Over the next four days, you will receive daily emails from oDesk, outlining specific steps on how to succeed on the oDesk platform.
First, our most important piece of advice: Don't start applying to jobs right away!
For the first few days, focus on understanding how oDesk works and perfecting your profile. Contractors whose profiles are 100% complete are seven times more likely to get hiredthan those with only partially completed profiles.
Browse our Community Forums. See the commonly asked issues being raised in our community, and meet experienced contractors and employers who can help new users.
Tomorrow we will discuss the best ways to present your professional profile and experience to employers on oDesk.
oDesk is a freelance site where your services can get paid by the hour or by fixed-price bids. A client (termed as buyer) get to post their job so that they can get a freelancer (termed as provider) to do that particular job. These are small contracted work where the client can handpick his freelancers or he can wait for active freelancers to apply to his job. oDesk offers jobs from data entry to writing as well as their initial job offerings in programming, graphics and web design jobs and even a Call Center jobs at home!!
Create a Profile
To begin with, one has to create a profile. That profile is similar to a resume. A portfolio is also very helpful in proving one’s capability to finish a job. It took me a day to update my profile but once that it is done; my profile was appealing enough for interested clients. I wrote some tips for the oDesk blog to help several oDesk freelancers on polishing their profiles.
Measuring One’s Skills
Don’t forget the tests too! oDesk offers free tests that measure the skills capabilities. Programmers can get tests related to the programming skills; writers can also take tests that are related to writing. These tests are important, especially to those who do not have any oDesk work history and feedback to back up their profile. The oDesk Readiness Test (ORT) is a new test about the oDesk policies and procedures to make sure that freelancers are ready to apply and accept jobs in the marketplace (I have not encountered this test in the first place).
How Job Progress is Monitored
Hourly jobs are monitored using special software called oDesk team that needs to be downloaded and installed in the freelancer’s computer. That software logs in the time consumed, and captures a snapshot of the entire freelancer’s screen at regular intervals.
This YouTube video here for you that clearly explains how oDesk works:
Get Paid
For the Philippine-based freelancers, almost all oDesk withdrawal methods are available to get the earnings here in the Philippines. I highly recommend using Payoneer and Paypal. US freelancers get to withdraw their earnings out of oDesk using ACH.
There are plenty of writing jobs that await bloggers in oDesk too! The banner below leads you to the oDesk site, and you can sign up for a FREE account now!
