Since the internet is anonymous, your LinkedIn connection might be Elon’s dog typing away behind the screen. Here are some tips I use to evaluate freelancers.
Since I code, I check their code. Don’t believe people recently shtposting on GitHub. A GitHub account is a great asset for a freelancer. If they have well-maintained code over there, this gives an insight into how they code, what they use, how they operate, and maybe even how they deal with people. Contributions to projects are very interesting, if they contribute to the tech stack you are looking for, even better. Maintaining an average Github profile helped me land >rs1M. If they have hobby projects glance and move on to other metrics.
If they have blogs, I like to see what they write about and the depth at which they go. The more technical the better. It reveals
Next, I see their overall social activity if they don’t have a personal site. Just to see some technical insights.
Then I see their showcase if any, what projects they tackled, case studies if any, and customer testimonials. These are of course metrics for people already freelancing.
At the end of the day, I just look for people who can deliver fast. Those two words are important. Deliver and fast. If I cannot guarantee fast, I choose people who can deliver. A strong engineer or someone with experience in the tech can deliver. If they are used to freelancing, they’ll deliver fast. The fast aspect is also important.