Teams on oDesk

Question

Freelance

I want to start working on oDesk.
Do you think it's easier to get your first job as a team member?

If yes, how to get there?
How to contact them (oDesk, as I understand it, does not give any contacts if you are not an employer)?

Answer 1

Hello, I have over 500 hours of work on odesca and several projects with pay-as-you-go.
1. I don't think that simply registering as a team member will make it easier for you to find an order. This works a little differently. A team manager or someone who is already working on a project can recommend you to their client. This can facilitate the interview and the customer will not pay attention to the lack of experience. But you will still have to converse. Accordingly, as a manager, I am unlikely to recommend someone I do not know without knowing his experience / abilities.
2. I can suggest the way I received my first orders:
- monitor orders constantly (oDesk allows you to subscribe to keywords via RSS). It seems to me that most orders are published in the area from 1 am to 4 am Moscow time.
- as soon as a suitable order appears, make your bet in which you write that for some time (ideally a few hours, but you can also the next day) you will make a prototype that will show that you know the customer's subject area. You have to work in vain of course, but you gain experience and the likelihood that you will be chosen grows.
- Pay attention to the history of previous hires of the customer. Part of the work on oDesk is published in order to estimate the approximate cost of development and decide whether it is worth taking on the project at all or not. Such customers do not have a history of hiring - accordingly, there is a chance that you will make a prototype without any return.

Answer 2

Many publish their coordinates, this time :)
Next - there is an option to register an account for the contractor - subcontractor. Then you use both functions.

Answer 3

It is easiest to start on oDesk with a low hourly rate (I have about 3000 hours on two accounts). You will work for a penny, gaining hours, then you can apply for normal money. ODesk teams have their own costs and benefits. The advantage is that a team manager will look for work for you - he monitors projects and sells you as a labor force. The downside is that the Team will take up to 40% of the hourly rate. Normal team managers ask what hourly rate you are interested in - that's what you will have if you leave them the opportunity, voicing your interests, to sell you a little more expensive anyway. It all depends on appetite, patience and skill, of course. I had several cases when, during the course of the project, the client voluntarily increased my rate per hour - if he liked my work. Good luck! There is a lot of work - enough for everyone:

Answer 4

My experience:
- Use an adequate rate. Don't underestimate, but don't overestimate for no reason. My initial one was $10 (Ukraine), but in the end, I bet $13 on the project for which I was hired, having estimated the size of the project and the solvency of the customer.
- Try to fill out your profile completely and pass tests - post information about yourself as a developer (what tools do you use, what do you prefer, etc.)
- Many employers are looking for individual freelancers, not companies. And for some, this is a tough condition - if they see that you are associated with any company, they simply do not want to do business with you. How do I know this? I myself worked in an office that worked through oDesk. So they had several profiles outside the company just for such cases. I myself heard on several skype interviews a request to confirm that the contractor is really on his own.
— It is very important to write the bid correctly. freelance.ru-style "let's do it, write" does not work here. Give a detailed answer why you are suitable for this job, ask questions about the technical aspects of the project, which were somehow touched upon in the text of the vacancy. In short, let's understand that this is not a copy-paste, but an individual approach.

Answer 5

The day before yesterday I registered, yesterday I received the first task, today the first money is on the oDesk wallet there.
Passed two tests.
PHP5, - stupid, did not figure out that you can retake it only after a month,
answered more for the sake of interest, but scored a passing score, although not high.
And the second, which, according to the rules of oDesk itself, raised the quota of offers to 15 from 2 by the second test.
Reith bet $10 but took the order for $8.
As a result, I received $15 per hour of work. the customer was satisfied and added a bonus.
That's how I warmed up there over the weekend)