How to Tell If You’re Hiring a Cheap Kid or a Professional
Posted by Lucas under Internet Marketing 15 commentsNote: Yes, I’m still a student so you can consider me as a kid if you want. But then again I’m not one of those cheap guys who don’t know what they’re doing and settle for $1 jobs, so don’t you comment here saying “You’re not even a professional!”
Let’s start things off with a very inspirational quote, shall we?
“It’s better to spend $100 and not regret it than to spend $50 and blame yourself forever.”
- Me
Almost all the time, we’re hiring people to work for us — whether it’s to write a salesletter, an article to be mass produced, or to design or program something. There are many people willing to work out there, and that’s great. You have more choices! But there’s a downside to that too. Not all of them can work to absolutely satisfy their client (which is YOU, in case you didn’t know). I’m not fond of discrimination, but I guess I have to classify these human resources into two, “Cheap Kids” and “Professionals”, for the sake of this post.
Who Would You Rather Hire?
Well, the guy on the left or the guy on the right? First, let me clarify something. The kid wearing a suit may be considered as a symbolism for people who don’t know how to handle businesses properly and can settle for lower prices. Nevertheless, I suppose everyone would answer the professional-looking man on the right, unless there’s something wrong with you.
Now let me present to you the traits and attitudes of each, so you can be able to distinguish them the moment they offer their services.
Cheap Kid: “I offer my services to treat myself an ice cream.”
The term “cheap kid” is not limited to young people/teenagers; it also includes people who claim that they’re so good and can do the job for a very low price, but their outputs show otherwise.
They beg. More often than not, unprofessional people will beg to death that you hire them. “Plzzz hire me i need money now, i do job $10 only, very cheap and good skill” — if you see something along those lines, then you’re most likely dealing with a cheap kid.
They are willing to do stressful jobs for a few dimes. Not literally a few dimes, but you get the point. Even if you’re looking to get something like a complicated coding job done, a cheap kid would offer to do it for $20 or so. It may sound like a steal at first, but wait till you see the outcome!
They THINK they can do the job well. I just laugh when I look for content writers and get an offer from someone who says “I am very good article writer, I write nice and resarcched articiles, only cheap price 10$cents per word!” Geesh, it’s like his mini-résumé already and he ruined it by showing that he’s nowhere near the average level. Please, for your sake, don’t hire people who send messages like this!
A lot of these cheap kids make you believe that they’re professionals… and then they scam you! Believe it or not, scamming is really rampant when it comes to hiring. Some say that they’re writing unique articles, when in fact they’re just copying other articles and replacing like what, five to ten words? Some claim that they design unique templates, but in reality they blatantly rip others’ work.
A Simple Sidenote: Why You Should NOT Hire a Cheap Kid
It’s simple, really. Even if they’re cheap, they won’t be able to deliver something awesome. Trust me. And then there’s this possibility that you’re going to get scammed. Who would ever like that to happen?
Professional: “I offer my services to help you and to build my business.”
They show their past work without any doubts. Professionals often have an established portfolio/gallery of their past work. Just ask for it and you’ll get it. However, there are times when some professionals are just starting to establish their businesses. If that is the case, try asking them POLITELY if you could pay after the job is done to ensure that no scamming takes place… unless you’re the good-for-nothing scammer!
Their prices are competitive and they tell you WHY their prices are like that. Some people say “Uhh… okay let me think for a moment… ah there, I’ll charge $15 for this job!” Now that’s just so not business-like. Always remember, real professionals have reasons for their prices!
They answer your questions directly and with much confidence. While cheap kids say “Umm, I think it’s like this and that, I’m not sure but I will do the job!!!” professionals say something like “Sir, a possible explanation for this is _____. Another reason is _____.” If your query was answered with a very good (and most likely in-depth) answer, then you’ve found a professional.
Exceptions
While it may have sounded like I have stereotyped people, I just categorized them based on how MOST people from each group act. There may be times that you would encounter cheap offers, but then the quality is top-notch. There may also be instances when the price is overly high and the portfolio of the “professional” is extensive, but in the end you will not be satisfied.
Summary
Cheap kids are willing to do almost anything for cheap. They think they’re so good but in reality, they’re nothing but newbies. Professionals have reasons for their prices and they answer all your queries with confidence.
What are your thoughts about this? Have you encountered cheap kids, or do you always ensure that you’re working with professionals?
Readers have left 15 comments on "How to Tell If You’re Hiring a Cheap Kid or a Professional".
this is true especially in forums like digitalpoint. lots of kids who feel they’re know-it-all’s and they charge for cheap. actually i hired someone to submit a website to 600 directories for $3, then got nothing but 40 or so confirmation emails. no excel reports, no anything. just 40 emails and i’m not even sure if they were all approved.
I’m a kid and would generally start out offering cheap services, but I don’t have any of the “cheap kid” characteristics mentioned above.
