oDesk Help Guide

How to Open an Account on oDesk as an Employer

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 12:58:00 -0700

Odesk is one of the best websites to find freelance workers for your business. If you are looking for a place to outsource your business or work oDesk is the best option to do so. Here is the step by step guide to how to open or create an account on oDesk as an employer.

Step 1: Visit the Registration Page of oDesk

Visit the registration page of oDesk or click on the banner below to get straight to the registration page.

Step 2: Click on the Create an Account Button

Step 3: Choose “Employer”

Click on the “Employer: I want to post a job” button. Posting a job on oDesk is absolutely free. you only have to pay 10% of the service charge when you pay your freelance contractor.

Step 4: Fill Up your Details

Step 5: Complete Registration

Once you have filled up your details and submitted the information, you will be sent to a new page. Now you will have the option to describe your company or fill in your company information. After that you can describe your job here. Then you will need to verify to finalize the registration process. Remember that you can always change the given information later on.

Step 6: Verify Your Credit Card

You can now verify your credit card and start posting jobs on oDesk so that freelance contractors can start applying for the job.

Best of luck.

Frequently Asked Questions about Freelancing

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 12:51:00 -0700

Here are some answers to the frequently asked questions about freelancing on oDesk. I hope this will help you to build your online career better.

What is freelancing?

Freelancing is one of the most low-cost ways to becoming self employed. A freelancer is not an employee of anyone, but a “provider” for his/her client.

Why become a freelancer?

Obviously the most common and obvious reason is “money”. You can earn a healthy monthly income from your home working on your computer. If I speak for myself, I am making more money online, working as a freelancer than I ever thought I would. I am making more than what I hoped to earn after graduation.

How much can I earn?

This is one of the most popular questions to be asked. I’m not going to say that you are going to be a millionaire within a month. But I will say that if you have the right set of skills, you will earn more than you can spend.

How to become a freelancer?

You can try both offline and online ways to become a freelancer. But as this blog’s scope allows me to talk only about online ways to make money, I will suggest some online methods of becoming a freelancer. Some very established websites work a medium and help you to get freelancers connected with clients. You can register an account there and start your career as a freelancer. Some of the better freelancing websites are oDesk, Elance, Freelancer, Guru etc. My personal preference is oDesk as I work there.

How to open an account on oDesk?

I have written detailed articles about how to open an account on oDesk as a freelancer and how to open an account on oDesk as an employer on separate blog posts.

What do you mean by filling your profile with quality content?

In many posts I have talked about filling up your contractor profile with quality content. Quality content means writing detailed, but specific description about your skills or other fields on your profile. How to fill up your profile?

What is a cover letter?

Cover letter is the application form that you send to the potential client when you are applying to the job posting he (the client) has offered. Odesk allows you to write the cover letter once you are about to apply to the job. How to write a stunning cover letter?

Which job should I go after initially?

It really depends on your skill set. There is no specific answer to this question. Go after what you can do best. I started my career with article writing.

Do I need any formal certification to get a job on oDesk?

No. You don’t.

What is the weekly quota for sending job application?

The maximum quota for sending job application is 25 articles per seven days. It starts with 2 per seven days and goes up as you pass oDesk Ready Test and other skill tests, or get hired on jobs.

Do I need a bank account to work on oDesk?

No, this is not a prerequisite. You do not need a bank account to work on oDesk. You can go ahead and start working on any contract without a bank account. oDesk will store all your income into their secured server and you can withdraw them whenever you feel comfortable. You can withdraw the income with your payoneer master card or you can wire transfer the money to your bank account. Bottom line is, you will need a bank account if you want wire transfer, and when you want to withdraw the cash.

What is an interview?

In oDesk client’s reply message against your cover letter is considered an interview. Interview may consist of exchange of emails, chat or voice/video call. Voice calls normally takes place on skype or similar platforms.

How do I close my account?

You will have to contact customer support to do that. You can click here to contact customer support of odesk.

What is the link to oDesk help center?

You can contact oDesk at their help center by clicking here. They have a very helpful support team and detailed FAQ that may help you a lot.

