Please Help .. Can't Get Hired

Joseph,

To be perfectly honest, there's nothing to see on your profile to make me (as a buyer) want to hire you at $22/hr...because there's nothing there!

Making $20/hr and more is not uncommon for web designers/developers.  Data entry, on the other hand, is extremely competitive, and the average hourly rate is much lower than other categories.

My suggestion would be to fill out your profile and focus more on the html/web work.

1) Add an objective/overview to your profile.  Keep it relatively short (personally, I think mine could be shorter), and instead of mentioning what you want from your buyer, list what you can do for them.  Are you fast?  To you pay extra attention to detail?  Are you an expert with a particular piece of software?

2) Fill out your resume/skills.  If you don't have any work experience, at least fill out your skills.  Definitely list HTML as a skill.  Do you have experience with different programming languages?  What about software applications?

3) Take more tests specific to the types of jobs you are applying for.  At the very least, take the English (sentence structure) test.  I would also recommend taking the X/HTML test/s as well.

4) Fill your portfolio.  As I mentioned earlier, data entry is extremely competitive and the jobs typically pay less...so focus on your web work.  Do you have websites that you've designed/developed?  Screenshot them and put them in your portfolio.

Landing your first assignment is going to be the hardest, especially with the economy being...er...shaky (for lack of a better term).  Buyers look for providers who can prove their worth.  If you don't have any oDesk hours and feedback logged, you are going to have to make up for it with an outstanding profile/portfolio and an even better cover letter.

When you apply for jobs, be sure to pay attention to what the buyer lists in their job descriptions.  If they ask for specific items, include them in your cover letter.  You will have to sell them, within a few short paragraphs, on why  they should hire you over the other 60 applicants.

See this article (last odesk newsletter) for cover letter tips:
http://www.odesk.com/community/node/4841

Also, be open to the idea of being paid lower rates for your first job or two...or three.  Many providers here (myself included) have bid lower on their first few jobs in order to get the hours logged and feedback stars on their profiles.  After time, most providers slowly start increasing their rates until they are at a comfortable rate.  While it's not impossible to get hired for your first job at your desired rate, it will be extremely difficult - especially if your profile is as barren as it is now.

You may want check out the oDesk Insider Blog for tips (this blog is run by providers, for providers) - it's a great resource, especially when it comes to explaining trends and how the site works as a whole.

- Danalyn

Before you complain about rates, read all 4 parts of the oDesk Insider Blog's Make More Money series.