Provider 101: oDesk Essentials

Every provider has a profile on oDesk (Profile > My Provider Profile). Fill out every section as completely as you can (no email addresses, phone numbers or chat IDs, please — it's against our policies). Buyers will see your provider profile as part of your job applications and when proactively searching for great candidates. Providers with detailed and well-written profiles have an easier time attracting great buyers (more information = better job offers).

The entry fields throughout the profile section are plain text. HTML formatting is not accepted, but it does have some smart-formatting capabilities. Full URLs become clickable links and an * at the beginning of a line turns it into a bulleted list item.

The oDesk Team application is used for tracking time on hourly assignments. It also includes other useful features such as screenshot annotation and URL shortening. oDesk's software is compatible with most modern operating system, though features may be limited in some versions. Please download and install the appropriate version of the oDesk Team application right away.

oDesk offers hundreds of free skill tests (Find Providers & Jobs > Tests) to help you prove your skills to perspective buyers. Passing tests is also a way for new providers to raise their job application quotas. Try to take the test for every skill you listed in your profile and any others that sound relevant. If you don't like your score, you can hide it and retake the test again in 30 days. Generally, you should only make your most impressive test scores public (Profile > My Tests). Consider sharing your best scores on Facebook and Twitter — this is a great way to market yourself to potential buyers.

Please don't confuse your percentile rankings with percentage scores. Scores are graded out of 5.0 (a 2.5 means you got half the answers correct). Percentiles are used to show your relative position among those who took the test. A 'middle of the road' test score will place you at the 50th percentile.

You can run custom searches (Find Providers & Jobs > Find Jobs) and save them to RSS feeds so you never miss out on a new job opportunity.
Keep in mind that you can apply to both hourly and fixed-price jobs. While new providers may want to start with a few small fixed-price jobs to establish their reputation on oDesk, most successful providers opt for hourly jobs that both have longer term prospects and bear the oDesk payment guaranty (payments for fixed-price jobs are at the discretion of the buyer).

As you read through your search results, check out the descriptions as well as the buyers' histories and payment method verification status. If you see any jobs that violate our policies or look suspicious (like a buyer who posted direct contact info, asks you to violate the Terms of Service of another site or offers to pay outside oDesk), please report them to Customer Support. There's a 'flag as inappropriate' link at the top right of every job post for this purpose. It will automatically include an identifying number so the support rep knows which job you're referring to. We do count on the community to alert us issues in the marketplace, so your assistance is greatly appreciated.

If you haven't already done so, please familiarize yourself with the complete job posting and application policy.

First, only apply (Find Providers & Jobs > Find Jobs) to jobs for which you are an excellent fit. Don't waste your or the buyer's time if it's not a job you'd be great at. Please remember that you are limited on how many jobs you can apply to at a time. Second, take the time to write an outstanding cover letter. It absolutely must be customized to the specific job you're applying to and address the needs and skills listed in the job post. A cover letter need not be very long, but the content has to catch the buyer's attention (in a good way) and make them want to learn more about you. Whenever possible, include the URLs of some related work samples. If you have question for the buyer, include those in your cover letter. If your rate is negotiable, mention that, too. Like in your provider profile, the cover letter entry field is plain text. HTML formatting is not accepted, but it does have some smart-formatting capabilities. Full URLs become clickable links and an * at the beginning of a line turns it into a bulleted list item.

Finally, only keep a candidacy (My Jobs > Candidacies) open as long as you feel like the job would be an excellent fit. While old applications don't affect your quota, you'll still want to think about ending your aging candidacies. Non-responsive buyers are showing a lack of communication that would likely be difficult to work with even if you were eventually hired.

Please don't ignore all buyers who lack a verified payment method. While we don't recommend you start working for a stranger until verification is complete, it doesn't hurt to apply. A new buyer may want to see that there are worthwhile candidates before verifying... A simple reminder to verify in your cover letter is usually sufficient.

Interviewing is the most important part of the entire hiring process. Finding the right person for the job is the key to a successful assignment. It's your job to prove that you are that person. But sometimes an interview isn't enough to make the final decision. Some buyers will take several candidates for a 'test drive' (a small, paid, trial assignment) before deciding who gets the actual job.

So how exactly does one interview as a candidate on oDesk?

First, the buyer invites the provider to interview. Then you'll communicate through the message center (Messages > Inbox). Keep the interview entirely inside oDesk (to protect your privacy) or exchange contact info and move the interview to email, chat or telephone (it's OK to exchange contact information in the interview stage, just not before). Try to schedule any 'live' interviews (chat or voice) at least a day ahead of time — especially when dealing with buyers in other time zones.

And if the buyer hasn't yet completed the payment method verification, be sure to remind them about it in the interview. You cannot be paid if the buyer doesn't complete that verification.

Since you may not have much experience with interviewing for remote work, here are some sample interview questions you're likely to be asked:

It is possible to get an interview invitation to a job you have not yet applied to. This frequently happens to more experienced providers as their ranking goes up and reputation gets established. When you get a notification about this kind of unsolicited interview, you must accept the interview before you can proceed (My Jobs > Candidacies). If you already applied to the job, there's nothing to accept — the interview phase begins as soon as the buyer selects you in their list of candidates.