Let me know if you have any other questions in mind. I’d be happy to try to answer those.

oDesk Team and Community

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 11:46:00 -0700

oDesk Team

The oDesk Team application is a free suite of tools to help you create a virtual office on your desktop. It has 4 primary tools and a variety of additional features to make your work life on oDesk easier.

Download oDesk Team

Team Room: See who's working, what they're doing, and chat in real time.
Time Tracker: Log time to your Work Diary.
Screensnap: Take, upload, annotate and share screenshots.
ShortURL: Shorten URLs to share.

Features

Memo: Tell the employer what you're working on.
Meter: View time/earnings on hourly contracts.
Camera: Enable webcam snapshots while logging time.
Cache: Continue logging time even when your connection is interrupted.
Error Log: Help our support reps to better diagnose any problems.

Who uses the oDesk Team application?
The oDesk Team application is for everyone! All employers and contractors can take advantage of the Team Room (chat), Screensnap and ShortURL tools.
The Time Tracker is primarily used by contractors logging time on hourly contracts (required to receive guaranteed payment), but any user with team room
access can use it to record a Work Diary (only hourly contracts are billed and included in reports).

What is the app's Team Room tool?
The app's Team Room tool is an extension of your team room on the oDesk web site. It shows you all the team members online right now in any team
to which you have access. You can chat with them live, see their latest work activity, and access information about them with a single click. Click the status icon
and a menu will pop up where you can start a live chat conversation, view their Time Analyze report, Work Diary, or open tasks. It is recommended
that all users - employers and contractors, fixed-price and hourly - run the app while they're at work. Even when you're not logging time, it's good
to keep in touch through the Team Room. Just don't forget to turn on the Time Tracker to upload your activity to the Work Diary and qualify for guaranteed payment.

What do all the status icons mean?
In the app's Team Room tool, and on the app's icon in your system tray, you'll see a number of icons that tell you the time-tracking, chat,
and connection status of users. Please pay special attention to your connection status. The app can only cache a limited amount of time of Work Diary screens
that will be uploaded as soon as your connection resumes. In addition to these icons, balloon notifications will pop up to help you track important changes
in your status like switching to caching mode.

What is the app's Time Tracker tool?
The Time Tracker tool tells the app to start and stop logging your activity for your team's Work Diary. It is primarily used by contractors on hourly contracts,
but anyone with team room access can run the Time Tracker to keep a track of their own activities. Only the time logged on hourly contracts will be included
on reports and accrue as oDesk hours on the contractor's profile. On hourly contracts, start the Time Tracker when you begin work and stop the Time Tracker
when you're done (or taking a break). Your activity is automatically uploaded to the Work Diary, enabling automated billing and our payment guarantee.
This time is also used to create weekly Timelog reports for which the employer is automatically billed. When the Time Tracker is on, you'll be asked to enter
regular memos describing your work.

What does the Time Tracker record?
The Time Tracker records:

- Work diary screenshots - a screenshot of the active monitor 6 times per hour - so anything visible on your screen may be captured in a screenshot.
- Activity levels - the application counts the number of mouse clicks and keystrokes, but does not record where you click or what you type.
- The name of the active window and application at the time of the screenshot.
- [Optional] Camera snapshot along with the screenshot 6 times per hour if enabled. Camera snapshots can even be deleted separately from your other recorded activities.

For maximum privacy control, the application allows you to delete any screenshot when it is captured (click the trash can before uploading) or afterwards
in the Work Diary (until the end of the work week). Time and activity are deleted together with the screenshot. So keep in mind that your employer will not be
charged for the time you delete, and you won't get paid for it. Only the optional camera snapshots can be deleted separately. You can delete the camera snapshot
from your Work Diary but still get paid for that time segment.

What does the Time Tracker not record?

- What you click on.
- What you type.
- Files and applications you access.
- Video surveillance footage through your webcam.

The oDesk Team application and its Time Tracker are not a surveillance system. You have full control over what it records, can turn it on and off at any point
and you can choose whether or not to share screenshots and activity levels. Its main purpose is to act as your hassle-free automated billing system
and log your Work Diary as your proof of work (Verified Work = Guaranteed Payment).