It’s really hard to find a decent freelancer online, that’s why it’s important to stick to a specific one once you get used to him.
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Yep, or if you don’t know anyone yet, ask friends.
@Denise:
Ouch, that’s totally annoying! I guess when you’re looking for workers at DP, you have to hire people who are reputable.
Hi Lucas,
I’m glad that your blog is doing really well
The post has a lot of things that left me thinking about myself, thanks for those pieces of advice as they are absolutely applicable for service providers like me as well.
I saw myself in both the kid and the professional lol. Got several habits that need corrected.
Thank you.
@Denise:
I can assure you that it’s quite hard to find pros in forums (although there are many, they don’t often approach potential clients. Most pros get jobs through referrals or loyal clients, they don’t bother with forums). I looked at several portfolios of self-proclaimed XHTML/CSS or WP coders, actually they are not quite above intermediate level. iTraders and reviews are also sometimes inaccurate, because the clients often can’t understand the code, and only judge based on turnaround time and functionality, and ignore bad code (which can potentially destroy their business).
So if you want to hire good providers, you have to be a good buyer as well. You have to know a little bit of the job, give clear descriptions, deadlines, and most importantly require the service providers to REPHRASE the requirements in English before actually hiring him. I subcontracted several people using this method and it turned out that I could filter out a lot of self-proclaimed pros who are nothing more than cheap kids.
I gotta agree with the above. I’m a kid, but I don’t act unprofessionally. Generally, if I encounter a problem, I’ll stop and LEARN how to fix it. (yay tutorials!) I think most people get to a certain level and stop improving. That’s how you get 300 ‘cheap’ offers and two or three good ones. The real professionals keep growing.
Yes
A decent freelancer is hard to find. I know myself the search is still on but oneday I’ll find that decent person to work with me. I was thinking of just looking local to people that do web design that i’ve seen looking for work.
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Gary thanks so much for stopping by. This blog wouldn’t do well by now if you hadn’t coded it!
I, too, hire people from our country most of the time. That way I can
smack themtake necessary actions if they don’t do the job well.Couldn’t agree with you more. “Real professionals keep growing.” Touché.
yes you are right, it’s better to pay $100 for a good product instead of $50 for a crap one. There’s a time when I hired programmers in digitalpoint, and really get a bad job done by a noobie kid.. Currently, i have to say that it’s really hard to get professional services in dp, dp is getting monopolize by more and more cheap kids. I hadn’t tried sitepoint but will be trying soon, seems that there are more professional guys there.. That’s my view.
I can see this, I actually get similar messages from people offering their “services”. Though there are some pros just starting and they work for cheap, it’s all about how the person handles themselves.
I don’t always look for the “default answers” or what most would consider the good answers. I try to analyze the individual and the situation…sometimes taking a change on a “cheap kid” will prove to be a very smart move, as they may really be a pro with little experience.
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LOL @ “I offer services to treat myself to an ice cream”.
Solid advice, and there definitely are “exceptions” as you mention. I’ve had seasoned designers with killer portfolios deliver absolute crap for some reason. I’ve had the same experience with writers a couple times. They always use there “best” as examples, so at least you know what they’re capable of, but they don’t always come through with the same quality every time. You have to expect “creative blocks” sometimes as part of business I guess.
Also, I recently had an experience with a “kid” doing an excellent job. We hired her as a photographer to take 1 year shots of our baby girl. She is only 17 and I was a bit uncomfortable with that but I had friends who recommended her. She ended up being 10x more professional and also delivered better photos than the “photo studio” that we paid for a shoot 6 months prior.
I almost always ask around for a referral from a friend/associate if I need something before I go hunting for a “stranger”. More often than not, those referrals turn out well, so I rely heavy on finding help that way.
Cheers!
Jay
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Great post. I thought the pictures were a great example of who you might be hiring.
Wow, that 17 year old sure is a pro! Friends are really assets in cases like this; they can recommend the best people for the job.
Yes, from what I’ve heard DP is starting to be a place for scammers and low-quality workers. One time, I had to go ask my friend to check TalkFreelance for me to get a decent design done! DP has lost the people providing quality services overtime.
Haha yeah, the picture of the kid actually showed up for the search term “crazy kid”.
This month alone I have blown $200 on poorly written articles - and yes it was due to trying to save a few bucks - no savings were made when I had to then pay double for a real writer to complete the work!
I’m finding more and more that the person you hire for a job (based on their quality samples) is not the guy who does the job as they themselves hire freelancers for the work.
I have reached the stage where I will only pay 30% of the fee upfront - the rest only payable when work to my standard is delivered if I haven’t dealt with them before - and I have truly learned that a few extra bucks for quality is a worthy investment.
Great article!
Well I think I am a cheap kid but working hard to be a professional
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Like Rajaie, I am a kid but I do not have the “cheap kid” characteristics. I do know of a company that has “cheap kid” workers, called Crewind. I have had some really bad experiences with their stuff.
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