Evaluating Your Matches

Published by CLLCTVE Team

When reviewing creator matches for opportunities, it’s important to consider what really matters in relation to the position you’re looking to fill. It’s not always about who has the most years of experience, the most prestigious alma mater or even the most impressive internships or jobs. Sometimes, especially in the world of freelancing, the most talented and qualified applicants will be the ones with the ‘least impressive’ background.

Here’s what you should look at if you want to cut through the fluff and figure out what really matters when selecting your new hire...

Their Work

If you’re hiring for a creative position, the most important thing to look at first is a candidate’s previous work. Ask yourself a couple of questions:

  1. Am I impressed by their previous projects? Do they meet the standard I’m looking to keep?
  2. Does the candidate have experience in the type of content I’m looking to create? Does their work meet the style I’m going for? And if not, do they demonstrate a diversified skillset that makes me believe they can deliver the style I’m going for?

If you truly believe their work is impressive, meets your standards, and demonstrates the capability to create within your style guide, you’ve likely found a candidate that fits your role.

Their Skills

Whether you’re hiring a graphic designer who needs experience in Adobe CC, a writer who’s used Wordpress, or a web developer who needs to know Python, plenty of creative roles require specific skillsets. When evaluating skills, ask yourself the following questions...

  1. Do they list the required skillsets for the position in their profile?
  2. If they don’t, do they list similar skillsets that either:
  3. demonstrate an ability to easily grasp the needed skills for your role?
  4. can be utilized instead of the ones you originally listed and achieve the same purpose?

If your required skillsets are imperative to success within the role, you can also assign brief assessments or test projects to a few creators before determining who is the best fit.

Their Interests

Interests are important to evaluate when finding your perfect match. While it’s not necessary for all creators to have a pre-identified interest in your industry, mission, or vision, finding someone who is passionate about what you’re doing can lead to success for a few reasons:

Once again, it’s not necessary for your creators to be specifically passionate about what you’re doing. If your chosen creator doesn’t have background knowledge of what you’re doing, be sure to brief them on your mission, vision and values before beginning the project.

More Resources