Payments

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 11:44:00 -0700

Payment Methods

PAYONEER

This is the fastest payment method. You get your card loaded within two days or get the funds in your card immediately in more or less than two hours
by paying $3 for immediate load fee. You can use the card for with any Mastercard merchant purchase or choose to withdraw the funds in the card
for $2.15 per withdrawal + 3% of the withdrawal amount. You are limited to the maximum withdrawal limit in which the ATM is designed, therefore,
if the limit is P10,000 and you need to get P12,000 from the card fund, you need to pay $2.15 for every withdrawal (that is, $2.15 for the first P10,000
then another $2.15 for the remaining $3,000). If you lose your debit card, you need to wait quite a long time (a month is long enough) after requesting a replacement card.

PAYPAL (Verified Personal accounts)

Could be cheaper to use than when withdrawing funds with Payoneer. Just pay $1.00 withdrawal from oDesk and only P50 from Paypal to the Philippine bank
(withdrawal is FREE if the amount to be withdrawn is P7,000 above); Unionbank does not charge for incoming transfers from Paypal while BDO charges P200
and BPI charges 150. It takes a longer time to withdraw the money to a local bank and there is no other way to expedite the transfer (5 to 7 working days).
But in my case, it only takes a day before funds are transferred to my BPI account.

MONEYBOOKERS

I have not tried to withdraw money into my Moneybookers account so I am not able to provide information on all the details.

WIRE TRANSFER

This is another method that is possible, but I wouldn't recommend using this. Withdrawal from oDesk can be quite expensive ($30 per withdrawal).

LOCAL FUNDS TRANSFER

This is the most direct and least expensive withdrawal method for contractors with bank accounts in the Philippines. With Local Funds Transfer,
you directly deposit your earnings into your local bank account, in Pesos, for a low, flat fee. oDesk charges $1.99 per withdrawal in Philippines Peso
but it's free for your first transaction.

BPI: FREE | Union Bank: P50 | BDO: P200 | Metrobank: P76.70
ChinaBank: P200 | RCBC: P100 | LandBank: P50 | PNB: P250

Job Application

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 11:44:00 -0700

Bid often and Bid Reasonably Earlier I spoke about the hourly rate that is posted on your profile - now I'm talking about the hourly rate or fixed price rate

that you enter onto the little application form that will accompany your cover letter. This bid can be different from what's posted on your profile - but it

should still be reasonable. What do I mean by reasonable?

* Make sure it is worth your time

* Make sure it will cover your expenses (such as cost to withdraw)

* If it is fixed price, make sure it reflects the amount of time you will be working on that project

Remember, it looks bad if your hourly rate on your profile says that you charge $10 per hour if you then bid on a project at $1 per hour... And you shouldn't

let a client's budget dictate the level and quality of professionalism that you can provide.

And bid often! I still continue to fill out my quota of 20 applications per week. If a client is not responding to my application after a couple of weeks,

I withdraw that application so I can apply to another job. The only time I slow down on my bidding is if I am beginning to get overloaded with projects.

Don't send out just 2-3 applications and then get disheartened that neither one has accepted you yet.

This doesn't mean sit down and apply to 20 jobs all in one day - spread them out. I read through just about every hourly job posted (I always filter out the fixed price jobs),

but I probably apply to only 4-5 jobs every day, if that many. Be discerning - if the job isn't worth your time, wait a couple more hours and see what new jobs

have been posted. It won't do you any good to apply to a job that you're only semi-interested in only to find a great job that you would love to work on

but can't apply because you've reached your limit already.

You can browse job posts in 2 ways:

1. Browse Jobs by Category
2. Browse Jobs by Skills

Job Application Quota

oDesk sets a limit, known as a quota, on the number of job applications you can submit. Remember that the quota is the maximum number of jobs you can apply to,

not a requirement that you must fulfill.

How can I increase my quota?
Once you become oDesk Ready, your quota is earned based on the number of tests you've taken (for new contractors) or your feedback score (once you have one).
- If you do not yet have a feedback score, take more tests to increase your quota.
- If you have a feedback score, the only way to increase your quota is to increase your score.

