The hiring guide

Proof gets you a shortlist. The rest is on you.

foundmaker solves one half of the problem: it shows you who has actually made things. The other half — checking the work is theirs, briefing well, agreeing terms — decides whether it goes well, or at all. That half is unglamorous, free, and almost entirely learnable.

Six short pieces. No sign-up, and nothing here is selling you anything.

Whatever else you skip, read the second one.

Someone using another person’s portfolio to collect a deposit is the one failure that costs you real money, and the one you can rule out almost entirely in ten minutes. Everything else here is about making a project go well. That piece is about making sure there is a project.

How to be sure you’re hiring the person who made the work →
  1. 01 How to read a maker’s page What the evidence actually proves, what the labels mean, and the three things worth checking before you write. 4 min
  2. 02 How to be sure you’re hiring the person who made the work Portfolio theft is the commonest fraud in remote commissioning. Four checks that take ten minutes, and a payment structure that makes it not worth attempting. 6 min
  3. 03 How to write a brief that gets a useful quote Six things to include, one thing everyone leaves out, and why naming a budget works in your favour. 5 min
  4. 04 Signals someone will deliver — and signals they won’t The behaviours that predict a good outcome, the ones that predict a bad one, and the single best question to ask. 5 min
  5. 05 What to agree before any work starts Scope, milestones, revisions, ownership and what happens if it stops. Half a page, and it prevents most disputes. 6 min
  6. 06 What things cost, and why two quotes differ How to compare quotes fairly, what a cheap one usually means, and when a day rate beats a fixed price. 5 min

Ready to start from the work?

Every piece on the wall carries its evidence. Read it first, then write to whoever made the thing you liked.