My Candidacies

• Active vs. Inactive Candidacies
• Where is it?
• Summary Box
• Invites to Interview
• Active Candidacies
• Inactive Candidacies
• Job Details
  
  

What's the difference between Active and Inactive Candidacies:

• Active Candidacies
  • You may have applied directly or accepted an invite to interview
  • The job is still open and you are still a candidate
• Inactive Candidacies
  • You were hired for the job
  • OR You ended your candidacy
  • OR You were rejected by the buyer
  • OR You declined an invite to interview
    
    

Where is it?

oDesk offers a consolidated control panel where you can view all of the jobs you've ever applied for at My oDesk -> Get Hired -> My Candidacies.

Summary Box

• Total Active Candidacies - The number of job openings for which you are currently a candidate. Candidacies with interview status are included. When you are hired for a job it is moved to the inactive candidacies list showing hired status and added to My Assignments.
  
  
• Invitations to Interview
  • The number of invitations to interview that are currently waiting for an accept/decline decision.
  • If you applied to the job opening on your own, you automatically accept the invitation to interview and are given interview status.
  • Job openings with interview status are not counted here, but do appear in your list of active candidacies.
• View Inactive Candidacies
  • Click this link to see all your old candidacies that meet the inactive guidelines above.
  • The number tells you how many inactive candidacies you have.
• Back to Active Candidacies
  • Click this link to see all your old candidacies that meet the active guidelines above.
  • The number tells you how many active candidacies you have.
• Favorited
  • The number of times you've been added to users' favorites lists.
  • Normally, this is done either by a buyer you are working with now, or one who's thinking about inviting you to a job in the future. They add you to their list so they can easily find your profile again.
  • oDesk does not disclose to providers who has favorited them for user privacy reasons.
  • Take it as a compliment, but don't count on it as a promise of future work; these users are in no way obligated to interview or hire you.
• Your average invite response time
  • The average number of days from the time a buyer sends you an invitation to interview to the time you press accept or decline.
  • If you applied to the job opening on your own, you automatically accept the invitation so it doesn't count in this calculation.
  • Try to respond to invitations as soon as you get them. Attempt to keep your average response time under 1 day. If it's longer than 2 days, you are probably missing out on opportunities do to your slow responses.
• Job Application Quota
  • The total number of job openings you may apply to in a seven day period. More about the quota, including how it's calculated and how you can increase yours.
  • (In parenthesis) Your application limit based on your activity over a seven day period. If you reach zero, you would need to end current active candidacies before you could apply to new job openings.
    
    

Invites to Interview

• Action
  • Accept - Click this link to accept the invitation, write your cover letter (or reply to buyer's personal message), and submit your rate or bid. In this circumstance, it is OK to include contact info in your cover letter.
  • Decline - Click this link to decline the invitation. You will have to select a reason from a list and may include a message to the buyer, if you wish. Do not give the buyer your contact information in your decline message.
• Job Title - Click this link to view the job details page.
  
  
• Buyer - The company of the buyer. Name is only visible after you accept.
  
  
• Contact Info - The email address and Yahoo ID of the buyer. Only visible after you accept.
  
  
• Info
  • Job Description - The job description shows as a tool tip on mouse-over. Click this link to view the job details page.
  • Buyer Message - Personal message to you from the buyer shows as a tool tip on mouse-over. Click this link to view the job details page.
• Status
  • Invited - You've been invited by the buyer to interview for a job opening that you didn't apply to. You should not have any direct contact with the buyer yet.
• Last Status Change - The date your status went into effect.
  
  
• Type - Tells you if the job is Hourly or Fixed Price.
  
  
• Your Applied Rate/Bid - The pay rate your are asking for on an hourly job or your bid amount on a fixed price job. This is the amount you would get, not the amount the buyer would be charged. It does not include the oDesk Fee.
  
  
• Budget/Duration - The estimated number of weeks and workload on hourly jobs. The buyer's specified budget for fixed price jobs.
  
  

Active Candidacies

• Action
  • Change Rate - Click this link to change your rate for this job (before a hire). This column does not appear for affiliated contractors.
• Job Title - Click this link to view the job details page.
  
