Virtual talent can be a blessing for small businesses and large corporations alike. They allow organizations greater flexibility and global agility while helping to reduce overhead. However, the selection process for mobile workers shouldn’t be slapdash just because they’re not out of sight.
Consider these warning signs when sourcing and selecting virtual staff:
1. Low-balling it. If a candidate quotes too little for a proposed project, the bid may not be realistic or well thought-through. Also, he or she may not be experienced enough to realize that their margins are too slim, and this could translate to poor quality work. If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
2. Copy/paste jobs. If a candidate’s response to your inquiry contains content irrelevant to the job, it’s likely that text has been copied and pasted from another bid. The potential candidate should take the time to craft new verbiage for each bid – at the very least demonstrating their awareness of project specifics.
3. Questionable communication skills. Can the candidate make himself or herself easily understood in their proposal? Are they responsive? Often your experience with a candidate in the early stages can give you a good idea of what to expect once they’re on board.
4. A wide-open calendar. In some instances, you might want the candidate to be able to dedicate 100 percent of their work hours to your company. But when you’re hiring someone on a part-time basis, it could be a bad sign if the candidate has no other ongoing projects. He or she might be desperate for work, hinting at a history of poor quality deliverables.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
