22 January 2009 | Newsletter, Outsourcing Tips | Jacqui

A recent perspective discussed how to write a killer job description, designed to bring highly qualified providers rushing at you from all over the world. Now we’ll look at what to do if, uh-oh, it works.

1. Your first order of business is to smartly sift though the candidates queue. Some tips:

• Include a specific instruction or “captcha” in your job description, such as, “Include two URLs to previous jobs in your cover letter.” Applicants who don’t follow instructions, reject immediately.

• Reject ridiculously low or ridiculously high rates/bids — deal with serious people only.

• Remove providers with below-average feedback. Anyone under a 4.0 is in the bottom quartile of all providers. Tread carefully. Of course, a brand-new provider will have no feedback, and that’s natural. If you like her portfolio, give her an interview. If that goes well, you may have discovered a new gem before anyone else!

2. Once you narrowed down the candidate queue, carefully read each provider’s profile.

• Work history and feedback are very telling. A provider who has had only one job, but has billed 500 hours and is still in progress, is keeping her buyer very happy. If a provider has 20 one-hour or one-day jobs on his record, pay close attention to the tasks and feedback. (Hint: you can click on a job opening and see the original job description to compare.)

• Check to see whether he has passed relevant tests. If an interesting candidate hasn’t yet taken a test pertaining to your job, invite him to interview and ask him to take it — it’s free and shouldn’t take more than an hour.

• Review portfolios for the quality, style and range of their work. If someone doesn’t have a portfolio — request one.

3. You can also use the provider search to find more great candidates. Tips on how to do it, and why to bother:

• The best providers are often also very busy — not too surprising. Many of them don’t spend time searching for new jobs. You’ve got to make the first move and send them an invitation.

• Start with the criteria you entered in the job description, then narrow or expand the list by changing the parameters. Entering keyword ‘PHP’ will yield about 17,000 results. More stringent criteria, like “search titles only,” feedback score (set to “at least 4.5”), last activity (to “within 30 days”) and tests passed (to “PHP5 test”) narrows the list to around 300.

4. Now you’ve just got to interview effectively:

• Coordinating across time zones can be confusing at first — consult a world clock when necessary.

• Offer any method of communication you are comfortable with (email, IM, Skype, phone, etc.) and make yourself as available as possible.

• Communicate in the medium the job will require. If you’ll expect written reports daily or weekly, include an email exchange that lets you see the candidate’s clarity and thoroughness. Hiring a customer service rep? Of course you’ll want to hear his phone manner.

• Probe into past or current assignments (you saw them on her profile), ask about anything in the profile that struck you as unusual.

• Prepare a quiz or a set of test questions and give the same ones to all interviewees.

• Give a few finalists a test job. Set a limit to the time to keep costs down, get some real-world proof of their abilities, and show the candidates that you value their time.

The hiring process can be overwhelming, especially when presented with as many as 50 candidates. Few bosses look forward to the task. But there’s a lot of talent on oDesk, and a focused approach can bring fast, successful results. Happy hunting!

PS. We always appreciate your feedback on how we can help you address these challenges — participate in our forums.