Have your profile reviewed by oDesk Community

Welcome to oDesk - I'm not an experienced provider but I do work at oDesk. I'm not sure what the rest of the truly experienced providers would think about my advice, but here goes...

• Overall, your profile looks very good
• As a web designer, your portfolio is going to be critical. Show as much as you can.
• Your title right now is: "Affordable Web / Graphic Designer"
• I think there are many "affordable" designers and developers, I would try to highlight something that really makes you stand out. "End-End Website / Graphic Designer based in US" or "Rock-star project manager for your website needs" ...

It probably will take you a little bit of time, but I'm sure any veteran provider would tell you that the first job is the hardest to get since you don't have feedback yet. You could try listing some "testimonials" right on your profile from some of your previous clients.

Last, make sure your cover letters to buyers are highly personalized and custom to their job posting. Buyers hate getting cut and paste cover letters.

Good luck!

Josh Breinlinger

oDesk 

Thanks Josh for your input. I will make some changes to my portfolio and title. I have received my first interview request. So wish me luck. By the way no one else has given me any input.

Thanks again Phyllis 

Hi Phyllis...

I think you should provide more work examples.. it will be greate if you will create photo album (use any freeware web service) and upload there you graphic design samples... It will be usefull to provide links to your samples in your cover letter.

Anyway, your profile looks very good! Good luck!

Andrew

Okay, How do I go about providing more examples of my work? I looked through my profile and don't see where to add this. Other than providing examples in my cover letters.

Phyllis Bayard

You have already provided project descriptions in employment history. Another place to add such descriptions is skills: http://www.odesk.com/console/d/profile.php?do=EditSkills - you can add some comments to each skill, list projects, etc. Hope that helps.

Regards,
Dmitry,
oDesk.

Good luck on your first interview.

And on a more general note, I was browsing through some profiles and noticed some misspellings in profile titles.  I know English is not primary language for a lot of providers, but take the time to do a spell-check.

Expirienced --> Experienced.

Josh Breinlinger

oDesk 

how can i pass odesk test it confusing na. plz anyone who pass this test plz send me answers on my id that is shineblue30@yahoo.com

am waiting...........

Everything on your profile looks pretty nice, but there are no external links to any sites you've worked on. It will be very hard for a buyer to get a sense of the quality of your work.
 
Josh Breinlinger

oDesk 

Thanx, i didn't place my previous jobs for client confidentiality and i will prepare some test sites for it....

Thanks an hi everyone here in oDesk.

I would upload your portrait, change the title to a more catchy one (see above for examples) and take more tests, for example, MS Word test.

One of the first things I would do is work on formatting of your profile, so it looks more accurate and is easier to skim through.

Also, it will help if you take tests on different MS Office applications, since you state you are good at them.

Finally, you use blog writing and writing as your skill categories and it would be great to provide links to any work you have done in that regard to illustrate your skills.

Hope this helps,
Olga
oDesk

Hi,

Please format my profile if you feel that is not more appropriate from buyer's perspective. I am more of technical person than in to technical writing or blog writing. I have done tetsing work for 6 yrs on different applications. As its a client proprietry I can not put any links of my work in this. Appreciate if you can tell me any other way of putting my work for the buyer to get some idea.

Thanks,

Aruna

Aruna,

My previous comment about blog writing was related to this particular profile: http://www.odesk.com/console/users/b85803ae6416e1fe.

Regards,
Olga
oDesk

MS Access and ASP.NET 

Josh Breinlinger

oDesk 

hello Thanks i have corrected

please send more on remaining

Fahim

hello yar tm nay odesk wala test kaisay pas kia hai mujy b bata do yar mery id py shineblue30@yahoo.com

-You have a couple misspellings in your profile, not major, but fix them. "pursueing"

-Mechanical experience does not seem very relevant to work on oDesk.

-Use a portrait for your portrait. Not a logo.

-Mainly, I think you need to establish some feedback on oDesk. It's always hardest to get your first job, but consider talking about that in your cover letter to a buyer. eg, "Hey, I know I don't have feedback yet, but I'm looking to establish my reputation in the oDesk network. I'd be willing to do your small project for you with no risk. Set a weekly limit to zero and approve all hours or work on a fixed-price basis so the buyer approves every payment. (Obviously, this means you do not get guaranteed payment for the first project).

-Good luck!

Josh Breinlinger

oDesk 

Ok here is my profile

John Costanzo 

 I know it needs some work
 

I'd suggest working on your portfolio site quite a bit more. It's the only link on your oDesk profile and it's a representation of the quality of your work. I'm sure you can make it quite a bit more attractive.

For reference, here's the profile and portfolio of a very successful oDesk provider.

http://www.odesk.com/console/users/187d59f5ad8cd648  

http://www.insite.cc/resume/

Josh Breinlinger

oDesk 

Ok made some changes but should I take more tests? Should I change wording? Thanks again

I think your profile looks pretty solid! Keep at it and I'm sure you'll have some good results.

A couple thoughts:

At a glance, it is tough to tell what your focus is: are you a writer? a beta tester? system admin? I can see that you have a broad experience but help buyers really understand your focus. I might suggest moving away from "beta testing" as a focus since most companies can get that work done for free by inviting existing users to be beta testers. (that's what we do).

