• Finding Work At Home: Part 6–oDesk.com
Posted by Tom on March 11th, 2008
If you’re looking for a way to work at home you’ll want to read this interview with Josh Breinlinger, Director of Marketing for oDesk Corporation; all they offer is work at home jobs. If you have trouble finding work where you live, there’s good news–employers often have trouble finding people with technical skills where they are. That’s where oDesk comes in as a matchmaker.
They’ve created an online marketplace that allows companies to hire, manage and pay remote technical workers no matter where they live. Most of the work they offer is web development and software development, but they also have jobs for writers, graphic designers, and folks with SEO expertise.
1) How long has your job board been active?
Re: oDesk was founded in 2004.
2) How many open positions do you have on average?
Re: We have ~300 new jobs posted every day.
3) How many offer telework?
Re: All of them. There are no postings for local hires, all work is done remotely.
4) How many employers use your service?
Re: We have around 30,000, of which about 8,000 are active each month.
5) Do you do anything to verify the authenticity of a project post?
Re: We validate credit cards of buyers, but more importantly, we guarantee the people doing the work work thru our system that they will get paid.
6) Do you have a feel for the percentage of jobs that are filled on your site?
Re: Varies a lot depending on the category. Most are around 50%.
7) What do your consider your niche to be?
Re: Majority of work is technical, web development and software development, but categories like writing, graphic design, and SEO are expanding rapidly.
8) You seem to specialize in projects vs. jobs, is that correct?
Re: There is a large range. You can see some of the info on jobs at http://www.odesk.com/community/oconomy. While the majority of individual job postings are for relatively small projects, you’ll also see a good number of jobs for 1/2 year or more.
9) What are the most needed skills?
Re: There is demand for everything, but some of the newer tech skills are in very high demand, eg Ruby, Ajax, etc.
10) How are you different from your competitors / Why should a job candidate use you?
Re: Always free to register and participate in our network, including free skills certifications. And payment for work thru our system is guaranteed. We try to take a lot of the hassle out of the process.
11) Are any fees paid by the job candidate?
Re: Nope.
12) Are your jobs scraped or aggregated from other job boards?
Re: No. All jobs posted by oDesk buyers.
13) Are your jobs fed to any other job boards (such as CareerBuilder, HotJobs, or others)?
Re: They are listed on Indeed and SimplyHired.
14) What % of your posts come from recruiters?
Re: As far as I’m aware, very very few. Almost all of the positions are direct relationships with oDesk buyers for remote work.
15) Where do the majority of your posts come from (recruiters, end users, newspapers, etc.)?
Re: End users. Mostly small-medium sized businesses.
If you’re looking a way to work from home or a telecommuting job, visit oDesk.com and see what they have to offer. What do you have to lose? Unlike many scams out there, it’s entirely free.
March 11th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I signed in with this outfit, oDesk today. I wish I hadn’t. Their software is a spying application that is intrusive. Hey, I’m a programmer. I deal with codes and graphics. I don’t need anyone looking over my shoulder while I’m in the lab. I’m a scientist. My formula is not for sale until it’s been tested.
So… I did some research on the organization and dug this up:
http://www.centernetworks.com/odesk-eslavery
You might be interested in knowing that a real mastermind does not want to show off a masterpiece until it it is ready. Furthermore, I don’t need any spies inside my system to slow me down.
Regards,
Sharon Solesbee, CIS, ITN
http://www.ITsaBS.com
March 11th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Thanks for your comment Sharon. I emailed Josh and asked him to respond to both your comments and the opinions on the the link you included.
I’ve always been of the opinion that it’s product not process that matters, in other words results. Indeed, all our research shows that one reason people like to work from home is because the don’t enjoy anyone looking over their shoulder and they can schedule their own time as long as they get the work done when promised. The kind of scrutiny you describe sounds like the sweatshop era, nevermind web 1.0.
But I’m always willing to change my mind based on good evidence. I’m eager to see what oDesk has to say.
March 11th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Ah yes, I almost forgot about our good friends over at CenterNetworks.
We actually had a great discussion about this blog post a while ago. oDesk posted a link to the blog and quoted it in our own community forums. See the discussion here: http://www.odesk.com/community/node/581
I think what you’ll see is that there is a perception issue. Our “actual” providers that are doing work and logging their time with our system do not share this perception at all. I can certainly tell you that they greatly appreciate the FACT that oDesk invoices the buyers and GUARANTEES payment to the providers for their hard work. If you’re interested in seeing how our software actually works you can check out the video demo of the desktop client application here: http://www.odesk.com/help/help/using_odesk_tools/odesk_video_tutorials#TeamVid
So, while I can appreciate that the software may be a bit unnerving at first glance if it is misunderstood, in practice it is a useful tool for automated time-tracking and billing that builds trust and confidence in remote relationships for both buyers and providers. It leaves buyers with confidence that they’re paying for work performed. (and in some cases they never even need to look at the Work Diary) For providers, it gives them a simple and efficient way to get guaranteed payment for their work on long-term hourly jobs.
-Josh
March 11th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Interesting stuff in that discussion. Looks to me, to summarize, that the problem is how to keep track of hourly workers–emphasis on the paid by the hour part.
It’s one thing if a contractor/freelancer has agreed to a fixed price to deliver a product by a certain date, but if they’re working on an hourly basis how do you know they aren’t watching a soap opera or surfing the web on your nickel? oDesk seems to have a good answer to that dilemma.
The “ah-hah!” for me came when I realized that they track your time only when you claim your working, so you still can make your own schedule.
March 11th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
The way I see it, if you prefer to be trusted then you must learn to trust. I installed this software. My keyboard keypad stopped responding during the testing phase. I am a freelance professional with a career to protect. Software code is not something that should be spied on during its development or otherwise. Coders work hard to deliver the contents of the sophisticated programs that make peoples lives easier. It should make oDesk feel better to understand that a majority of individuals deliver what they promise, including myself.
If someone must watch over my shoulder to be certain they are getting their moneys worth of my time then they don’t need my help. This pertains to integrity.
Sharon Solesbee, CIS, ITN
http://www.ITsaBS.com
March 17th, 2008 at 10:26 am
@ Sharon - Here’s where I think the misalignment comes from. You are speaking as if you are bidding on a project. eg, $10k to complete a project. oDesk is much more about buying time, eg $25 per hour to work on a job.
We make a distinction between “inputs” and “outputs”. A buyer at oDesk may post either Fixed-Price or Hourly jobs. Fixed-Price jobs are all about buying outputs or final deliverables. Hourly jobs are all about buying inputs, eg, time.
I agree with you that in a Fixed-Price model, the oDesk software is not necessary, and fyi - we DO NOT require usage of the software for fixed-price jobs. However, if a buyer is buying TIME on an hourly job, we believe the software does help establish trust and it validates the purchase of the input of time.