Inside our vetting process: how to pass and join the network

Vetted talent networks exist because clients want confidence before they hire. That confidence comes from a process every freelancer goes through before being matched. For you, the upside is big: once you are in, clients arrive already trusting you, and you stop competing on price with hundreds of strangers.

Here is exactly how our process works, what we look for at each stage and how to prepare.

The four stages

1. Profile review
2. Skills test
3. Live interview
4. Approved: you join the network

Each stage is designed to answer one question clients care about. Let's go through them.

Stage 1: Profile review

The question: is this person's experience relevant to the work our clients need?

We read every application by hand. We look at:

• Experience relevant to the role you applied for: the products, industries and scale you have worked at
• Portfolio or work samples: GitHub, Dribbble, Behance, case studies, live products or campaigns
• Clarity: how clearly you describe your work is a strong signal of how clearly you will communicate with clients
• Practical fit: skills, rate and availability that match real client demand

How to prepare

• Choose the role that best matches your strongest work, not the broadest one.
• List the skills and tools you actually use and could be tested on. Padding the list backfires at the next stage.
• Link to your best two or three projects, with a sentence on your role in each. See portfolio tips.
• In the "about you" section, describe your strongest projects, the impact you had and what you want to work on next.

Stage 2: Skills test

The question: can this person do the work, to a high standard, on their own?

The test is practical and related to your role. It looks like real work, not trivia:

• Developers: a small build, a bug fix or a code review
• Designers: a design challenge with real constraints
• Product managers: a prioritization or specification exercise
• Data experts: an analysis that answers a business question
• Marketers: a campaign plan or a funnel audit

How to prepare

• Read the brief twice. Many candidates lose points by solving a slightly different problem from the one asked.
• Ask questions if something is unclear. Clients value freelancers who clarify before building.
• Show your reasoning. A short note explaining your approach, trade-offs and what you would do with more time counts a lot.
• Finish what matters. A focused, polished solution beats an ambitious, half-done one.
• Respect the time limit. It is part of the test.
• Check the basics: working links, clean structure, no leftover debug code or lorem ipsum.

Stage 3: Live interview

The question: will clients enjoy working with this person remotely?

A video call with our team. We talk about:

• Two or three past projects in depth: your decisions, challenges and results
• Your skills test: what you did and why
• How you work remotely: communication, estimates, changing requirements and time zones
• What kind of projects and clients you are looking for

How to prepare

• Pick two projects you can discuss in depth, including what went wrong and what you learned.
• Prepare concrete examples of how you report progress and handle blockers.
• Test your camera, microphone and connection, and join from a quiet place.
• Prepare your own questions about the kind of clients and projects you want.

Our remote interview guide has more tips.

Stage 4: Approved

Once approved, you are in the network. When a client request matches your skills, rate and availability, we put you on their shortlist and introduce you. Clients see your profile, your rate and our notes from the vetting process.

To get matched more often:

• Keep your availability up to date. Reply to our emails when it changes.
• Tell us about new skills and projects.
• Respond quickly when we share an opportunity.

If you are not approved

It happens, and it is often about timing or fit rather than ability: a role with little current demand, a rate far outside the range clients are paying, or a test that did not show your best work. We let you know by email.

Keep building. Add stronger examples, deepen a specialization, and apply again later. Many freelancers who are approved on their second attempt go on to do very well.

What we never ask

We never ask you to pay to apply or to join the network, and we never ask for bank details or identity documents by chat. If anyone claiming to be from HireCurated does, it is not us. See spotting remote job scams.

Ready?

Apply to HireCurated. It takes about ten minutes.