Becoming a Buyer: FAQs for Provider Companies
Becoming a Buyer: FAQs for Provider Companies
Would you like to become a Buyer and hire oDesk Providers? Here are some frequently asked questions:
What does it mean to add Hiring Manager privileges?
When you give yourself (or another member of your Team) Hiring Manager privileges, you enable yourself to post jobs and hire Providers into your Team.
Note that Hiring Manager privileges and Provider Company privileges are completely independent. Becoming a Buyer does not affect your role as a Provider Company at all.
Do I need a credit card to hire a Provider?
Yes. However, your credit card will only be charged if your Buyer billings exceed your Company's account balance.
For example:
* Your Affiliated Contractors earn $1,000 this week. Your account balance is $1,000
* You then hire an oDesk Freelance Provider to do some work for you. She works 30 hours at $15 per hour, for a total bill of $450
* Your $450 invoice is due on Thursday. At that point, $450 is debited from your account. Your account balance is now $550, and your credit card is not charged
* The following week, your Provider works 40 hours, or $600. The next Thursday, your account is debited $600, and you now owe $150
* Thursday night, your credit card is charged $150
How do I manage the Providers I hire? Do they share a Team Room with my Company contractors?
As a Provider Company, your contractors are not put in your Team Room by default. Why? The Team Room is for work management - your Company contractors are in their Buyers' Team Rooms, where they log time and use the oDesk collaboration suite.
When you hire a Provider as a Buyer, he/she will be added to your Company's Team Room, along with any other contractors or users you have added there. You can view the Provider's WorkDiary and use Bugzilla and/or SVN.
Can I give other team members the power to hire Providers for me? What is the difference between "Hiring Manager" and "Recruiter Only"?
Yes, you can empower your colleagues to hire Providers into your team. You have two options: by giving them Hiring Manager privileges, they can post jobs, hire and fire, give bonuses and raise hourly rates. Alternatively, you can make them a Recruiter Only. Recruiters can post jobs and manage candidates, but cannot pull the trigger on a financial transaction. This means no hiring or firing, no bonuses, no raising rates.
To learn more about these options, visit the Permissions Explained help page.