Odesk? Anyone used it?

M

MugOTea

New Member
I just came by a website via Twitter completely by accident called Odesk, which appears to be like PeoplePerHour.

Has anyone used either of these? (I've used neither)

Is Odesk for US only as I noticed the fees were in dollars?

I thought that although the fees seem to be low it might not be a bad idea to bump up my income this way.

(Or is there a better website for this sort of thing?)

Thanks :icon_smile:
 
I have never used it before but those websites are a complete waste of time. Your up against numerous unprofessional's who offer their 'services' for next to nothing. The people who post up work on there offer peanuts as payment. I made more pocket money as a kid than what some people have as their 'budget' for work.
 
CLHB said:
I have never used it before but those websites are a complete waste of time. Your up against numerous unprofessional's who offer their 'services' for next to nothing. The people who post up work on there offer peanuts as payment. I made more pocket money as a kid than what some people have as their 'budget' for work.
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Thanks for your reply. Yeah that's what I thought as well, that the budgets are ridiculous! Am just getting started after a break though and am not exactly swamped with work right now! I thought it might bring in a little bit extra while I'm getting things going. Wasn't sure if it would be more hassle than it's worth.
 
MugOTea said:
Thanks for your reply. Yeah that's what I thought as well, that the budgets are ridiculous! Am just getting started after a break though and am not exactly swamped with work right now! I thought it might bring in a little bit extra while I'm getting things going. Wasn't sure if it would be more hassle than it's worth.
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Well I mean there's no harm in trying, you never know, you might find someone who's willing to pay you enough for the job to be worth your while. The difficulty is, there's always someone that is willing to work for half as much as your minimum acceptable rate.
 
CLHB said:
Well I mean there's no harm in trying, you never know, you might find someone who's willing to pay you enough for the job to be worth your while. The difficulty is, there's always someone that is willing to work for half as much as your minimum acceptable rate.
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True! Some of the budgets that I saw on PeoplePerHour were hardly worth the time it took to read the description!
 
I used PeoplePerHour a while back and actually found a regular, local, client who had previously had 0 luck finding a decent quality designer through the site. Other than that though, I never won a job, and didn't even bother bidding on most of them. As previously mentioned, either the budgets were way too low, or you were ruthlessly undercut by competition. Even looking at it now, it looks like actually bidding on most of the jobs is more effort than it's worth.

If you want better pay then you need to start approaching companies with bigger budgets.

*Edit*

Great example of the typical PPH client – http://www.peopleperhour.com/job/simple-iphone-app-370349
A full iPhone app design/coding wanted, 3–4 weeks of work, offering £50 for the lot.
 
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CLHB said:
Any suggestions?
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Not really, I was speaking more in general. Freelancing in studios is an option too, though I suspect most people are freelance because they want to avoid the studios. Plus it's not always guaranteed work and is typically temporary, so again, probably not an option for most.
 
Paul Murray said:
Not really, I was speaking more in general. Freelancing in studios is an option too, though I suspect most people are freelance because they want to avoid the studios. Plus it's not always guaranteed work and is typically temporary, so again, probably not an option for most.
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Yeah, basically it's easier said than done, in the sense that you have about as much chance of getting work from these bigger companies with bigger budgets, as you do of being employed by them. I don't freelance because I want to avoid studios, I freelance because I could not gain full time employment. I have done the studio 'thing' and it was great I loved it, problem is exactly what you said; 'not always guaranteed work and is typically temporary.'
 
CLHB said:
Yeah, basically it's easier said than done, in the sense that you have about as much chance of getting work from these bigger companies with bigger budgets, as you do of being employed by them. I don't freelance because I want to avoid studios, I freelance because I could not gain full time employment. I have done the studio 'thing' and it was great I loved it, problem is exactly what you said; 'not always guaranteed work and is typically temporary.'
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The problem I find with freelancing/temp in-house work is that I need to arrange childcare, which isn't possible for me. I don't have, unlike some friends and other people I know, any relatives to help out as and when. Regular childcare would need to be set up for set days so if I weren't then working on those days I would still have to pay for it.

Generally when I have got permanent positions in the past it has been by going in on freelance basis to start with but I can't do that without losing a significant amount of money and it being potentially unsettling for my children. Freelancing in studios or companies was great for me in the past but not really practical with a family.

Not sure how I'm going to get that regular PAYE position when I can't get a foot in the door by freelancing and am quite a few years out of regular work! Trying to make the most of old connections at the moment.
 
MugOTea said:
The problem I find with freelancing/temp in-house work is that I need to arrange childcare, which isn't possible for me. I don't have, unlike some friends and other people I know, any relatives to help out as and when. Regular childcare would need to be set up for set days so if I weren't then working on those days I would still have to pay for it.
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That's something I hadn't considered. I'm currently working in a studio up until Christmas, and whilst it's giving me a steady income for the time being, I am finding that it is preventing me cracking on with other freelance work, which means I'm spending my evenings, lunch-breaks, and weekends catching up on other projects. Add a family into the mix and I guess it gets much worse.

Truth be told, I'm actually looking forward to working from home again! :icon_biggrin:
 
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