As mentioned in our Hello Upworker guide, we love working with freelancers all over the globe and based on their feedback, we think they mostly š like working with us too! Some roles are highly specific and short-lived lasting just days while others are long-term and continue for months and years.
Because we are a fully remote team using mostly in-house developed project management and communications tools, we ask many new team members to go through a trial showcase period š. Just as the name implies, this is a brief period for LinkORB and the freelancer to š„ trial and showcase š our respective working and communication styles. The end goal is that both LinkORB and you, the freelancer, can determine if thereās a fit to continue or expand our work together š.
We have set up enough process at LinkORB to keep things clear, consistent, and repeatable but not so much that they feel like a burden š¤. Generally, hereās how we approach the trial showcase period:
We like to jointly identify 1 or 2 deliverables of mutual interest š. In most cases we provide a list of areas where we have needs and think fit a given freelancerās background.
We believe people perform at their best when they are doing work they are interested in. This is why we like to have a conversation to identify if thereās an intersection between our needs and what a new team member finds engaging.
Next weāll take you through our onboarding process to get you set up with appropriate internal tooling, documentation, and introduce you to key team members.
After onboarding, we like to go a bit deeper into the agreed deliverable(s). Specifically, we will ask the freelancer to provide:
Simultaneously, LinkORB will provide:
From LinkORBās perspective, the key things we look for during and after the trial showcase period are:
Our intention is that this experience will also give freelancers an honest view into our working style.
While it can vary depending on the deliverable(s) involved, the trial showcase period usually lasts between 7-14 days.
Absolutely!š° You will be compensated during onboarding and the trial showcase period.
We understand estimates can be difficult to get right. We arenāt evaluating your ability to precisely estimate task timelines, we are seeking a general agreement on how long things might take. Unexpected problems arise all the time, how team members communicate regarding and respond to these events is arguably more important than the estimate itself.
This can be a list of 5-10 key tasks and associated estimates of the approximate date they will be completed. For example:
Step 1: Duration X
Step 2: Duration X
Step 3: Duration X
Step 4: Duration X
@startgantt printscale daily zoom 20 [Review existing processes, standards, and solutions] as [A] lasts 1 days [Get local development environment running] as [B] lasts 1 days [Identify key files, classes to be modified] as [C] lasts 1 days [Implement proposed changes in development environment] as [D] lasts 2 days [Test proposed changes] as [E] lasts 2 days [Send brief progress update sharing key findings, issues, and revised estimates] as [F] lasts 2 days [Revise if necessary and re-test proposed changes in development environment] as [G] lasts 2 days [Open a pull request for team feedback] as [H] lasts 2 days [Respond to pull request review and implement further modifications as appropriate] as [I] lasts 2 days [Send completion status and susequent recommendations] as [J] lasts 2 days [D] starts at [C]'s end [E] starts at [C]'s end [F] starts at [C]'s end [G] starts at [F]'s end [H] starts at [F]'s end [I] starts at [H]'s end [J] starts at [H]'s end @endgantt
We will share our feedback, hopefully hear yours, and discuss whether to continue or expand our work together.