Hire an Applicant

Estimated reading time: 2 min

You can hire an applicant directly from their proposal. To hire an applicant, you need to (1) create milestones, and (2) start the contract.

Milestones define tasks to be performed, including cost and relevant deadlines. Starting a contract lets you activate milestones so your freelancer can begin work.

Once you’ve found the right applicant for your project, follow these steps to hire them and start working.

Select a proposal

Open the proposal from the applicant you want to hire.

To find proposals for a job, go to Jobs > Proposals and select the job from the drop-down menu. Then click ‘View Proposal’.

The proposal will consist of the applicant’s cover note and any messages exchanged with the applicant.

An applicant can only send you messages once you’ve sent them a message. Until then, messages are locked for applicants.

The next step is to add one or more milestones to the proposal.

Add milestones

There are 2 types of milestones: Individual (one-off) milestones, and Repeating (hourly) milestones.

A contract needs at least 1 milestone for work to begin.

It is possible to add milestones after accepting a contract – for example if the scope of the project changes. However, it’s best practice to define milestones as thoroughly as possible prior to accepting a contract in order to ensure common & agreed expectations with the applicant prior to starting a contract.

To add milestones to the proposal, click the ‘Edit Milestones’ button.

Then click the ‘Add’ button that appears in the ‘Milestones’ section.

Add milestone name, contract type and deadline (optional).

When you select a contract type, additional relevant fields for the selected milestone type appear below (see next 2 sections).

Individual Milestones

To add an Individual Milestone, select ‘Individual Milestone’ in the ‘Milestone Type’ field.

The milestone will expand to show the ‘Total Cost’ field below.

Enter the amount you are offering to pay for this milestone, and click ‘Save’.

Repeating Milestones

To add a Repeating Milestone, select ‘Repeating Milestone’ in the ‘Milestone Type’ field.

The milestone will expand to show the additional fields relevant for Repeating Milestones, including:

  • Hourly Rate – enter the hourly rate you are offering for the milestone
  • Hours per cycle – enter the maximum number of hours per cycle
  • Cycle Duration – select a weekly or monthly cycle duration

Once you’ve completed these fields, click ‘Save’.

Edit milestones

To edit a milestone, expand the milestone by clicking the corresponding arrow on the right of the screen.

If you have already sent your saved milestones to the freelancer (see next section below), you will need to take the extra step of clicking ‘Edit Milestones’ at the top-right of the proposal (below the ‘Accept Contract’ button) to enable editing.

Edit the fields you want to change and click ‘Save’.

Send Milestones to Applicant

Once you’ve added and saved your milestone, you need to send them to the applicant for approval.

To do this, simply click ‘Send to Freelancer’.

Make sure you have saved milestones before sending them. Only saved milestones will be sent to the applicant.

The applicant will receive a prompt to approve new / edited milestones.

In the meantime, the status of your milestones will be shown as ‘Pending Approval’.

You will receive a notice when the applicant accepts the new / edited milestones, and the milestone status will update to ‘Approved’.

It’s possible to add / edit milestones to a live contract (i.e., after accepting the contract). However, freelancers must still approve each milestone before commencing work on that milestone.

Accept the contract

Once you and the applicant have agreed on the project milestones, click ‘Accept Contract’ to proceed.

This action will turn the ‘Proposal’ into a ‘Contract’ and will unlock the ability to initiate work on each milestone.

No work is authorized and no payments are made at this stage. You will need to initiate work on each milestone individually.

Click ‘Accept’ to confirm.

That’s it! Now your contract is live, and you’re ready to start your milestones.

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