Post a Job
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Posting a job on oDesk is quick and easy, but you should take some time beforehand to think about who and what you need. Carefully consider which category and subcategory to list your job in - a miscategorized job will have trouble reaching its target audience. Remember: Great job posts attract great providers. How can you expect providers to know if they're a great fit and wow you with targeted cover letters if you don't give them information about what you need?
When posting a job, you have two options: Post it to the general marketplace or post it to one of our specialized marketplaces known as groups. Group membership is restricted; only providers with a specific skill, certification or interest can join (criteria and memberships are controlled by the group's admin). Browse the directory at Find Providers & Jobs > Groups to determine if any of these groups meet your needs. If so, we encourage you to post your job directly to the group. It's the perfect way to attract the attention of providers with the verified skills you need.
- Go to My Jobs > Post a Job.
- Describe your job so providers know what you need and can tailor their applications accordingly. Do not post or request contact info (email address, chat ID, phone #, etc.) or attach personal info forms. These are violations of oDesk policy. You can exchange contact info during the interview.
- Specify a Job Title that quickly identifies your job to perspective providers. This is not your title - it's the title for which you're hiring.
- Choose the Category and Subcategory where we'll post your job. Providers use these to browse for appropriate jobs. Choosing the right category is best way to get your job in front of appropriate providers.
- List Skills the provider needs and be specific. You can add as many as necessary and elaborate in the description.
- Write a Description explaining what you're looking for and any specifics the provider needs to write their application. (Check out our tips for writing a killer job description)
- Optional Attachment documents add information that may not fit in the description, like process flows, design concepts, writing outlines, etc.
- Choose your terms: Hourly or Fixed-Price. Your estimates help providers understand the scope of work and are not binding at this point.
- For hourly, estimate your start date, duration and workload.
- For fixed-price, estimate your start date, end date and budget.
- Specify your preferred qualifications to inform providers of some specific things you're looking for and to enable your candidates queue to filter out those who don't qualify. You'll automatically be given a link to search for providers who are a match.
- Feedback Score is based on past oDesk assignments, so new providers won't have one yet.
- Hourly Rate can be a minimum, maximum or range.
- Location narrows candidates to a geographic region. If you need providers in a specific country or timezone, explain why in your job description.
- oDesk Skill Tests Passed tells providers they need to prove their skills. You can add more than one, if you'd like.
- Portfolio items are work samples available in the provider's profile.
- English Level is self-reported (5 is the highest).
- Hours Billed on oDesk excludes new providers and ones who've only worked fixed-price assignments. Remember that users lacking oDesk experience may still have relevant past work experience.
- Choose your posting options to set who can see what.
- Buyer Profile visibility lets you show your company name, logo, tagline and description. We encourage you to make this public, but you may hide it so providers can't see to whom they are applying.
- Job Visibility determines where your job can be found. Public jobs are available to anyone who visits oDesk.com. Your job will show up in internet search results (on Google, Yahoo, etc.) only if is set as visible to search engines. Private jobs don't appear in site or internet searches so you must search for and invite providers from their profiles.
- Press the Post this Job Opening button when you are finished. If you think of something you'd like to add or change you can make edits in My Jobs > Openings.
We strongly encourage you to proactively search and invite providers you like to your job. Many of our best providers don't spend time scouring the job posts - they let interested buyers come to them!
oDesk offers buyers two types of of payment terms when they post jobs: hourly and fixed-price. (Read our hourly vs. fixed-price comparison to learn the advantages and disadvantages of each.)
We pioneered the hourly model and it's become the method of choice for most oDesk buyers and providers; therefore, many of our site's features are only available for hourly assignments (reports, guarantees, automated billing, etc.). But we understand that hourly isn't right for everyone in every situation. You may opt to post a fixed-price job instead. Just remember you'll need to take action every time you want to pay someone.
For most buyers, the choice between hourly and fixed-price comes down to how you pay for the work. With hourly, billing is totally automatic, whereas with fixed-price you need to submit every payment manually. Read more about payments before you make your decision.
Congratulations and thank you! Here's what you need to do:
- Search for and invite providers to your job. Save the ones you like most to your list of favorites.
- Review the applications you receive. Invite the best candidates to interview. Check out From Queue to Interview: Finding the Right Provider on our blog for some great tips.
- Conduct preliminary interviews inside our message center. We won't reveal your contact info - but feel free to perform 'live' interviews in another medium (chat, phone, etc.) when you're ready. Once you narrow down the field, consider taking one (or a few) for a test drive.
- Hire the best provider(s). Just don't forget you're in charge of managing and coordinating the assignment. You'll need to work together to make it a success.
- Make sure you're familiar with the team room, work diary, reports, weekly schedule, payment methods and policies.
- Get to work!