  
• Buyer - The name and company of the buyer. Only visible with interview status.
  
  
• Contact Info - The email address and Yahoo ID of the buyer. Only visible with interview status.
  
  
• Info
  • Job Description - The job description shows as a tool tip on mouse-over. Click this link to view the job details page.
  • Cover Letter - Your cover letters shows as a tool tip on mouse-over. Click this link to view the job details page.
• Status
  • Candidate - You've applied and the job is open. You should not have any direct contact with the buyer yet.
  • Interview - You've been invited to interview. Use the provided email address or Yahoo ID to contact the buyer.
• Last Status Change - The date your status went into effect.
  
  
• Type - Tells you if the job is Hourly or Fixed Price.
  
  
• Your Applied Rate/Bid - The pay rate your are asking for on an hourly job or your bid amount on a fixed price job. This is the amount you would get, not the amount the buyer would be charged. It does not include the oDesk Fee.
  
  
• Budget/Duration - The estimated number of weeks and workload on hourly jobs. The buyer's specified budget for fixed price jobs.
  
  

Inactive Candidacies

• Job Title - Click this link to view the job details page.
  
  
• Buyer - The name and company of the buyer. Only visible if you previously had interview status.
  
  
• Status
  • Hired - Congrats! You've been hired!. It will appear as Active in My Assignments.
  • Ended - You were hired, but you or the buyer ended the assignment. It will appear as Ended in My Assignments.
  • Cancelled - You ended your candidacy.
  • Rejected - The buyer ended your candidacy.
• Reason Inactive
  • If buyer ended candidacy:
    • Chose another provider
    • Communication Problems
    • Experience/Industry not relevant
    • Feedback score too low
    • Not enough history on oDesk
    • Not specified
    • Not tested in required skills
    • Provider skills are inadequate
    • Provider was not responsive
    • Rate/Bid too high
    • Schedule conflict
  • If provider ended candidacy
    • Applied by mistake
    • Buyer not ready
    • Communication Problems
    • Experience/Industry not relevant
    • Interview not satisfactory
    • Maintain job application quota
    • Not right skill set per Buyer
    • Rate too low
    • Schedule conflict
  • If buyer ended assignment
    • Job was completed successfully
    • Job was completed unsuccessfully
    • Job was cancelled or postponed
    • Job continues with other oDesk Providers
    • Job continues without oDesk Providers
  • If provider ended assignment
    • Job was completed successfully
    • Job was completed unsuccessfully
    • Customer not responsive
• Inactive Since - The date your candidacy or assignment ended.
  
  
• Type - Tells you if the job is Hourly or Fixed Price.
  
  
• Your Applied Rate/Bid - The pay rate your are asking for on an hourly job or your bid amount on a fixed price job. This is the amount you would get, not the amount the buyer would be charged. It does not include the oDesk Fee.
  
  
• Budget/Duration - The estimated number of weeks and workload on hourly jobs. The buyer's specified budget for fixed price jobs.
  
  

Job Details

In addition to the usual job posting, this page includes the info listed below. This is also where you'll find the buttons for ending your candidacy and changing your rate.

• ID - The ID for this candidacy. Use this number when contacting oDesk.
• Job Opening ID - The ID for the job posted by the buyer.
• Title - A descriptive name for the opening given by the buyer, and/or the job title you would have if hired.
• Job Description - The buyer's explanation of what the job will be and what they're looking for in a provider.
• Starting On - The estimated start date for this job.
• Hourly Pay Rate - The amount you would be paid per hour if hired for this job.
• Hourly Charge Rate - The amount the buyer would be charged per hour if you were hired for this job (includes oDesk service fee).
• Status - Candidate, Invited, Interview, Hired, Ended, Cancelled, or Rejected.
• Created On - The date the buyer posted the job.
• Created By - The user who posted the job.
• Cover Letter - A copy of the cover letter you submitted with your application or interview acceptance.
• Requested Interview - The date the buyer invited you to interview
• Interview Invitation - A copy of the personal message from the buyer included with your invite to interview.