When employers need to expand their workforce, they often don’t have the budget, or the need, to bring on any full-time, permanent staff members.
Employers in this situation will look to resources like hiring freelancers – the creative and experienced freelancers – to ramp up their resources and keep things rolling along.
If you’re looking to supplement your freelance work with some more consistent pay, then maybe a part-time job, coupled with your freelance work, is the key.
When this is the case, you need to be ready to shine.
If you follow the tips below, you can position yourself as the temporary solution to fill a company’s needs asap when they are looking to hire a freelancer.
The Difference Between Hiring Part-Time and Freelance
Firstly, it is good to understand the difference between freelance and part-time staff to identify which one you may want to target when hiring a freelancer.
Ultimately, the main difference between these roles is that part-time employees are a part of the company and can enjoy some benefits (not all the time).
In contrast, freelancers are self-employed, in a situation akin to being a contractor. Your skill is your passion, and you love what you do.
If you are a freelancer and very comfortable being your own boss and setting your own schedule, you’ll want to only target roles that specifically are seeking a freelancer.
If you’re looking to supplement your freelance work with some more consistent pay, then maybe a part-time job, coupled with your freelance work, is the key.
If a project is ongoing and will last indefinitely, then the employer will likely prefer bringing on someone in a part-time capacity to fill the void.
If the work that needs to be completed has an end date, or it’s more project-oriented, then the employer will likely look to a freelancer to get the job done.
There are other differences between these types of employees, of course, and you can find a more detailed description of how they vary here.
How Do You Find Advertised Freelance or Part-Time Jobs?
Many employees will follow a job advert template when hiring a freelancer to ensure a consistent and readable ad when they post on sites like LinkedIn Indeed, Flexjobs or elsewhere.
To ensure freelancers get noticed for those jobs, you’ll want to be familiar with these templates and focus your application to account for the various components included.
Most job search sites will have a filter feature where you can switch your focus to show only freelance or part-time roles. One of my favorite sites for this is FlexJobs.com.
I like this site because the pay is higher than a lot of the other popular sites where freelancers tend to source their work.
This site, and others like it, will pay a very competitive hourly rate because they are seeking higher-skilled individuals.
LinkedIn is another great place to look.
They have a new feature where you can submit your profile to be considered as a contractor. You’ll want to be sure you position your profile to highlight the consulting or contract nature of your work.
You’ll likely show up in searches from recruiters, but you’ll also be well-positioning when you applied for advertised jobs to be seriously considered for the role.
The one area you might want to stay away from are freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr. Generally, on those platforms, freelance work is a commodity.
What Do Recruiters Look for When Searching for Qualified Freelance Workers?
Recruiters will want to see proof of what you do during the hiring process.
If you are positioning yourself as a digital marketing freelancer, for example, you’ll need to be sure to have a high-quality digital presence.
The first place you should have a presence is your own website. This is also important for freelance roles like copywriting and content creation, since we all live in a digital world today.
So, let’s take a look at a few things you should have set up to impress recruiters.
1. Portfolio Website
The website you build to present yourself as a quality freelancer should have a nice design and a quality user-experience.
You should dig around and look at digital marketing agency websites and mimic some of what they do.
Some of the features you will want to have include:
- Your bio – Define your qualities and the value you add for your clients
- Services listings – List out each of the services you offer on their own pages to help with SEO and to let prospective clients and recruiters clearly understand what you do
- Portfolio – You can talk about yourself all you want, but what’s really going to impress someone looking to hire you are samples of your work showing you know what you’re doing on a portfolio page
- Case studies – If you’ve driven results for your clients, find a way to present that clearly on your site
- Testimonials – Your happy clients will be your advocates, so grab testimonials from them and flaunt them on your site
2. Social Media
Another place you can present a positive picture of your and your work is social media. You can even use social media to make connections and build relationships with recruiters.
Make sure you set up a positive social media presence to highlight who you are and who recruiters why they should hire you.
Recruiters will often prefer to reach out directly to freelancers when looking to employ your services, and social media is a great place to do that.
3. Professional Email
You should have a professional email that’s in line with the URL of your website to help you win clients when recruiters are hiring freelancers.
Rather than a generic email like [email protected], try something like [email protected]. Ok, that’s a bad example, but you get it.
Your initials at your domain name. It comes across as being much more professional than using a generic email address.
These are all things that can help recruiters easily find freelance workers with a range of skillsets.
And if you are positioned to show up when they are searching for the skills you offer, and your online presence is optimized, you’ll stand a much better chance of being selected for the role.
In Conclusion
Overall, when looking for part-time or temporary employees, you’ll find that companies are looking for a mix of types of freelancers when hiring.
Some will have big budgets and be looking to hire top notch freelancers at top notch rates. Others will be looking to save some cash and just get things done, without paying much at all.
One thing you will want to do is know your worth.
If you’re just starting out, you may want to take some lower paying jobs just to get your name out there and build your portfolio.
If you are a skilled veteran in the freelance space, however, you’ll want to be sure not to sell yourself short.
Whatever skills you offer, if you are super skilled in your area(s) of expertise, there are plenty of companies that understand the value of quality work and are willing to pay for it.
Whatever you do, don’t sell yourself short.
Have your work samples ready, and be prepared to speak with recruiters in a language that’s half agency pitch and half interview.
It’s an exciting world to be in, and you walk the line, so follow the tips above and you’ll be well setup for success!
Leave a Reply