oDesk Community - Quality check on Project postings, Anyone???? - Comments

I tell them

daverobinson — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:11:10 +0000

If they don't tell me what they want in enough detail I tell them what amount of work my bid is based on.

In the initial example I'd base it on 500 words and go from there.

hooey

terrimorgan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:44:53 +0000

Tried that. When I asked and said I would review the material (once it was provided) at a fair hourly rate then provide a fixed-price quote -- AFTER I had a chance to see the material!!! I got a message that my bid had been declined due to the buyer wanting a fixed price bid.

Enforcing a "required entry field" for the project description WOULD make a lot of difference and save all the wasted time messaging UNQUALIFIED BUYERS.

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jpittenger wrote:

Certainly, some buyers ought to put more effort into their job descriptions. But I don't think enforcing a mandatory word (or character) count would necessarily fix anything. Quantity is definitely not the same as quality. I've seen concise descriptions that were very helpful, and wordy ones that didn't say anything very useful.

As for how to handle these postings, is it really so hard to ask those questions in your cover letter? If you don't get satisfactory answers, you'll know to move on. If you do get enough information and it changes what you want as your bid or rate, you have the ability to change that in My Candidacies.

Or you can simply choose not to apply to a job if the buyer hasn't put in the effort to write a proper description.

Jacqui Pittenger :: Forum Moderator
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Certainly, some buyers

jpittenger — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:59:44 +0000

Or you can simply choose not to apply to a job if the buyer hasn't put in the effort to write a proper description.

Jacqui Pittenger :: Forum Moderator
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Quality check on Project postings, Anyone????

agarwalabha — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:52:27 +0000

I have seen several buyers posting projects without outlining anything. Post - Writers wanted. Description - wanted quality articles.

No information about the work, about the style, topics, final formatting, resulting thing, nothing at all. I mean at least please describe what are you looking for, what is the word count (in case of writing), Or what is the book about, how many pages, how many words (in case of editing), how soon do you want the project back. what are the other terms you are looking for. what is the payment structure (in case of fixed fee projects).

I think ODesk should make at least 50 words mandatory for a project description.