The freelancer economy is going strong, with more and more professionals dreaming of non-traditional work schedules. Most of this has been spurned by the weak economy, forcing candidates to get more creative and think outside the 9-to-5 box.
For employers, the allure of hiring someone to do freelance work is pretty evident. These are skilled, qualified professionals who can help your company grow, scale, and bring a well-developed skill set to the table. You might need someone to do some freelance writing or freelance marketing on a one-time project basis, making it inefficient to hire someone in-house.
Hiring great candidates to do freelance work is also a great way to form a ready-made proving ground for candidates you might want to take on for more long-term employment. Instead of trusting the references on their resume or the work in their portfolio, you can see what they’re really made of by evaluating the projects they turn in as a freelance employee.
So how do you find top-notch candidates for your freelance jobs? The video interview can be a great way to fill your empty freelance jobs with talented and qualified candidates. But before we delve into how to use the video interview to fill your freelance jobs, let’s first take an overall look at the freelance economy:
The State of Freelance Hiring
- Freelancers are growing: About one-third of U.S. workers, or 42 percent, hold freelance jobs or no longer report to 9-to-5 office positions. If this number seems high, think again! Sarah Horowitz from the Freelancers Union thinks the number is actually much higher since the last time the Bureau of Labor Statistics counted freelancers was pre-recession.
- Freelancers are experienced and professional: According to a 2012 Freelance Industry report, 34 percent of freelancers have more than 10 years of work experience.
- Freelancers are happy: According to that same report, 90 percent of freelancers are happier now than in their old jobs. This means you’ll be hiring upbeat, enthusiastic people ready to take on new challenges.
- Freelancers want to connect: The toughest part of freelancing is finding more freelance work. Despite the fact that these candidates are more likely to embrace new technology, 67 percent of those looking for freelance jobs actually prefer finding work through a more personal connection.
Enter The Video Interview
So how exactly can you use the video interview to nab the best candidates for your freelance jobs? Here are a few ways pressing play on a video interview can help you find the top talent you need:
Connect Personally
One of the best things about video interviews is the ability to connect personally with a candidate. Whether you’re looking for someone to do some freelance writing or freelance photography, you’ll want to connect just like you would with any other candidate you’d bring into the company fold. Just because a candidate is freelancing, after all, doesn’t mean it no longer becomes important for them to fit into the overall company culture.
The candidate is still representing your company, even if you’re only hiring them to do a little freelance writing for the company website. You need someone who understands the company and, more importantly, someone you trust to deliver top-quality work.
We mentioned before that some companies use freelance work as the basis for evaluating candidates they might want to bring on full-time. So it’s important to start making sure a candidate fits into the company culture as early as the hiring process.
Using video interviews, you can connect personally with the best and brightest candidates. In a live video interview, you can connect face-to-face in the same personal way you would if they were sitting across the desk from you. Best of all, because live video interviews are recorded, you can then share the best candidates with your whole team.
Shorten the Process
In the earlier example, you were hiring someone to do a little freelance writing for your company website. Professional freelance writing can run the gamut from small projects to large undertakings. Either way, you might not have days to devote to hiring the best freelance professional. Your time is limited and you still have to hire full-time, permanent superstars.
Using one-way video interviews, you can shorten the traditional hiring process by weeding the best from the rest. In a one-way video interview, candidates answer your written questions on video, which you can watch whenever your schedule permits.
Unlike time-consuming preliminary phone screens, you can move on if the candidate is all wrong for the job. This helps you focus your time on connecting personally with the right candidates and avoiding those who would be all wrong for the job.
Finding the right people to do freelance work for your company is no picnic. Utilizing the video interview, however, can help you connect personally and hire the best in this burgeoning field of talented workers.