Interesting article - lots of good forums in there that I wasn't aware of. I agree completely that it's bad form to request free work from freelancers. If you absolutely need some trial work done to evaluate them as a developer, give them a few smaller paid projects to complete.

One thing I would add is that the marketplace is full of skilled overseas developers. At our company, we have a great JS developer who does contract work for us from India. Her work is top notch, but communication is often difficult. If considering workers abroad, understand their availability, communication skills, and always prepare specific requirements.

>Whatever you do, don’t ask your freelancer to do speculative work or complete a project for free with the promise of more work later. It’s disrespectful of the freelancer’s time. If you can’t afford to test the freelancer with a project and if the freelancer’s portfolio and references are not giving you confidence, it’s best to move on.

What if you get a strong impression that they wouldn't mind doing that?