Which job applications count against my quota?
- Active, contractor-initiated application that are 7 days old (or less) count against your quota.
- Applications that are inactive, employer-initiated or more than 7 days old do not count against your quota.

When does my quota refresh?
- Your job applications, tests and feedback are evaluated twice per day to calculate your available quota. This means it can take up to 12 hours for your quota to refresh
after a job application is withdrawn, rejected or aged out of your quota.
- For new users who take tests to increase their quota, the same refresh cycle applies. It can take up to 12 hours after passing tests for your quota to increase to the next level.
The only exception is the oDesk Readiness Test. Passing this test will immediately raise your quota to the applicable oDesk Ready level.

TIP: Bookmark all the categories you usually apply to and compile them in one bookmark folder. Clicking on the bookmark folder using

the mouse wheel will open all pages at once. By doing this you can make sure that you won't miss any new jobs posted. I usually check for new jobs

at least once every 10 minutes just so that I can be one of the first applicants. Sometimes being one of the first few applicants can land you the job especially

when an employer is in a rush to have their project completed.

Cover Letter

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 11:43:00 -0700

Once your profile is set, then it's time to sell yourself to the clients. And by sell yourself, I don't mean pay them for the privilege of working for them. I mean convince them

that they should hire you and pay you what you want. So, how do you do this? Cover Letters. Write a cover letter that proves you know what you're talking about,

proves that you've read the job description and explains your costs and terms. And for goodness sake - don't send the same cover letter to each and every job posting.

The clients always know. You aren't fooling anyone - so just stop.

Never beg for a job... It makes you look desperate, not professional. Never lower your hourly rate to a ridiculous amount in hopes of landing a job (or worse, offering to work for free).

Again, it makes you look desperate and gives the impression that you don't deserve whatever amount you have posted on your profile.

Basic Guidelines About What to Include (and what not to)

- Don't include your contact information in your cover letter (your email address, chat ID, etc.). This is a violation of oDesk policy and makes you an easy target for an unscrupulous employer. When you are invited to an interview, then you are free to share whatever contact info you wish. - Don't start with a "To Whom It May Concern" or "Dear Sir" greeting. Neither adds any value and they may even offend some employers. If you do include a greeting, find a gender-neutral way to say hello, say "Dear Hiring Manager" or use the employer's name (if they've mentioned it). - Don't copy and paste the same cover letter over and over again, even if you 'fill in the blanks' with specifics for the job at hand. Just as you can tellwhen an employer posts a template job description, an employer can tell you're using a form cover letter. If you don't put in the effort to write a custom letter,they are unlikely to take the time to interview you. - Do try to use the same keywords the employer did. This shows you were paying attention to their job post. - Do answer specific questions or include special keywords the employer put in the job description to prove you can follow directions. That is, unless the employeris asking for your contact info or otherwise violating oDesk policy - in that case you should flag the job as inappropriate. - Do link directly to some relevant examples of your work whenever possible. Make sure you've added them in your portfolio as well. - Do state your availability (when and how much you can work and explain what kind of commitments you have to any other oDesk contracts, regular employers, etc.

Sample of what I think is a good and bad Cover Letter

Bad Cover Letter
I consider this a bad cover letter simply because not once did the contractor mention
anything about the job and why he is qualified for it. He kept on stating a lot of information
which were not relevant to the job. This is a good example of what a spam cover letter is.

Good Cover Letter
Not only did this contractor informed the employer about her background, she also focused
on letting the employer know how interested and qualified she was for the job.

TIPS:

Quote:

Originally Posted by aimark13

Based on my experience, cover letters should mirror what the buyer has posted. Most of the time vague cover letters that just tell the employers that you're the best guy for the job got me the interview and/or the job. It still depends on the employer though. From my experience, I got interviews or got hired 7 out of 10 times using vague cover letters that don't really tell them much about you but suggests that you are an excellent person for the job.

