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hiring skill

/skills/ivangdavila/hiring

This skill helps you hire humans or AI agents end-to-end, selecting platforms, vetting, contracting, and payments with vetted processes.

npx playbooks add skill openclaw/skills --skill hiring

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (7)
SKILL.md
2.9 KB
---
name: Hiring
slug: hiring
description: Hire humans or AI agents for tasks you cannot do yourself, with platform selection, vetting, contracts, and payment management.
---

## Platform Selection

| Task Type | Platform | Why |
|-----------|----------|-----|
| Development, design, writing | Upwork, Freelancer.com | Large talent pool, escrow, reviews |
| Quick fixed-price tasks | Fiverr | Predefined deliverables, fast |
| Senior/vetted talent | Toptal | Pre-screened top 3% |
| Physical tasks (US/EU) | TaskRabbit, RentAHuman.ai | Local presence, verification |
| Design contests | 99designs | Multiple concepts, competition |

For API integration details, see `platforms.md`.

## Hiring Checklist

1. **Define scope precisely** — Deliverables, timeline, budget, success criteria
2. **Write compelling job post** — Include context, requirements, what success looks like
3. **Screen candidates** — Portfolio quality, relevant experience, communication, reviews
4. **Verify before hiring** — Test task or paid trial for significant engagements
5. **Negotiate rates** — Know market rates; prefer fixed-price or milestones over hourly
6. **Contract before work** — IP assignment, NDA, payment terms, termination clause
7. **Structured onboarding** — Access credentials, project brief, communication channels
8. **Milestone payments** — Never 100% upfront; tie payments to deliverables
9. **Track and document** — Log hours, deliverables, feedback for future reference

## Red Flags

- Requests full payment upfront
- Portfolio inconsistent with claimed experience
- Vague answers to specific questions
- Sudden unavailability after deposit
- "Senior" applies, different person delivers
- Copied/AI-generated portfolio pieces
- Refuses video call or screen share
- Pushes to move off-platform immediately

## Rate Benchmarks

Check current market rates at `platforms.md`. General guidance:
- Below market = quality or availability issues likely
- 20-30% above market = acceptable for proven performers
- Get 3+ quotes before committing on large projects

## Contracts

For contract templates and payment structures, see `contracts.md`.

## Legal Essentials

Before engaging contractors, review `legal.md` for:
- Worker classification (IC vs employee)
- Required tax documents (W-9/W-8BEN)
- IP assignment language
- Jurisdiction-specific requirements

## Physical Tasks

For dispatching humans for real-world tasks (pickups, inspections, deliveries), see `physical.md`.

## Hiring AI Agents

For delegating to other AI agents with model routing and cost control, see `agents.md`.

## Contractor Management

**Track per contractor:**
- Skills, rates, timezone, languages
- Past projects and performance
- Availability windows
- Communication preferences
- Reliability score (1-5)

**After each engagement:**
- Document what worked/didn't
- Update reliability score
- Note for future matching ("great for React, slow on mobile")

Overview

This skill helps you hire humans or AI agents for tasks you cannot complete yourself, covering platform selection, vetting, contracts, and payment management. It packages a practical checklist, red flags, rate guidance, and contractor tracking practices to reduce hiring risk and speed onboarding. Use it to delegate work reliably and keep a searchable record of contractor performance.

How this skill works

The skill guides you through choosing the right platform for the task type, writing a clear scope and job post, screening candidates, running paid trials, and setting milestone-based payments. It also provides contract essentials, legal checkpoints, and contractor management fields so you can track skills, rates, availability, and a reliability score. For AI agent hires it includes routing and cost-control suggestions specific to model-based workers.

When to use it

  • You need specialized work (development, design, writing) and lack in-house capacity.
  • You want quick fixed-price deliverables or rapid microtasks.
  • You must hire vetted senior talent for critical projects.
  • You require local, verifiable help for physical tasks (US/EU).
  • You plan to delegate repeatable processes to other AI agents.

Best practices

  • Define scope precisely: deliverables, timeline, budget, and success criteria before posting.
  • Use a paid test or short trial for significant engagements to verify skills.
  • Prefer fixed-price or milestone payments; never pay 100% upfront.
  • Include clear IP assignment, NDA, payment terms, and termination clauses in contracts.
  • Track performance after each job and update a reliability score and notes for future matching.

Example use cases

  • Hiring a senior frontend developer through a vetted platform for a three-month sprint.
  • Posting a design contest to collect multiple logo concepts from several designers.
  • Dispatching local help for on-site inspections or pickups in the EU or US.
  • Engaging an AI agent to automate expense parsing with cost limits and model routing.
  • Contracting a writer for a fixed-price content batch with milestone reviews.

FAQ

How do I choose the right platform?

Match the task type to platform strengths: large talent pools and escrow for general work, contests for design, vetted networks for senior hires, and local services for physical tasks.

What’s the best payment structure?

Use milestone payments tied to deliverables or short paid trials. Avoid full upfront payments and get at least three quotes for larger projects.