How to find freelance workers?

A question at the top of many companies minds. Many take to search engines to discover a solution, and are met by a range of promoted advertisements for all-in-one recruitment platforms who provide you with a selection of quality candidates, a market place of sorts for freelancers and creatives.

You may consider these platforms to be the perfect solution if you don’t have much time to spend sifting through applications or dealing with invoices yourself. However before jumping the gun, here are a few things to consider.

Should I use a platform to hire a freelancer or interim worker?

Longer payment terms

Whilst payment terms vary on a per-platform basis, some can extend to a 45 day period. This means these platforms may suit businesses who tend to have a slower cash flow, however this can become a disadvantage for the freelancer or temp who you employ.

Many platform recruitment companies will only pay your freelancer once they have received payment.

If freelancers/temps are not aware of this prior to starting employment with you, it can lead to a lot of questions regarding when they are going to get paid.

At Pitch we pay a freelancers within 7 days of a timesheet being approved. One of the many reasons freelancers prefer to work with us.

Less time efficient

When using platform recruitment tools, it is still your responsibility as a business to filter applications and arrange interviews. Whilst these platforms have clever algorithms to help you find talent suitable to your assignment, these take years to fine-tune and may not be agile enough to adapt to changing market dynamics. As there are more candidates available in todays market, regardless of algorithms there is a strong possibility you may still be overwhelmed with applications, choice and knowing who may be best fit for your requirements.

Realistically in todays market, a human first search is the most appropriate way to find the right candidate for an assignment. By outsourcing to our freelance or interim team, you won’t be overwhelmed by choice, instead you will receive a selection of tailored candidates, saving you time in the long-run.

Freelance database

As recruitment platforms are relatively new to the market, not every freelance/contractor is signed up to them. This leaves you open to wasting time searching platforms which offer few solutions, only to be left spending more time and money outsourcing.

By selecting to come to Pitch first, through our recruiters you will have access to a database of trusted freelancers and contractors we’ve worked with who have successfully completed bookings. In addition to our database we do what no automated platform can and approach those who may be considered “passive candidates” or someone who is in-between roles directly. If all else fails, we can take the lead and advertise to attract further talent.

The human element

When working with a recruitment platform, because the onus is very much still placed on you to source and recruit, it is unlikely that you will receive frequent contact with another human who can advise on best practice and provide market insight. Instead, you may be faced with a battle with customer services and tech support - and even then some reviews show this to be less than satisfactory.

If you chose to go down the Pitch route however, the path looks a lot different.

For a start, you will receive a dedicated account manager who will talk with you about any concerns you may have and help you to identify what your requirements are. They will take the onus off you, giving you more time to focus on your business by filtering CVs, sending you only the best candidates, arranging interviews and helping you to navigate the on boarding process.

Put simply…

For us, the biggest loss with utilising these tools is the removal of the human element.

If you want to find out more about how our freelance and interim recruitment solutions work, get in touch with us today.

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Header: Photo by Nao Triponez from Pexels