23 September 2008 | Newsletter, Outsourcing Tips | Orie

There are hundreds of thousands providers on oDesk. You, however, don’t want 100,000 providers. You may want one provider — the one who offers the best combination of experience, reliability and affordability. And the thing is, you’re competing on any given day with dozens of other buyers to get her attention. On a random day this month, 550 jobs popped up for a search of Graphic Design, and nearly a thousand for PHP. We have a lot of talent on oDesk, and a lot of buyers, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t have first pick. The secret to that: writing a killer job description.

The best people aren’t worried about keeping busy, and they’re not throwing themselves at any job that comes along. They’ve got two priorities: work that is interesting or challenging, and work that can turn into longer projects, so they can spend more time billing hours and less typing up cover letters on spec.

When you get to the point of conducting interviews with hopeful applicants, you’re in control — you’re doing the hiring. When a provider sits down to sift through the latest job posts, he’s deciding whom to apply to — he’s hiring you, in a sense. Here’s how to make yours work:

• Make it interesting — no one wants to be bored, and talented people have multiple options.
• Be open and informative — providers want a strong communicator, and they want to see that you understand the project you’re hiring for. “Need programmer to build website” will not draw the best people. Give details, especially about deadlines and deliverables.
• Identify yourself and your company. If this isn’t appropriate, write a sentence about who you are and what your company does. Specify requirements, including skills tests, so the candidate can take them before applying. Also note required tools, including software and applications, plus time commitments and other necessities. Detailed requirements let the candidate self-assess whether she’ll be a good fit.
• Share examples of work that looks like what you want. Need a shopping cart added to your site? Point to a site whose functionality and design you want to use as a guideline (just don’t infringe on any intellectual property).
• Offer incentives — If there’s the potential for longer-term work, say so. We’ve found this to attract more, and better, candidates. Perhaps you’d like to offer a bonus for reaching a milestone.

Have you ever sorted through resumes and were appalled by the way some completely fail to interest you? Look at your job description with the same eye. Is it compelling? Does it draw the right candidates and clearly discourage those with, say, insufficient experience or a current inability to meet your deadline? Are you selling yourself to the best talent out there, or just throwing your doors open to whoever is desperate enough to apply?