I’m about to hire freelance contractors to do small pieces of my web projects.
Is it standard to allow them to put the project on their portfolio? Say a simple debugging task getting a specific mobile problem fixed in <5 hours.
I’m just concerned as it could potentially dilute my company’s portfolio by having it listed by each contractor when in fact the majority of work is done by me. I’m trying to build a portfolio here as an agency.
I think it’s a risk for my company since I’m working hard to get clients and the whole point is putting projects on my portfolio.
Am I wrong here?
Is there an standard policy for this? Perhaps a limited policy whereby attribution is required to the agency? Did exactly X for agency Y (link).
4
There is no rule I know about, but if I were to contribute to a project I would agree to take attribution only for what I did. I would even agree to sign a paper or include this clause in the contract.
But as you said, not all may think as I do and they would want to just have it on their resume. Here comes another question, would you actually want to work with people like that?
1
Write up a small legal agreement for any contractors you hire that they must sign, in addition to your NDA (if you don’t have one, make or get one) that limits how they can list your project in their resume or portfolio. If they don’t agree to it, don’t hire them. Plain and simple.
But just remember that if they worked on it, they have the right to list it as work experience, which is much different than claiming it as their own project in a portfolio. In the end, you don’t have control over what they do with their portfolio’s or resume’s. Don’t let that prevent you from getting work done, just always deal with it calmly and responsibly.