Does anyone here use oDesk to find work?

I have signed up but I haven't used it yet. Have you checked out www.elance.com, www.freelancer.com and www.vworker.com?

Ive been using ODesk for years, i used it to build links to my SEO website and got ranked on 571 major keywords using backlinkers on there... It only cost me 18K lol

oDesk is legitimate and does a good job especially if you want to find an employee. Fiverr.com is another source for finding a worker to do a specific job for you such as create a banner, get backlinks etc.

The answer is Yes .I quit my job where i was $250 per month and when i enrolled my first job i was earning $270 per week and since then i can only look back with smile

i use odesk all the time to hire people.
points to remember if you want to get hired by these sites:
read job posting carefully and do exactly what employer says. good hiring phrases to use. if the job posting says, i need job done asap. when you apply to job, say i will have it done in 24 hours or 48 hours. be specific with time. alwaya be specific and you will catch people's eye and get hired.

Yes it is.
However, Be Warned!
As a provider, things are not in your favor on oDesk. (I was a top Designer on oDesk years ago)

I've had bad experiences with a few bad clients, and oDesk does everything to be on the side of the clients, and not the workers.

For example, a Client can give you a very bad rating for no reason whatsoever. (Happened to me already)

I was ready to begin the job after the Client chose me for the project. The client never wrote back even one message to me, instead he closed off the job, leaving the lowest possible feedback. (0)

I didn't even get the chance to do anything.
(Feedback ratings affect very much how often you will get jobs there)

I reported this to the oDesk staff, and they did absolutely nothing about it.

They just said: "Clients can rate you whatever they choose, for any reason they want."


Another bad encounter with a dishonest client, unfortunately got me kicked out of oDesk when I argued back at the Client.

oDesk "Stole" the remaining funds in my account, from my last 8 Jobs with other Clients who already paid me. (Those clients had nothing against me, were very happy with my work)

So, my advise would be to try somewhere else like Elance, Freelancer, even Fiverr.
(But that's just my opinion, based on my experience on oDesk)


What I like about Fiverr, is that they DO take action against abusive Clients.

If a Client gives you a bad rating for no good reason, after you have done everything correctly in your Gig, then the Fiverr Staff will investigate and remove that bad rating.

You won't get that "Love" on oDesk, sorry.



Not likely to be honest.

About 3-4 years ago, yes, you could get consistent work there.

But now, every project has 25-50 applicants.
It's just gotten too saturated.

Also, you have a weekly limit as to how many jobs you can apply to, so the odds are against you.


Your best bet, would be to search for a Client who wants to build a long-term relationship with the provider.

If you waste time applying to allot of 1-time jobs, when you do eventually get one and complete it, it can be days or weeks until you land another project.


That's why I've moved away from those type of sites a long time ago, and I focus more on building my own business, now getting multiple Clients daily.

In any case, best of luck!
-Andrew

I use Odesk to hire workers

Yes, i have been using odesk and Fiverr for my web tasks and its really helpful.I earner more then $1000 in couple of months.Check this out nexstair at Fiverr.com and https://www.odesk.com/contractors/nexstair

I use Odesk not to find work, but to outsource some of my work. I once used it to build a software tool for myself. The quality of work was not really good though.

I am afraid oDesk is not the best of places if you are looking for work. Because you will not paid worth your time. Also the clients there want to hire people at 'cheap' rate. So if you are knowledgeable and have skills search work in other platform like elance.

Of course there is no doubt about it. I had been working there for many years.

At one time, I used freelancing sites to offer my services and oDesk was one of them. They are legit and very popular indeed. I did find work there but I was not serious about freelancing because it was not my eventual business model. I also hired freelancers from oDesk at one time. The competition is high there which makes prices go down considerably. Good for project givers, not so good for freelancers. In order to get consistent amount of work, you will need to be patient and spend a lot of time trying to get projects. But when you establish yourself with good reviews, getting projects will be relatively easier.

Of course oDesk is legit. Millions of people are working at oDesk and earning their living from there.

Hell no! Prices are too low for me. I personally charge $5,000 minimum for my services but Odesk people would want them for 500 haha NO DEAL

I landed a 30-60 hr/week web research/data entry job on oDesk that lasted for a year, and I've also gotten a few writing jobs on there. There are a ton of crappy jobs on oDesk, but if you look really hard, you can find a few gems hidden in there.

I have hired content writers on oDesk before. I never have been hired through their system though.

I've spent over $7,000 on there for data entry, research, graphic, and some programming. Lately I've been hiring 2 or 3 people for the same job because quality is all over the board. I'll hire couple people, have them each do a sample, and then pick a fia for the rest of the project. The people from the Phillapeans seems to work the best for data entry and web research.

Is it possible to support oneself exclusively from jobs on this kind of sites?

I work there. It is great to get the ball rolling (to build a portfolio). But you're not going to make a living there. Most people that hire there a looking for cheap labour and they have people there that will provide it for them. So the bottom line is if you can live on a $10/hour fee you are going to be able to make a living there if you need more you better start working on your on attracting clients from your own website.

I use it to find people that will work for me.. its a good site to start with.

Ean

Absolutely YES. one can get work here & earn a hand some money, if their skill is good.

eLance.com does have better quality workers but they are quite expensive compared to oDesk.com. I've hired quite a few workers there at oDesk.com so far but I gotta say some were good and some were bad. Some people even stopped working even though they signed the contract. But if you spend more time researching and interviewing a lot of people for your project, I'm pretty sure you can find some good workers at a reasonable price.