How To Hire Upwork’s Top-Rated Freelancers

Congrats. That business or side I'll see you started is ready to grow and that means hiring top freelancers from Upwork to help take some work off your plate. That's exactly what we're covering in this video, so get ready to take some notes. My name's Nick. I run a fairly large social media business and marketing agency and I've hired freelancers from Upwork to help grow both of them.

But the first question you probably have is, why hire freelancers from a platform like Upwork? Well, did you know that 63% of hiring managers who don't use independent talent aren't confident in their ability to find the right professionals. But on the flip side, nearly 80% of those who do use platforms like Upwork are confident in their hiring decisions. That's a huge difference and today I'm gonna show you why. Let me take you back to when I first started hiring for my businesses.

The process was, well, let's just say it was less than efficient. We'd post job listings on various platforms, wait for applications to come in, spend hours sifting through them, schedule interviews, and then hope that the person we chose would actually be as good as they seemed on paper. It was time consuming, expensive, and often frustrating. But then I discovered Upwork, and it was like a breath of fresh air. Suddenly, I had access to a global pool of independent professionals, could see their work history and client feedback at a glance, and could even start a conversation with them right away.

The efficiency was mind blowing. For example, when I needed a video editor for my social media business, I found a top rated professional on Upwork within a day. The quality of work and smooth collaboration process made me realize how game changing this platform could be for businesses like mine. One of the things that makes hiring Upwork so effective is their system of talent badges. These badges give you quick indicators of a freelancer's expertise, achievements, and reliability.

Let's break them down. First up is rising talent. This badge is awarded to promising new professionals who have completed projects successfully and adhere to Upwork standards. It's a great way to spot up and coming talent. Next up is Top Rated.

This badge represents the top 10% of professionals in Upwork. These freelancers have consistently high performance and strong client feedback. Moving up, we have Top Rated Plus. This is for professionals who are experienced in handling large complex projects. If you're looking for someone to take on a high budget or long term contract, this is the badge to look for.

And finally, we have expert vetted. This is the cream of the crop, the top 1% of talent on Upwork. These professionals have been through rigorous skills testing and interviews. They're ideal for specialized or highly technical roles. These badges were a complete game changer in my own hiring process because it allowed me to quickly identify top talent and let me reach out to them versus me posting a job listing somewhere and simply hoping a couple of qualified candidates reached out to me.

So how can you use these badges to make informed hiring decisions? First, when you're searching for professionals in Upwork, use the talent badge filters to quickly narrow down your search to the level of expertise you need. But remember, badges are just the starting point. Always take the time to review profiles, portfolios, job success scores, and client ratings. These give you a more freelancer's capabilities and work style.

Let's be real. You probably don't spend money on anything online without reading reviews first. It makes sense that hiring someone should be the same way. Thankfully, Upwork makes it easy to see the reviews left by previous clients of the freelancers you're considering. And don't forget the power of a good old fashioned conversation.

Set up interviews or consultations with your shortlisted candidates. This helps ensure that skills align with your project needs and they'll work well together. Now, let's talk about some steps you can take to make your hiring process on Upwork even more effective. One, conduct skill and role assessments. Before you even start looking for talent, clearly define the skills and roles you need.

This sounds obvious, but I guarantee you've had the thought, I'll just hire someone to do everything that I do. Freelancers are usually very good at a select number of skills, so let them thrive in their zone of genius by clearly defining the roles you need them to fill. You could also consider skill sourcing, keeping a core team and supplementing with independent professionals for specific projects. In my marketing agency, we often bring in specialized freelancers for specific client campaigns. Two, review your company culture and values.

Top talent isn't just looking for a paycheck. They wanna work with companies whose values align with theirs. Showcase your company's mission and culture in your job posts and share testimonials from other freelancers you've worked with to present yourself as an attractive client. Testimonials go both directions when hiring freelancers. They wanna make sure you don't turn into a client they regret taking off.

Three, develop a hiring budget. Set a clear budget upfront. This helps attract the right candidates faster. Do some research on similar job listings to make sure your rates are competitive. If the rate for your project is lower than comparable projects, your ideal talent probably will not want to work on it.

In my experience, being transparent about your budget from the start saves time for both you and the freelancers. Four, craft a targeted job description. Be clear and specific about the role, project scope, and required qualifications. The more detailed you are, the more likely you are to attract the right talent. For my own job listings, I always list out every single task the talent we're responsible for doing along with any skills they need to get them done, like video editing, thumbnail design, project management, etcetera.

Once you've got all that in place, it's time to post your job in Upwork's talent marketplace. Let's walk through exactly how to do that. One, create an Upwork account and find the post a job button on your client dashboard. Two, choose whether this will be a long or short term project. Three, whether you want AI to help you with your job post.

If you do use AI, write out a one to two sentence description of what you're looking for. Five, set either an hourly rate range or a fixed price for this project. And six, review your job post to make sure the AI got everything right. There are four optional sections at the bottom of the page that I do recommend filling out as well, especially the screening questions to quickly confirm that applicants are actually qualified with this role. If everything looks good, click post this job and you'll soon start receiving proposals from interested freelancers.

Review these carefully and shortlist the candidates that seem like the best fit. And when you do start receiving proposals, use Upwork's communication tools to engage with potential hires. You can chat, have video calls, or even use Loom for asynchronous communication. Just remember to keep all communications on the Upwork platform for safety and efficiency. And there you have it.

By leveraging Upwork's talent badges, communication tools, and following these hiring best practices, you can find and hire top independent talent quickly and efficiently. It's truly transformed how I operate both my social media business and marketing agency. Ready to give it a try? Head over to Upwork and start exploring the amazing talent pool for your next project and don't forget to subscribe for more tips from Upwork.