Being an entrepreneur and running your business means that you need other people and freelancers to help you run your business and make it successful. But if you can’t yet afford to pay a full-time employee, complete with a salary and benefits, then your next best option will be to turn to a freelancer or contractor.
Today, many new businesses and companies are seeking freelancers and contractors who work from outside the United States. An overseas freelancer or contractor can certainly work for you as well, but only if you go about the hiring process the right way.
Here are the top four tips for hiring an international freelancer or contractor for your business:
1 – Ask For Examples Of Their Work First
These days, only around half of all freelancers and independent contractors possess a college degree. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing since what matters more to you is the quality of work they provide.
This is why as part of the vetting process when you’re going about narrowing your list of candidates, you will always want to ask for examples of the freelancer’s past work, or at least examples that relate to your industry. Examples of past work are usually the best indicator of what performance you can expect the freelancer or contractor to deliver.
2 – Figure Out An Efficient Way To Pay Them
Bank wire transfers are the traditional way to send money overseas, but it may also be a too expensive option for your business due to the high fees that you’ll have to pay (not to mention that it’s time-consuming and can take five business days or longer).
A cheaper option would be to use a third money transfer service instead, which is much cheaper and faster. According to Remitly, money can be converted into another currency and then sent in just a few minutes to any recipient and at any location.
3 – Conduct A Formal Interview
You will always want to conduct a formal interview with the freelancer or contractor, and since it most likely can’t be done in-person, you’ll have to conduct the interview through phone or something like Skype instead. Be sure that you have your list of questions ready before the interview begins so you’re truly compared, and write down notes on the candidate’s answers.
4 – Complete The Right Tax Forms
Whenever a US business hires US residents as independent contractors, each contractor will have to complete the W9 tax form. But if you’re going to be hiring contractors who are not residents and living overseas, you’ll need to have them fill out the W-8BEN form instead. You need to have them complete these forms because you will need to rely on the claims made within them when you go to file your taxes next time.
Hiring An International Freelancer or Contractor
The success of your business is directly dependent on the performance of the people who you bring on board to help run it, which is why you will ultimately need to be careful and selective about who you end up choosing.