When the interview is complete, your part of the hiring process is over. Now it's up to the buyer. You will be notified if the buyer hires you.

Before you begin work, please confirm (My Jobs > Assignments) that you've really been hired on oDesk, the assignment start date, your weekly limit and whether your buyer has completed payment method verification. You cannot be paid if the buyer doesn't complete that verification.

On hourly assignments, the buyer will usually set a weekly limit during the hiring process. This is very important as any hours you log over this limit will not be billed. It's normal to start with a low limit while you get to know each other better. As trust develops, the limit can increase.

If you are hired for a fixed-price assignment and you requested some upfront payment, the buyer will be charged for this amount immediately. The payment will be available to you after the security period. Most good providers require at least a small upfront payment to help compensate for the lack of guaranteed payment (oDesk guarantees payment to providers only on hourly jobs).

Take some some time on every new assignment to introduce yourself and get to know the rest of your buyer's local and online oDesk workteam. It's very important to know who to contact about what. In a small company, this is quick and easy; in a larger company it could take significant time to assimilate into the workteam. In this introduction phase, make sure to gather all necessary contact information. It is common to exchange personal cell phone numbers and alternate email addresses with buyers when your work may involve critical issues.

New provider 'orientation' goes beyond just learning the organizational structure. Talk about your buyer's expectations regarding communication, availability, logging time, submitting deliverables, reviewing progress and anything else you can think of. You'll probably want to develop a standard 'introduction email' that asks all this (and perhaps contains the introduction information from above). Ideally, you'll schedule a meeting for the first day of work to go over all these logistics as well as receiving on any specific assignment tasks.

Obviously, you've been hired to do a job, so focusing on doing that work is the key to your success. Team sizes range from tiny (just you and the buyer) to huge (dozens of providers and all the buyer's colleagues). Whatever the assignment is, it's your job to do what you've been assigned, within the schedule that was agreed to and do so every time. But don't hesitate to contact your team with any questions or issues. An assignment is rarely done without any interaction. At the very least, the buyer needs to be sent deliverables for approval. Establishing a collaborative system early on will greatly improve your chance of success.

Communication is vital to successful assignments. At first, you may need to check in with daily progress reports via email or through the oDesk Message Center. As time goes on, a weekly one-on-one work review and coordination meeting may become the preferred option. The important thing is to come up with a system that suits your buyer's workflow — and stick to it. Communication issues are often the first sign of an assignment that isn't working out. Don't ignore the issue — it will cost you time and money. Do attempt to work things out with the buyer, but if you for any reason feel uncomfortable with continuing the assignment, let the buyer know and end it right away. The buyer can always rehire you if things get sorted out.

Every hourly assignment has a work diary (Manage & Work > Work Diary) where the entire team can view the your work in progress. When you log time using the oDesk Team app it is automatically uploaded to the work diary. This in combination with deliverables and progress reports should give the buyer an excellent idea of what exactly they're paying you to do. It is essential that you review all your work diaries each week; daily would be better — after all, you bill the buyer on hourly assignments based on the content of those work diaries.

The work diary (Manage & Work > Work Diary) is oDesk's primary management tool, but it's not the only one. Be sure to check out your team room (Manage & Work > Team Room) and reports (Manage & Work > Reports) as well. oDesk gives you many tools to help track your work.

You'll be asked to leave feedback (My Jobs > Assignments) for the buyer at the end of every assignment. The buyer also has the opportunity to leave feedback for you. But the system is double-blind — the other user can't see the feedback you've left until after they leave feedback for you. Only assignments with at least $1 in net earnings will appear in your (and the buyer's) work and feedback history, but you'll leave feedback regardless of the assignment's Dollar amount. On oDesk, feedback is your reputation. It's not only a great way to show your appreciation for a great work environment, but also your opportunity to tell future providers about a buyer's shortcomings. Please be fair and honest in your ratings and comments.

Your hourly assignments are automatically billed weekly based on the time in the your work diaries. Please review the weekly schedule so you understand when your work diaries will be locked and when you will be paid for the work. Only payment for hours recorded with the oDesk Team app are guaranteed.

But sometimes your buyer wants to make a non-time-based payment. They'll do this with the 'give bonus' payment option. A bonus can be used in the traditional sense, to reimburse expenses or to make any other manual payment.

If, when and how much to pay is always up to the buyer on fixed-price assignments. Payments can be made at the beginning (upfront), in the middle (milestone) or at the end of the assignment (completion). There is no payment guarantee on fixed-price jobs. So in most cases you'll want to arrange with the buyer to pay a little upfront, the bulk of the amount divided into milestone payments submitted as you submit deliverables and the remainder at the very end upon submission of final deliverables. This greatly reduces the risk of a non-paying buyer. 10-80-10 and 25-50-25 are common ways to split the money across the three types of payments.