An easy way to assess a freelance developer's competence is by telling them EXACTLY what you're assessing for.
It sounds so simple and obvious, yet many hiring managers (technical and non-technical) fail to do this.
Some see interviews more like an interrogation, designed to catch the candidate out, but it's rarely a useful approach.
Instead, tell your candidate about your project goals, customer outcomes, and the specifics of how you're assessing them.
For example:
"We're creating a service that helps users manage their healthcare and medication better. We're building a WebApp that uses A.I. to support user needs.
Tell me about any relevant experience you have:
- Building WebApps
- Building using A.I
- Plus, any healthcare experience "
Encourage the candidate to first set the scene, and tell you about the project they were working on and what the outcome was.
From here, ask them to work backwards, explaining the role they played, what tools and tech they used, and how they collaborated with others.
Follow up with simple questions such as:
"Tell me how you ensured you understood the brief?"
,
"How did you validate and test your solution?"
,
"On reflection, would you have used different tools, or built in a different way".
In my opinion, you don't actually need to understand the in-depth technicalities to assess whether someone can help you or not.
Since you're being very clear about what you want, all the candidates have an equal opportunity to sell themselves.
Simply repeat this process with 3 or 4 candidates and I'll bet you'll know purely by feeling who is still most suitable for your project.
After all, the one who can clearly articulate their capabilities is the one who is most likely to understand and deliver against your needs.
Hiring freelance developers doesn't need to be complicated.
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Adrian G Ward - A technical partner to startups and SMBs.
I've hired over 100 and interviewed over 1000 developers, if you need help hiring, give me a shout.
#freelancers #developers #hiring #interviews
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