Notification Emails about Job Openings, Interviews, and Getting Hired
oDesk sends buyers and providers email notifications to help keep you updated on the status of your account. Here's the notifications you might receive as a provider during the application, interview, and hiring process.
- Application to Job Opening
- Interview with...
- Interview Invitation
- You have accepted an interview invitation
- You have declined an interview invitation
- Message for Job#
- Update on Opening
- oDesk Hire Notice
- Assignment Started
Application to Job Opening
This notification confirms that you have applied to a job opening. It includes the basic job opening details. You can click the URL to see the full job posting. You can see your cover letters and track your job application history, including past and current job openings, in My Candidacies.
Interview with...
This notification is sent if you applied to a job opening, and the buyer asks you to interview. You DO NOT need to accept or decline anything in response to this email (it's automatically accepted because you applied to the job). In this email you will find your contact info, the buyer's contact info, the basic job info, a personal message from the buyer (if they wrote one), and instructions on what to do next.
Interview Invitation
This notification is sent if you did not apply to a job opening, but the buyer wants to interview you anyway. You DO need to accept or decline this invitation ASAP. If you accept, you will need to enter a cover letter and bid or rate before the buyer can contact you directly. If you decline, the buyer will never see your contact info.
Before you accept or decline the offer, review the job posting and determine if:
- you have the appropriate skills
- you have enough time available
- you interested in the project
You have accepted an interview invitation
This notification is sent if you accept an invite to interview for a job you had not previously applied to. It includes your contact info, the buyer's contact info, a link to the job info, and instructions on what to do next.
You have declined an interview invitation
This notification is sent if you decline an invite to interview for a job you had not previously applied to. It is just a confirmation message, no additional follow-up is required.
Message for Job#
This notification is sent to every candidate for the job when something is posted to the job message board. The buyer may post additional details about the job this way. It is the only way a buyer can send a message to all candidates (buyers only have access to contact info for providers they ask to interview).
Receiving this notification DOES NOT imply that you have 'interview' or 'hired' status in the oDesk system. Occasionally, buyers will post detailed information here to help you get started on an assignment. For your own protection, DO NOT start work on any job until you can confirm your hired status and that the job has been added in My Assignments.
Update on Opening
This notification is sent to candidates the buyer rejected. It will include the basic job information, and the reason provided by the buyer for rejecting your candidacy. The buyer cannot write any personal comments to include with this message, and oDesk will not be able to provide you with any additional information on why you were not selected. If you had interview status, you may directly contact the buyer to ask for a more detailed explanation, but it's up to them if they want to provide you with one.
oDesk Hire Notice
This notification is sent as soon as the buyer presses the hire button. It confirms that you have been hired. The job should now be listed in My Assignments. It also tells you when the assignment is supposed to start (ie. when you can start logging hours). If the assignment start date is today, the Hire Notice will include the information from the Assignment Started email (below), instead of the system sending you two separate emails. If the assignment start date is in the future, you should not start work until that date.
Assignment Started
This notification is sent on the assignment start date provided by the buyer. Once you receive this email, you should be able to begin working. It includes the basic job information and your hourly rate or bid (not including the oDesk fee that will be paid by the buyer). It also gives you important project resource information: the Company ID for logging hours in oDesk Team, a link to the SVN Repository, and a link to the Bugzilla system. Check with the buyer to find out if you'll need to use SVN and/or Bugzilla for this assignment. Please note that properly logging time is a requirement of the oDesk Payment Guarantee (hourly jobs only).