Hire Safely
Hiring well takes time. The first step to find a qualified and reliable provider is to review profiles for skills and experience that match your job requirements. Elance profiles include skills, credentials, portfolio samples, work history and feedback received from previous clients.
Here are a few things to consider when reviewing provider profiles:
- Does the provider display a meaningful amount of feedback? Service providers on Elance should have feedback on 60% or more of the jobs they perform. If they don’t have many reviews, it could be a sign of client dissatisfaction.
- Review the provider’s job history. Have they completed jobs of a similar scope and nature to the service you are seeking?
- How is the feedback? Feedback, although subjective and sometimes imperfect, can help assess a provider, especially when you take time to read comments left by other clients. When you see a negative review, pay close attention to the provider's response and how they handled it.
- Does the provider have repeat earnings and repeat clients? Repeat business shows that other clients are coming back for more work, which could be an indicator of high service levels.
For more tips on reviewing provider profiles, please refer to this article.
Reviewing the proposals received
Once you’ve posted your job and received proposals, consider the following when reviewing the proposals you receive:
- Did the provider review your job requirements thoroughly and provide a well thought-out and relevant proposal? A candidate who spends time understanding your needs will typically provide more thorough and competent service. Just like a cover-letter, proposals provide clues about the expertise and professionalism of the candidate.
- Does the provider have the skills or credentials you require and have they been tested or verified in that area? Look for tested skills, references and work history on Elance, as well as pertinent, insightful questions and observations regarding your job requirements.
- Does the provider respond to your messages promptly? Consider the time zone the provider is in and clarify their business hours. Misaligned expectations here can cause unforeseen delays.
- Before making your hiring decision, interview providers directly through one of the free communication services, Elance Chat or Elance Call, which also protect your privacy.
- If you are hiring an individual for full-time or ongoing work, consider requesting a background check.
- Find out if the individual you are interviewing will also be the one performing the work. If not, request resumes and interviews for the team that will actually do the work. Larger providers often have their team individual profiles accessible through the 'Team' link within their profile.
For more tips on interviewing providers, please refer to this article.
Setting up the Terms of the Job
The Terms feature on Elance allows you and the service provider to outline and agree to the schedule, amount, and scope of work to be performed and in what stages it will be delivered and paid. Terms help you break jobs up into manageable milestones with clear deliverables that are easier to track.
Once you have agreed milestones, use Elance Escrow to fund one or more milestones individually. Using Escrow protects both parties and allows you to release funds to your service provider as each stage of the work is completed.
NOTE: You are not required to release a “deposit” from Escrow before work is performed. There are many providers on Elance that do not require deposits, although it is not against Elance policies to do so. Elance recommends funding one or more Escrow milestones at the beginning of a job , but strongly recommends against releasing funds from Escrow as a deposit to begin work. Define milestones around clear deliverables that can be reviewed for work quality and completeness. Once funds are released from Escrow, they cannot be recalled unless the provider explicitly agrees to the refund.
Elance recommends posting your job using the Elance Work System, which gives employers the advantages of using Elance Escrow and receiving regular weekly Status Reports throughout the course of the job. Status Reports are a great way to facilitate communication and document the progression of the job all the way through to completion. They can also serve as a valuable future reference.
Elance Escrow is the safest way to work online with a provider. Your funds are held securely in the job’s Escrow account, and you release the funds only when the work is delivered to your specifications. If the provider stops responding for any reason, there is a well-defined process to get the funds returned to you from Escrow.
For more details regarding Elance Escrow, please click here.
By selecting the Elance Online Work System when posting your job, the provider can submit weekly Status Reports to document the progress of the job. These Status Reports are delivered to you on Monday. With Status Reports, either party can alert the other of a problem or confirm the completion of a milestone or the entire job.
At times, a change to scope or schedule is necessary at some point during a job. When this occurs, it is important to document these changes in the Terms section of the job Workroom. The Terms are the formal agreement between both parties and should reflect the current job scope, schedule, and contract amount. Either party may submit changes to Terms; the other party must agree before they become active.
Private Message Board and Status Reports
Good communication is essential to the success of any job. The Private Message Board automatically documents all communication and stores it to the job history for future reference. These messages, in addition to the Terms and Status Reports, serve as the main audit trail for the job. In the event of a dispute, only the job Terms, Private Messages and Status Reports will be considered in the Dispute Assistance process.
Funds held in Escrow may be refunded at any time, pending the agreement of both parties. The system automatically processes refunds from Escrow when the Terms are adjusted and both parties agree. If an Escrow milestone has been released to the provider or an invoice has been paid, Elance can only issue a refund with the provider’s approval. To request a refund of funds already released, you must cancel the job (available in the 'I want to...' link in the job workroom). Elance will then contact the provider on your behalf. Be sure to review all deliverables before releasing funds from Escrow, but be fair to your provider by paying them in a timely manner. If there is a disagreement over funds held in Escrow, there is a well-defined process to help resolve the dispute.