You might wanna try it out. I just started applying mid april and I already finished 2 article writing jobs, currently in another personal assistant job, a telesales job, and have 6 active interviews. In my theory, a lot of buyers, especially those from the US, are very straightforward and don't pay attention to minor details. Also what you should be keeping in mind with regards to your cover letters is the attitude of "I will deliver the best results" not "I am honored to apply, or I would love to be considered etc". Of course everything I said was just based on what happened to me. It may or may not actually work for others. I could've been just lucky.

oDesk Readiness Test

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 11:42:00 -0700

Q: Can I start my own company on oDesk?

A: Yes! oDesk allows you to build and manage a team of workers, colleagues and collaborators.

You can even subcontract other workers on oDesk to other customers oDesk (and take a cut).

Q: Which of the following actions are NOT allowed when applying to job openings?

A: All of the above

Q: ‘How does feedback work on oDesk?’

A: All of the above

Q: Which of the following is true of your oDesk timelog?

A: All of the above

Q: Which of the following break the oDesk user agreement?

A: All of the above

Q: Which of the following statements about the oDesk Team application are true?

A: All of the above

Q: What do you need to do to ensure guaranteed payment on hourly jobs?

A: All of the above

Q: If you have not done so please download and install the oDesk Team application.

With the client running right click on the oDesk Team icon in the system tray (or doc for Mac users).

Which of the following options is listed first?

A: TeamRoom..

Q: Which of the following statements are correct about oDesk fees?

A: All of the above

Q: Buyers set weekly limits on hourly assignments, how do these work?

A: All of the above

Q: How does oDesk’s dispute resolution policy for work?

A: All of the above

oDesk Skills Tests

oDesk offers hundreds of free skill tests to help you prove your skills to perspective employers.

Passing tests is also a way for new contractors to raise their job application quotas.

Try to take the test for every skill you listed in your profile and any others that sound relevant.

If you don't like your score, you can hide it and retake the test again in 30 days.

Generally, you should only make your most impressive test scores public.

Building Your Profile

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 11:42:00 -0700

A lot of people come to online sources because it's easy and convenient - but that doesn't mean that they want to completely give up the personal experience as well.

Your profile is what will introduce you as a person as well as an applicant to the people reviewing your cover letter. Make it count.

Overview - One of the most important parts of your profile is your overview. It should introduce you to the client and establish your objective.

Use this to set you apart from other contractors. "I write fast and can get the job done quickly." So what! Chances are, 90%-95% of the other applicants can, too.

So how are you any different? "I want to be the best provider to my clients." Again, so what!? This doesn't help you at all because everyone else says the same thing.

Not to mention - it should be a given that you want to provide the best service. Your overview should answer the question "why you should hire me over the other guy"

... If it doesn't answer that question, it's not a good overview.

Picture - After all, they speak a thousand words, right? It's not a requirement to have a picture, but it does help. Make sure you follow oDesk's identity policy when

choosing a picture to post - but in general, any picture of you with a smile on your face will do wonders for you. People like to put a face to a font... So give them one.

Hourly Rate - I hate to say it, but there are a lot of clients that will look at your hourly rate. I am not talking about whatever rate you bid on a project, but the rate

that is displayed on your profile. This rate should reflect the level and quality of work that you provide and should be a fair reflection of a going rate for the field / category

you are interested in working for. Is there a difference? Of course! Can you expect to get paid the same amount of money for site scraping as you can for writing articles?

Probably not unless you are the best darn web scraper in the world (and can back it up!). If you're not sure what to set your rate at, look through at other providers,

or go through the oConomy pages, figure out how much you would be paid for the exact same job at an office, or do a search to see if you can find out what the average

going rate is for that field and adjust that average to reflect your experience level.

Resume - Also important because your resume houses all of your skills. Are you a web designer? Great! Then post your CSS, PHP, Javascript, Drupal, Joomla!,

and Wordpress skills! A lot of clients search for providers based on these skills - how will they find you if you don't have them listed anywhere on your profile?

And your resume is the perfect place to showcase these skills because it allows you to also place a brief description of how you have used this skill in the past and

display how long you have been using it.

