Due to job portals like LinkedIn, creating and keeping track of your professional connections is an easy task regardless of whether you’re a doctor or an engineer. The art of maintaining the right contacts in order to take the right step in your career has never felt more convenient, thanks to digital services.
But what if you’re an independent service provider (ISP) or independent contractor? The technological revolution has mostly ignored the needs of this vital segment of the global workforce. A self-contractor could be an electrician, carpenter, etc.
Despite the lack of a big, specialized global job portal for hiring independent contractors, the annual spending on the U.S. gig economy crossed the $792 billion mark in 2015. The most difficult obstacle for a self-employed contractor is this: the identification, pursuit and acquisition of contract works on a regular basis. So far, the biggest job boards have paid scant attention to the field of contract work. But TrustLogics is poised to open up all kinds of opportunities and spur the growth of contract work.
The Present Situation of ISPs
Currently, independent service providers depend heavily on more traditional types of networking to obtain regular work. Family or friend suggestions, tips in the local area through social media platforms, portfolios on service websites, and recommendations or suggestions from staffing firms account for a majority of opportunities.
But the conventional methods of job-hunting for ISPs come with severe drawbacks. Since such referrals don’t follow a timeline, an independent worker usually finishes a job and sits idle for days on end before securing a new one. Since most of the work doesn’t exactly require the signing of complex contracts, customers (a.k.a service requestors) tend to change pre-agreed compensation terms while the task is being completed.
Even the hiring process frequently turns into a long-drawn-out waiting game as the background details of a self-employed contractor have to be verified before the task can be undertaken. Service websites initially seemed to be a convenient way to banish some of the above drawbacks, but they ended up presenting a different set of challenges: the presence of multiple portals, expenditure incurred for placing ads on the platforms, and the effort undertaken to optimize the digital profiles differently depending on a platform’s preferences.
Rapid Transformation of Contract Work Expectations
But the single biggest issue that the ISPs have to deal with is the technology-driven change in perception of contract work.
Before the technological revolution, service requestors usually preferred solving problems at home by simply calling the friendly neighbourhood plumber or electrician. Hiring independent contractors in this fashion was popular as these individuals were either well known in the local community or were strongly recommended by neighbours. A lasting impression was created while their services were availed. This sort of sealed the trust between both parties.
But technology has disrupted the way service requestors choose an independent contractor. A few taps on their smartphone now provides them access to dozens of plumbers from other nearby communities. Thus, the impressions formed while availing services was replaced by a digital portfolio on an online service website containing the individual’s personal details, qualifications, ratings, and reviews.
As far as large-sized or corporate service requestors were concerned, they continued their long-held tradition of approaching staffing firms for any seasonal needs and formed hiring partnerships with them. They even tended to outsource the crucial process of employee vetting.
A Background Verification Onslaught
This is why ISPs have no option but to adapt to a radically different hiring process, without much help. There is no law to implement a single, universally-accepted vetting certificate, which can be edited with the latest updates and serve as official proof. As far as the general public are concerned, they already have something like this in the form of the social security number (SSN). An SSN serves as a definitive authority for identification and helps individuals gain access to taxation or healthcare protocols faster. Unlike ISPs, the public doesn’t have to prove their credentials each and every time.
So why can’t ISPs also benefit from a single digital certificate attesting the truth of their qualifications, ratings and reviews? The benefits of such a system are two-fold: the hiring process for a self-contractor is greatly simplified; and it also reduces the downtime (which is normally spent waiting for a background verification to finish) between two successive jobs.
Digital Maintenance of Professional Reputation
Where there is a gap in the market to exploit, start-ups are sure to follow. Job portals focusing completely on contract work have been popping up for fun during the last few years. While ISPs greeted their entrance with enthusiastic approval, things quickly turned sour.
A large number of platforms meant that a self-employed contractor had to maintain an active presence on a number of them. Providing responses to comments, personalizing digital profiles for each platform, and the problem of fake reviews took up an inordinate amount of time for them to deal with. Even service websites were just as bad because ISPs had to chip in their own money for financing any advertisements on these platforms.
These past stumbles beg us to consider whether a self-contractor would be happier with a universally accepted digital portfolio. Something they can maintain and, more importantly, share across the internet. This would eliminate the problem of dealing with too many platforms while saving cost and time.
TrustLogics – A Change in Status Quo
It is quite clear that the status quo is hurting the wallets of ISPs. They desperately need a platform which serves them rather than one which exploits them. A platform where they can keep a unified background vetting certificate, share their digital profiles across the web, and respond to the reviews and ratings of service requestors.
TrustLogics is poised to be the answer to their prayers.
About TrustLogics
TrustLogics is a 'Patent Pending' disruptive technology solution. It is powered by de-centralized technologies that enables professionals to build credible global profiles, facilitate pre-screening and private networking supported by artificial intelligence. In a highly complex Workforce marketplace, TrustLogics is analogous to the "missing link" of connecting Job seekers with potential employers and is designing a Verification and Reputation platform for Professionals and Individual Service Providers.
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trustlogics/
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