oDesk is proud to announce the beta launch of oDesk Skill Tests. Providers on our network can take the more than 100 technical and business skills tests for FREE. After a provider has taken the tests, he/she can add the scores to their oDesk Profile and leverage the test scores to get jobs on oDesk. The test scores are included in the profiles, allowing a person looking at the profile to objectively measure the strength of the provider’s skills. For e.g., take a look at Jeff K’s beta profile here .
The tests are prepared by experienced professionals with several years of experience in their technical domains under ISO 9001-2000 specifications. The questions have been through several rounds of analysis by experts to help build well balanced, comprehensive, and meaningful tests.
5 reasons fo Providers to take oDesk Tests:
- Make more money. Buyers use test scores to make hiring decisions. Having oDesk Tests on the Profile increases chances of getting a job and get higher rates.
- Show off skills. oDesk Tests cover a wide range of skills including ASP.Net, C, C++, PHP, Java, English language and many more. All tests are developed under ISO 9001-2000 specifications. See a full list here.
- Taking tests is simple. Most tests take 40 minutes to complete and are automatically added to the oDesk Profile. The entire process is streamlined through the oDesk website, no need to go to other websites or create extra logins.
- Retake tests. Provider can retake any test after 14 days. If the provider’s skills improve, he/she can retake the test to show the best score for each test on the oDesk Profile.
- Complete control. After the provider completes a test, he/she has the choice to add the score to the Profile, or not show it and retake the test later. Taking the tests is completely risk-free.
For oDesk buyers, oDesk test scores will enable them to make intelligent hiring decisions. A buyer can use the test scores on the providers profiles to search, rank and sort when they are looking to hire someone for a job opening. A buyer can also have providers take tests as a requirement for selection to thier job opening.Take a look here to see a couple of comments by buyer on how eagerly they are waiting for this feature.
All oDesk Tests are available for free for Providers and do not require anything other than being logged into the oDesk account (Click here to go to the “My Tests” page on our beta site and click on “Qualification Testsâ€? to get started).
The feature is currently in beta and will be released in early August.
No other competitor has this powerful combination: free skills tests and top jobs from all over the world!
August 6th, 2006 at 11:05 am
Here is a company that is doing it the right way. Training people, Indians and Americans to be programmers. The way I see it, the hourly model is hard to suceed with if you are not a professional project manager, do not have software development experience, or just believe you can say ‘do this’ and it gets done. Maybe oDesk should do a class on project management for it’s buyers. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060806/tc_afp/indiatechnologycompanyinfosysemployment
November 8th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Its about time they provided some service, they mark up our hourly rates 30% and expect to work for them for no additional value. Did you notice that you only need to get a 50% to pass. I’m trying to remember what 50% typically got you in college, oh yeah that would be an F.
November 8th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
hi Ken -
interesting perspective… from a competitor without full disclosure.
it appears your comment comes from the following IP address:
Author : Ken Kirkland
IP: 12.47.49.197 , att-out1.elance.com
it’s great to know that our competitors are following oDesk press releases and announcements so closely. we think our recent announcement on free skills testing is pretty notable too.
you might also want to check out our Work Diary & Team Room tools, which provide visual monitoring & verified work history. that might qualify as the “additional value” you’re looking for, and one of the more significant features oDesk offers different from eLance and other tools.
thanks for dropping by.
June 25th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
[...] had been running this in beta for a few months. You can read our previous blog post and our nice Online Testing FAQ in the oDesk Handbook for more details. - Abid [...]