Finding a Freelance QA Tester

Finding a freelance QA tester is a serious task for any business, as the quality of the tested software and customer satisfaction depend on their work. Finding a good specialist quickly is challenging, but still doable. Here's a breakdown for you.

Where to Look for Freelance QA Professionals

Once you have prepared your project brief, outlined your requirements for the contractor, and created a job description, you can start posting it on various online resources and reviewing resumes of potential candidates. This can be done through:

Freelance marketplaces. Large platforms like EasyBusy house a significant database of verified freelancers from different countries. The platforms provided necessary functionality for communicating with freelancers, paying them anywhere in the world and receiving closing documents. Today, this is one of the most popular ways to find a freelance QA tester.

Job sites. These offer a limited pool of QA professionals’ resumes. For example, sites like Wellfound or Indeed are more commonly used for finding jobs within a country and within a company's staff, not remotely. While it's possible to find a good contractor this way, the likelihood is relatively low.

Professional communities and forums. QA testers of different levels communicate and share their experiences here. Among the most popular online platforms are Ministry of Testing, uTest, and Testing Tech News.

Social networks. You can try to find specialists in thematic communities on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Slack, or Discord. The ones suggested below are hot spots for QA testing specialists:
• General Testing Groups (LinkedIn)
• Test it (Facebook*)
• Quality Assured: all about QA (Google+)
• SeleniumHQ (Slack)
• The Test Tribe Community (Discord)

Conferences and meetups. This is a demanding but sometimes effective way to find a freelance tester. You just need to track such events online and participate. At these meetings, you can meet experts or receive recommendations for good professionals

Selecting The Right Candidate

Initially, you want to distinguish candidates based on their soft and hard skills, experiences and, if available, reviews. Next, you may want to run video interviews with shortlisted freelancers to assess their professionalism and interest towards your project. Once you've chosen your QA tester, discuss working conditions, payment terms, and project deadlines with them.

Conclusion

How professional a QA tester is has a direct impact on the quality of the software being developed, and consequently, the company's reputation. The absence of errors and bugs will contribute to the success and popularity of the project, attracting more users.

It's best to choose a contractor from reliable resources that offer an international verified database of professionals. Ideally, the platform should not only facilitate finding candidates but also communication, payments, and reporting.