I am Hiring on Odesk....What Must I Look Out For??

13 replies
I plan to start a content writing business and I am hiring from Odesk right now. What am I suppose to look out for when hiring from the Philippines?
#hiring #odeskwhat
  • Profile picture of the author powerspike
    Oh what fun can Odesk can be.
    Personally i always have something along the lines of "If you have read this, use the word banana's in your reply". This will let you know if they have read your job posting.

    Second, Make sure you have a defined task for them to do. An example would be "I need 5 articles in the Intermarketing Niche, which will be 400-500 word articles about product reviews for Products X and Y". I see alot of job postings similar to "I need 5 articles about product X".

    The More Details you can Provide, the better your response will be, and usually you'll get what you ask for.

    NEVER offer to pay per hour *UNLESS* you have worked with the person before, and know how fast they work.

    Also once hired (and if you are paying by the hour because it's *that* type of job). Limit them to how many hours a week they can do. I once had a person leave their software running for 48 hours!
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    • Profile picture of the author Adie
      Originally Posted by powerspike View Post

      Oh what fun can Odesk can be.
      Personally i always have something along the lines of "If you have read this, use the word banana's in your reply". This will let you know if they have read your job posting.

      Second, Make sure you have a defined task for them to do. An example would be "I need 5 articles in the Intermarketing Niche, which will be 400-500 word articles about product reviews for Products X and Y". I see alot of job postings similar to "I need 5 articles about product X".

      The More Details you can Provide, the better your response will be, and usually you'll get what you ask for.

      NEVER offer to pay per hour *UNLESS* you have worked with the person before, and know how fast they work.

      Also once hired (and if you are paying by the hour because it's *that* type of job). Limit them to how many hours a week they can do. I once had a person leave their software running for 48 hours!
      I agree 100%

      I have 8 full time writers and I am paying all of them on per article basis.
      I have only 1 full time VA and I am giving her a fixed task that I computed based on the number of working hours.

      Everything should be planned well or else your business will get into trouble...
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  • Profile picture of the author keyideas
    Before hiring any writer you should check their content quality, previous work and profile then you can choose your writer from odesk
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  • Profile picture of the author danemorgan
    I just finished a project where I hired seven writers to write 5 articles each and had a great experience. They all commented that they loved working for me because I told them exactly what I wanted.

    Having done writing there in the past, and still doing Design gigs there, I can say that the number one problem on oDesk is not contractors who will not do what is asked, but buyers who cannot communitcate what they want.

    That said, I had to do some minor editing (I only fixed the worst of the mistakes and let some of them ride) which I expected going in. Not one of the writers i hired was a native English sopeaker, but all performed admirably.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nathy Curiel
    Check there profile and previous work. Take the time hiring ..maybe you get one or two misses in the future ,but it's part of the hiring game. I have a recruiter on my odesk for hiring new people..you see even hiring can be outsource on Odesk :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Victor Edson
    I use the secret word method too, and it's amazing how many people that weeds out who obviously didn't read the posting.

    The next thing I look at is their feedback.

    If it's someone you think can do the job, try them out to see how it goes first. Some people will have perfect English in their messages to your, or even via messenger, but their articles are horrid.

    Expect to do some editing, or find someone there to do some editing when you're ready for that.

    I've also noticed that a lot of the writers need to be told EXACTLY what you need written. If it's an ebook, if you can give them a table of contents, it helps a lot so they know what to cover.

    If it's 5 articles on internet marketing, letting them know 5 titles will help you tremendously in getting back quality content.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ruth P
    I would use the methods to make sure they read the ad properly like other replies here have mentioned.

    I'd also spend time talking to them, getting samples. If you specifically request samples in the ad and don't get sent any, that's also a sign they didn't read the ad. The pre-written samples they send you are a good starting point, but you'll need more samples before you make a decision.

    Personally if I like the samples they send I then ask for a paid sample, where I give them a couple of articles to write and see how they do. I still pay them even if I don't like it, but I won't hire them.

    It basically all comes down to spending time going through them, and being very clear in your expectations.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nisip
    Banned
    1 year ago i put a job on odesk.

    I received 184 job applications. It took me 8 days to read all aplications. Could not select people for interview... I just didn't check anymore
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  • Profile picture of the author MarketingMembers
    Ask for samples.
    Hire women. They typically do a faster and better job. That's the experience I've had over and over.
    Read as much feedback as possible.
    Don't hire a person because they are the cheapest. Hire someone because they are the right person for a job.
    Don't pay in advance. Pay for the job once it's completed.
    Like many others have said give as many details as possible to get the best results.
    Only hire people who have worked before. You might get lucky with a new person but why chance it?
    On Odesk look at the tests. The tests that they have taken will give you a pretty good idea on their skill level.
    If you ever hire anyone to develop software know in advance that it will never be done on time.
    Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author misterlmno
    hire people from the phillpines.

    check feedback and give them a test job to check quality.
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  • Profile picture of the author myeanne
    Great to hear that you love working with Filipino.

    Filipinos are really hardworking and nice. But I would always suggest that hiring an outsourcing company is far way better than hiring a freelancer.
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    Hire inexpensive labor from the Philippines!
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  • Profile picture of the author fated82
    Thanks people....i am enjoying the hiring process now....Will start working with them soon an yes, the mystery word method do work....Thanks!
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