My First Experience of Outsourcing

On one of the Friday of last month, I am looking for part-timer or freelancer to assist me on a data entry work, so I start from my friend's circle, I posted the following message in my facebook's wall:

I am looking for part-time data entry operator to capture data from the web and record it to spreadsheet (MS Excel), may I know whether you or your friend interested to earn extra income? Requirements: English literature, Internet Access Connection, Acrobat PDF Reader, Internet Explorer. Technical knowledge is not required. Potential candidates: Account Clerk, Admin Clerk, Office Worker, Student

The job description is very similar to most job posts in the classified ad, do you think it is good example? It is definitely a bad one, the job description is too general, if you post similar job description, be specific about the job detail, so potential candidates know exactly the scope of the job and your expectation.

As not much feedback to my offer in facebook wall, I post the job description (it is more specific this time) to several freelancer and part-timer job sites. If you are looking for Malaysian freelancers or part-timer, I recommend AsiaPartTime.com, I received overwhelming responses within 3 days (approximately 100 responses via e-mail, SMS or phone call). A lesson learned: you must remember to include the following description after your job description and contact information:

If you are interested to the job, please tell me more about you, such as: 1) Your previous working experiences related to the job 2) Your current occupation (If student, please specify the course you studying) 3) Your understanding about the job

Otherwise, you will face the problem I faced -- asking these 3 questions to hundred applicants, I don't think you will have fun out of it. Based on the responses from these hundred applicants, I selected 7 applicants participate in a test (related to the job) to find the most suitable person for the job based on their test results.

Upon award the job to the shortlisted applicant, I include the following message:

Congratulations! The job is awarded to you! Please take note for the following items: Upon completion of the job: About deadline and payment detail:

Finally, I found a right person for the job with deliverable that satisfactory. I paid 50% extra for the job. In the last message you send to your contractor, I urge you to include the following message so that you can get some feedback from her:

I need further input from you for the following items below: 1) What make you interested to take this job, besides earning extra $$$? 2) As this is the first time I involved in outsourcing, is there anything I can improve (to make the working and communication experience better)? Did I do anything make you unhappy? 3) Would you be interested to take similar job in the future, if there is any? I hope to hear honest comments and feedback from you (even the negative one). :)

I'd love to hear your comments as usual.