There inevitably comes a time when you need to hire someone whose skills are so far outside your comfort zone, they may as well be speaking Martian during their interview. You need a Web Developer, but you don’t know a CMS from a JPG. You want to develop an iPhone app, but they’re selling their Flash skills. Here are a few key steps to help smooth the way when hiring outside your skillset:

1. Know the business case. While you may not know the specific skills required to build an e-commerce site, you should know – and be able to spell out – what you’re trying to accomplish with the site, what type of products you will be selling there, how you will be accepting payment, and what the shipping options will be. Spend some time thinking through this before you even write the job description, and you’re more likely to get applicants who can speak to your specific needs, rather than rattling off a list of skills you don’t recognize.

2. Hire a recruiter or project manager. Don’t trust your judgement on hiring for this position? Bring in outside help. Instead of hiring for the position itself, hire a recruiter or project manager with experience in leading technical teams on similar projects. Your job post will look different for this position, and you’ll likely pay a little extra for the peace of mind of having a pro manage your candidate list, but it may be worth it to find that stellar player that ties the project together and plays translator between your business case and your technical team.

3. Build an advisory team. Chances are that you already know someone with the skills to get your project done. While they may not have the time or bandwidth to tackle your project yourselves, consider pulling them into your advisory team. This team should be made up of people whose judgement you trust and who have some level of experience in the field you are hiring for. They can help educate you about the skills you should be looking for, ideal portfolio pieces and red flags to watch out for. Just remember to compensate them for their time – whether with a bottle of wine or shares of your company, show your appreciation for their advice!

4. Review the portfolio. While you may not have the slightest idea which programs your designer should be familiar with, you have a pretty good idea what you want the end result to look like. Make sure you take the time to review their portfolio closely to see if they have existing work that shows similar outcomes. You should also make sure to get (and check!) references and clarify their role on the teams they’ve worked on in the past.

5. Interview, interview, interview. When I bought my first house, the home inspector advised me to interview many contractors for every project. While I knew nothing about re-roofing a garage, each interview I held educated me a bit about what questions to ask, which products to request and how much to expect to spend. The same is true for hiring outside your skillset. Expect to interview many candidates for the role. While you may find someone you think fits the bill at interview #2, you won’t know for sure until you reach interview #7.

6. Test drive. Sometimes, you can’t tell if someone will be a good fit for your needs until you hire them. If you have a few candidate who might fit the bill (and they all pass your stringent review of their portfolios, their references give them high praise and they absolutely wow you in interviews) consider hiring them all for one week. Set very clear guidelines as to how many hours they can work, how you will be reviewing their progress and when you will be in touch with them to discuss. (Not sure hourly is the right way to go? Check out Fixed-Price Finesse: The Test Run)

Overall, be sure to use your common sense. Whether hiring for technical work,  marketing expertise or design savvy, you should have a clear idea of what you want to walk away with. While you may spend a bit more time, energy and even money hiring someone outside your skillset, you should know at the end of the day that the effort you put in to hiring them makes reaping the results that much sweeter.

Erica Benton brings nearly a decade of experience as a small business owner and freelancer to her position as the editor-in-chief of the oDesk Blog.