I got asked about choosing outsourcers the other day.

If you hire outsource workers using a site such as Odesk or Freelancer you’re going to get at least 30 replies. This means 30 CV’s to go through with the probability of more trickling in each day as you draw up your shortlist.

My advice?

When you find a candidiate that is 80% suitable, if your need is pressing, stop and hire them.

You could go through all the CV’s but that would take you a long time.

You could draw up a shortlist of say 5 or 6 and give them all the same task to do and then hire the best one but in reality this is going to take DAYS if not weeks and at the end of it there’s often no clear winner.

So what I do if the job I’m outsourcing is a pressing one, is to hire the first person who fits MOST of the bill.

You can teach them the rest.

Chances are that even if you DO go through all the CV’s you’ll not find Mr or Ms Perfect anyway and you’ll have wasted days that you could have been spending on your business.

Find the ‘almost’ candidiate and hire them.

The instinct to ‘wait and do more investigation’ is a strong one but takes your focus off your business.

Hire quickly.

Works for me. Most of the time anyway.

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