-Spend a little more time on your Objective field. It's at the top of the profile and is intended to deliver your profile summary and goals in a concise sentence or two. Might want to talk more about what you want to do for potential buyers than what you have done for others.

-A random "untested" idea. Looks like you might have some previous reference-able customers. Maybe include a brief testimonial from some of your previous clients / employers right in your profile.

-And a blog post from an oDesk buyer with some additional tips.

Josh Breinlinger

oDesk 

I liked your comments, looks like you did a nice job of looking over her profile. could you do the same for mine? as for "lots of profile entries...(was that gbaltazar's?)" this is my comment:

Everyone started out without a work history and feed back score. I have been a provider for 3 months now and I've also seen what you've seen. Some providers dont have tests and almost nothing on their profile. on the other hand, some have so much, you'd begin to doubt what they can really do well. I think the first tip would be to place your profile under the right category you want to be hired for. which means focusing your job experiences on what you want to be hired for too. Ive been blessed to have 2 continuing assignments (way past the proposed working period of 2 weeks for both) I know both my buyers are satisfied, or else they would have ended the assignment.

Its nice to see that there's an earnest interest in trying to give tips for providers. I hope some of you get to comment on my profile too. 

 wow, this is a nice thread. i'd like to commend whoever started this. and since it sounds fun, i'll join.

my turn.

i'd like to improve my profile. i'm open to tips, suggestions and comments.

anyone?

I cannot really recommend anything except for adding a link to examples of your writing works, if any of them (or extracts) are available online.

You seem to be getting good feedback from buyers, so apparently your profile does attract them and, what's more important you actually do a great job working on the projects.

Keep up the good work!
Olga

Hi all

 please check out my profile so far! 

 I tried hard since i registered. Could anyone help me out whats going wrong in my profile.

Thanks and regards,

Santosh Yadav

Santosh Yadav,

Your profile seems to describe more of your programming experience, while the list of openings you have recently applied to shows mostly Excel and data-entry related job openings. If these job openings are of most interest to you, make sure your profile displays more information about your experince in this field, as well as more examples of the projects you have completed. Also, you would need to change your profile title accordingly.

Consider also including feedback from your previous happy clients and uploading your portrait.

Regards,
Olga
oDesk

I am afraid that the problem with your profile is that you describe the projects you have done in the programming field, but are applying to data entry/content writing jobs. If data entry and content writing are in fact your priority, consider including links to the content you have already created and describe data entry projects you have completed.

As for lack of feedback, feel free to include references from your previous non-oDesk buyers.

Hope this helps,
Olga
oDesk

Hi Scott, welcome to oDesk - I'm no guru by any means but a quick glance at your portfolio looks pretty good.  Perhaps taking some more relevant tests will help you out - and of course the biggest thing is to continue to put out plenty of applications to new jobs and make sure your cover letters are well written!

Have some patience, all of us took a while to get going!! Good luck to you!

Doreen
 

Thanks for the kind welcome Doreen

 I do have another question however... I find that oDesk's technology tests are... kind of all over the place. Not knocking them, just saying they aren't the best...

I have a very large list of specific technology certifications from BrainBench.com and would like to add them all to my profile.  I personally feel that the BrainBench tests are much, much better then the ones that are provided by oDesk/ExpertRating.

These certifications have helped me in the real-world, however I have
my doubts about them on the oDesk site, simple because of the way that
the profile is laid out. It would be nice if they were able to be added
under the 'Tests' section.

 I know you aren't a buyer, but in your opinion, would you simply just look at the oDesk tests on a provider's profile? Or would you give the BrainBench certification tests the same merit as those provided by oDesk?

Cheers,

Scott
 

HI again, I think you'll find this topic in others ?'s about their profiles and that folks do look at the brain bench certifications. I think you have a few options on those (a) add them to your resume or (b) link them in 'portfolio'  or (c) add them to your resume but add the brain bench cert links under portfolio so if a potential buyer is looking at your profile they're seeing them in an easy to find location.

Being a provider I suspect the buyers train of thought goes something like this (pure speculation)

A)  Feedback/Rate

B)  Resume (glance over)

C)  Portfolio (more intense)

D)  Tests

Now this could be TOTALLY offbase because I am a provider also

Overall I thought you did a very nice job on your portfolio including links to relevant sites that you've worked on. 

If you have someone you trust to give you an honest opinion have them review your cover letter(s) and see if maybe something there is spooking folks.

This will be controversial for some but do not hesitate in your cover letters to let folks know you're new to oDesk but point out your strong points - personally I think our cover letters are what makes buyers look further.  Course what do I know again I'm a provider LOL

Good luck and feel free to email/chat if you want some help.

Doreen

Thanks for all the insight, Doreen. It sure helps!

 On another note, I've received my first interview request!!! Yeehaw! Time to get the ball rollin'

Cheers,

Scott 

That's great news! Good luck! Doreen 

The first thing I notice is that you should add your sample sites to the portfolio. It's ok to list a few in the skills and work history area, but if you want to have that many, they should be in the portfolio. That's where buyers are used to looking - if they see an empty portfolio, they will usually skip right past the rest of the profile.

Maybe just the top three examples under a skill or history item, and then all of it in the portfolio.

Are you talking about my portfolio?