. However, before hiring anyone, always remember to ask for references and if applicable, work samples.
Professional organizations
Since most professional organizations such as the National Society of Professional Engineers, the IEEE Computer Society, and others have job sites for their members, they can be a great way to find reliable professionals who are up to date on the latest developments in their fields. Again, make sure to request work samples and check references before hiring anyone.
Once you’ve found a skilled independent contractor who’s reliable and performs good work, it’s important to build a strong relationship with him or her. This benefits both parties since you’ll have access to the skills your company needs while the independent contractor will be able to add another company to his or her client list.
