Information Technology

Monday, November 12, 2012

oDesk Tips to Start a Freelancing Career

oDesk is a site that allows employers to post jobs and freelancers to bid and work on them. These oDesk tips will help you get started towards a successful freelancing career using oDesk.

There are plenty of advantages of being a freelancer. You can scale up and down how much you want to work and when you want to work. You can choose to take a break whenever you want. You can choose to work only on assignments that you like. Such freedom is unheard of in traditional jobs, which explains why more and more people are taking the freelancing route. In addition to all these benefits, freelancing is a great way to make money online as a part time job. Freelancing is also a great entry into a niche you don't have a degree or qualifications in.

oDesk is one of the largest sites that lets employers and freelancers get together under one roof. The employers post their projects and the freelancers bid on them. Every freelancer will have a profile page where he can include the bio, work portfolio and experience. Freelancers also have a feedback score, the higher the better.

Whether you are new to freelancing or know the tricks of the trade, the following oDesk tips will help you get started.

oDesk Tip-1: Make a Complete Profile, with your Photo
oDesk has a place for every freelancer to display his or her skills. You should use this space wisely and answer all the questions asked. This shows that you are serious and you come across as professional to the potential employers. Also, it is highly advisable to include a photograph as well, because employers have a higher sense of trust in profiles with a photo. It is easy to fake profiles online and a photo shows that you are serious. Also, it is important to have work samples and portfolio ready because many employers at oDesk demand it.

oDesk Tip-2: Take the Skills Tests
This is especially applicable to those who are new to oDesk. People who are new don't have a lot of previous experience on their profile and their feedback is nil. Potential employers do not know whether they will be up to the mark. For this, oDesk provides a variety of skills tests to the workers. This helps employers know how good the people are. In the absence of a proven feedback at oDesk, the skills tests are the best way for you to stand out and attract the attention of the employer.

oDesk Tip-3: Customize your Cover Letter
This is a common newbie mistake - to have a generic cover letter for all jobs and use everywhere. Employers who post jobs have seen hundreds or thousands of cover letters during their stay at oDesk and they will very easily weed out the ones with generic cover letters. Here is a tip I use - never copy-paste anything, not even your introduction. Just write the cover letter from scratch, spinning your introduction and skills around the job requirement. This way you will really sound genuine and the employer will know that you have taken the time out to research the job posting.

If you follow the right approach, it is not hard to start freelancing with oDesk for a steady online income.

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