Build a Portfolio - This may be easier for some than others... But a portfolio is a great way to display your work. If you build web sites - place some links in there

to web sites that you've built. If you're an artist, then throw together some logos and interface designs and place them up there. Writer? Post a link to your blog...

Anything that will show examples of your work without violating any terms of service is good. Also important, once it's up - keep it updated. Check the links to those web

sites to make sure they're still working and place up new examples of your work as you complete them.

Be Honest - If your English isn't a 5.0 - then don't rate it at 5.0... Clients will be able to figure it out and you will look like a liar. If you can't be honest about

something like how fluent you are in English, why should anyone believe that you're being honest about anything else?

Signing up a new account

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Wed, 6 Jul 2011 11:39:00 -0700

New in oDesk and you don’t know what to do? I will give you a step by step procedure on how to register in oDesk. Just follow the instructions and everything will be fine. Remember to fill up the forms with correct details. Don’t worry about your privacy as oDesk will always keep it private.

Now, are you ready to start your career in oDesk? Then what are you waiting for, start following these simple steps and you will not regret it. Just click the link below.

STEP 1:

You will be redirected to the website of oDesk. Upon reaching the homepage you will see this:

Just click the register button in order to create a new account.

STEP 2:

You will by directed in the next page and you will see three options as seen in the picture.

Tick the second option that shows Freelance Provider and a form will appear.

STEP 3:

Complete the forms with all the necessary details needed. It must be correct and accurate. After filling up the form click the continue button. See the picture below:

STEP 4:

Afterwards, you will be directed again into another page like this:

You will see four options and each one has its own link. The first option is to verify your account. Go to your email address and open your inbox. Open the message from oDesk and click the link to activate your account. Then a green check will appear and move on to the next link.

STEP 5:

The next link will be filling out your contact information. Just complete all the fields in the form with your information details. And then click the save and continue button. The page will look like this:

STEP 6:

The third link is to complete your oDesk profile. Just tick the box of the category that you thinks suits your abilities. The picture below shows a variety of jobs in oDesk.

STEP 7:

The forth and last link will be accepting the oDesk Marketplace User Agreement to protect the rights of both parties as seen below:

STEP 8:

Congratulations! You have now created your provider’s account. But don’t think you can start now, it is only the beginning. You have to finish editing and making your profile presentable to your buyers. Remember that your profile will reflect you so take time to create it and think of a nice and catchy title for yourself to attract buyers.

You also have to take the oDesk Readiness Test. Don’t panic, just relax, it is just an easy exam for you to know some of the rules and regulations of oDesk and be able to apply for more jobs. Cause let’s face it, nobody really took the time to read all the long rule and regulations of every company.

Anyways, I hope you find this post helpful in starting and creating your new account in oDesk. Just always remember to be honest and cater only what you can do. Thank you for your time in reading this post.

oDesk Help Guide

kccaringal@yahoo.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:15:00 -0700

oDesk is a global service marketplace for small and medium sized businessto hire, manage, and pay remote freelancers or teams. If you're interested in starting a career as a freelancer in oDesk, then this thread is the perfect place to seek help for all your oDesk related inquiries

oDesk allows employers (buyers) to create online workteams coordinated and paid through the company's proprietary software and website. The name is a short version of "no desk" in reference to the company's intent to enable anyone to work anywhere, anytime. Prospective employers can post jobs for free, and freelance workers (providers) may create profiles and bid on jobs, also for free.

The company puts potential providers through “a rigorous screening.The company collects 10 percent of the payment. Payments are made through oDesk, which handles many bookkeeping tasks for the transaction. In addition to the marketplace aspect and the payment/bookkeeping services, the company uses collaborative software, “oDesk Team,” that allows employers to see a provider's progress while he or she is billing time. This aspect of the company's business model has drawn criticism.

The specific areas of expertise supported by the site include web development and a wide variety of programming/software development skills, graphic design, writing and administrative support. The company provides voluntary skills tests in various disciplines from English aptitude to specific programming skills, and profiles include a feedback mechanism.

"Success is not reserved for the extraordinarily gifted;it is available to the new generation Filipino who will seek it with commitment and imagination."

A Million thanks to my Mentor

Flint28 of Symbianize.com