Many companies from English speaking countries like the US, Australia, and even from German-speaking countries are looking for freelancers in the Philippines to outsource work like programming, graphic designing, customer support requests, and many more tasks. Hence, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is booming. But what should you consider, when hiring a freelancer in the Philippines?
Try to understand Filipino culture
I had met a former colleague of mine in Makati a couple of years ago. We were once working in a digital marketing agency in Melbourne, serving close to 5000 clients worldwide. He was asking me, why certain tasks were not completed by Filipino freelancers, some workers were not reliable, not responsive etc. pp.
I told him that you can’t expect from a Filipino freelancer to behave like an Australian or US employee. Their cultural background is totally different, people have different expectations and needs, different ways of communicating, and so on. I told him that the best way to understand this is by getting to know people in the Philippines!
Hence, he had travelled to Makati, and I believe that afterwards, he was much more successful in outsourcing to freelancers in the Philippines. So my first advice is: travel to the Philippines, if you can, and spend some time in the business parks and CBDs of Manila, Cebu, Davao, and other BPO hubs in the country.
Hire the best freelancers in the Philippines!
Find freelancers in the Philippines
If you are not (yet) able to visit the Philippines, then consider hiring Filipino freelancers via platforms like upwork, and others. Go for the freelancers with the best ratings and reviews, and conduct a standardized interview. I suggest that you ask at least 10 questions and try to come up with a scale from 1 to 10, so that the interview can be conducted as objectively as possible.
There should also be a “test task” to assess the skills that you want to hire the freelancer for. Let the programmer do a few lines PHP code or let the content writer come up with a draft etc. pp. I personally work with some freelance WordPress developers in the Philippines, and have also hired some regular employees for our team.
In the past years, I made really good experiences with freelance graphic designers and content writers as well, so I can understand why this industry is booming. If you would like to hire a freelance WordPress web developer, SEO, Google Ads / SEA specialist, content writer, or graphic designer in Cebu, Philippines, then feel free get in touch with me via e-mail to john[at]hanap.org – I am always happy to help:)
Esp. when you are looking for freelance SEO jobs or other digital marketing related work to be completed by a freelancer in the Philippines, then you should definitely consider visiting our website. We are one of the leading SEO companies in the country, and many international clients hire us to get their tasks and campaigns done.