Finesse requests for free work ... Latest oDesk updates ... $200M celebration
Having trouble viewing this email? Click Here
Contractors on oDesk recently passed the $200M milestone - less than a year after earning their first $100M! Share your own oDesk celebration story on the blog or email stories@odesk.com
| Contractor Earnings: (last 90 days) | $31,095,298 |
| Job Postings: (currently open) | 19,376 |
| Applicants Per Job: (average) | 14 |
| Days to Hire: (average) | 3.5 |
Get paid for referrals. Register for our affiliate program today!
Don't Work for Free
What to do when a prospective employer asks for more than you should give.
A remote contractor has to go the extra mile to gain the trust of a prospective employer. You don't get to interview face-to-face. You'll be doing your work from a great distance, and employers new to oDesk may not yet have developed full confidence in our trust-building transparency tools. While oDesk gives you a lot of ways to prove yourself up front — our skills tests, your online portfolio — a prospective employer may ask for more. And, sometimes, what they ask for will amount to doing “free work.” While contractors may feel uncomfortable with this arrangement, they often do it without protest, because they don't want to lose the opportunity for what promises to be a good job.
We posted an article last week dealing with exactly this problem and offering four clever, positive strategies for deflecting the employer who's either trying to get something for nothing, or simply doesn't realize that her requests for more sample work amounts to an unpaid assignment.
- Portfolio Pieces: If a potential employer doesn't see just the right sample in your portfolio, send them other work you've done in the past that comes closer to the mark.
- Test Drive: If the employer wants to see a sample tailored from scratch for his business, suggest the test drive — a small, paid assignment to prove your worth. If you really see the potential for ongoing work, consider giving them a one-time discount. Give the employer a break for taking a chance on you, but make sure you're getting enough money that if no other work comes, you're still compensated for making the effort you’re putting into the assignment.
- Measured Advice: Sometimes you're not asked for finished work but for free consultation. You're the web designer who’s asked, “How would you redo our website?” You're tempted to throw together a comprehensive plan to prove your skills and your worthiness — but don't. Offer a tip or two, and perhaps highlight the portfolio piece that comes closest to your vision for taking their site to the next level.
Our blog post details the red flags you should watch out for, and all the ways you can protect the value of your work without alienating a possible employer. Give it a read, and if you've got other tips and tricks, share them with our community!
What's New?
Upgrade Your Team Software
In the last few weeks, we’ve announced that all users must upgrade to the latest version of our Team software. Last week was the deadline, so if you are still running older versions but haven’t logged in lately, you'll need to take a few seconds to upgrade right away. For more information, click here, or go straight to our download page.
Updated Marketplace User Agreement
We’ve also updated our Marketplace User Agreement, so we ask that you review it before continuing to use oDesk. We periodically update the agreement, including to account for changes in terms (such as the recent shift to employer instead of buyer, contractor instead of provider, etc.). We recommend that you read through the agreement to understand the terms and policies that all users agree to abide by when they use oDesk. If you haven’t already, please log in to your oDesk account and click on the alert at the top to review and accept the agreement.
Contractor Spotlight
 | Nishant C Graphic Design, Vector, Print Total oDesk Hours: 42 Overall Feedback: 5.00 (Based on 4 feedbacks) Comments: Nishant did a fabulous job making icons and illustrations for our product. He took ownership of the project, was regularly available and produced very high quality work. |
 | Laura Z (Galindo Consulting Group) PHP/MySQL-Joomla-AJAX-Photoshop-CSS-English to Spanish Translator Total oDesk Hours: 547 Overall Feedback: 4.96 (Based on 7 feedbacks) Comments: Laura is an excellent contractor! Good quality and smart communication, will definitely hire again. She is so good and knows what is she doing. |
 | Oleksandra P Creative, Exclusive & Modern Design / Graphic, Web, Flash, 3D Total oDesk Hours: 260 Overall Feedback: 4.77 (Based on 16 feedbacks) Comments: Oleksandra was a pleasure to work with. She fully understood the brief and delivered high quality work very quickly. I'm looking forward to using her services again. |
 | Peter B Excel, Access, SQL, VB + Mainframe Business Analyst Skillsets Total oDesk Hours: 89 Overall Feedback: 5.00 (Based on 5 feedbacks) Comments: Peter did a great job. I had many changes during the project and he handled them all with ease. |
If you do not wish to receive these messages in the future, please unsubscribe.
Do not reply to this e-mail. This was an automated system message from oDesk, Inc. - 4200 Bohannon Drive - Menlo Park - CA - 94025 - USA
No comments:
Post a Comment