What's New
We’ve vastly improved our ontology, the way we break jobs into searchable categories. In response to user demand, we’ve combined some job categories, added others–bringing the total from 51 to 74!
The biggest highlight is the addition of three new non-tech categories:
- Customer Service
- Sales & Marketing
- Business Services
So what? Providers in these service areas can more easily find the right jobs. Buyers can craft more accurate postings that will attract exactly the professionals they need. It’s all about finding the right person for the right job.
Some of you may find your jobs changing categories (don’t worry – we’ve done all the migration work!). We suggest all providers double-check their preferred profile categories. This is especially important if your skills are in any of the areas listed above, or the newly-combined Design & Multimedia category. Buyers may want to double-check open jobs to make sure there isn’t a new sub-category you’d prefer to move it into.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please let us know what you think in the forum.
Historically, interviews have happened outside the system — when
you “interviewed” someone, oDesk just gave you their email address
and Yahoo! ID. We left it to you to connect with them, and then come
back in the system to make the hire. Not the ideal system:
- Both sides had to divulge their contact information immediately
- Interview communication happened outside the system, leaving no
record about what was agreed to - It was just clunky!
Now, when the buyer clicks “interview”, they are prompted to
“send a message”. The ensuing interview messages are private and
take place in the oDesk Message Center — you’ll exchange contact
info if and when you want to chat or talk via phone.
We hope this will make the interview process easier and safer for
all our users. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please let us know
what you think in
the forum.
We are pleased to announce oDesk Groups!
We’ve launched new Groups on oDesk – each one is a special marketplace within the oDesk network.
Many providers advance their careers and reputation by counting on industry and professional certifications, alumni groups, or developer networks. Groups allow providers to join communities of professionals who share a common interests, skills, certifications or passions.
For providers, joining Groups offers the benefit of enhanced reputation with a Group logo in their individual profile and access to exclusive jobs that are posted to the Group.
For buyers, posting a job to a Group allows them to reach a highly qualified group of providers that specialize in a skill set.
For partners, Groups allow companies with certification programs or developer networks to strengthen and expand their brand’s reach by promoting their Group on oDesk.
You can take a look at our new Groups Directory.
A special thanks to all of our initial launch partners:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Check out the Directory, apply to Join a Group if you’re interested, and stay tuned for more Groups in the near future. Keep in mind, membership in a Group is solely at our Partner’s discretion, so please check the criteria for joining a Group before applying.
oDesk launched its new blog today, as a resource for our community of buyers and providers. We’ll use it to share relevant announcements, helpful tips on freelancing & outsourcing, and commentary & analysis with our community. However, oDesk users are the true experts. If you have expertise in an area that would be interesting to our readers, write a guest blog post (~500 words) for us! You’ll get to showcase your knowledge as a subject matter expert, and if you’re interested, we’ll link back to your oDesk provider profile or buyer company website. Email stories@odesk.com with your proposals.
Amit Bakshi
Manager, oDesk Marketing
My Teams has a few new features that we think you’ll appreciate. It’s not just for hiding Teams anymore!
- Easily distinguish hidden from non-hidden teams.
- Edit Team Names (Team IDs still cannot be changed)
- If your company has more than one financial account, see (and change!) which financial account each team uses.
Whether you’re admin of one Team or dozens, you should definitely go check it out! We’re always working at add new features and improve the user experience. So keep an eye out for more great enhancements throughout 2009.
Beginning this month, oDesk will provide chat support from the hours of 6:00 AM – 5:00 PM PST, Monday – Friday. We are committed to our customers success, and providing high quality, timely responses to customer service needs. We are hopeful that Chat will become an important communication channel for the Support Team, and our customers. Traditional EMail Support will also continue for all oDesk users.
We are launching Chat Support as a Beta feature, and we will monitor staffing and service levels to ensure a quality user experience. As we learn, we may need to modify availability in order to maintain service. Please let us know how you feel about this new support channel, and we look forward to connecting soon.
Shannon Adkins
Director, oDesk Customer Service
You’ve probably noticed that our navigation bar has changed! What’s different?
- Fewer clicks — We’ve promoted the major tabs from underneath My oDesk to the top level. This, along with convenient dropdown menus, makes it easier to get where you’re going with fewer clicks.
- More intuitive — Our tab names and categorization is more obvious. For example, Timelogs is no longer under Hire/Get Hired, but under a new “Reports” tab.
- Less is more — We’ve gotten rid of the left navigation bar in most places, and standardized pages to 1024px for a more consistent look and feel
- Life is in the details — There are a host of minor usability improvements throughout the site which add up to a better overall experience.
- A glimpse forward — Our new “Assignments” page gives you a sense for where the UI is heading.
We think you’ll get the idea after spending only a few moments clicking around. Please let us know what works (and what doesn’t) by visiting this thread in our forums.
We have featured our top provider countries (by hours worked) in the oConomy:
Each page contains:
- An interactive map, showcasing statistics from the country’s top provider cities
- Charts comparing the country’s hourly rates and average feedback versus the oDesk average
- Charts showing the country’s growth on oDesk and breakdown of the types of work being done in that country
- A listing of the most active providers (by hours in the last 30 days)
- Other useful statistics and facts relevant to doing work with the country
Click here to visit the oConomy or one of the new country pages:
We hope that the pages will be a valuable resource to both buyers (in making oDesk hiring decisions), and providers (in comparing their statistics to their country averages). We encourage a healthy discussion around these statistics, and feedback on what other stats may be interesting & useful down the road.
We have drastically improved performance of the web site. You will see this most noticeably in Provider and Job Search.
Try it out — We will be continuing to invest in performance in the coming months!
oDesk has been receiving requests from larger businesses to be invoiced and to pay by check. Today we are pleased to announce that check payment is now an option!
Who is this feature targeted at?
Larger US businesses whose financial systems forbid putting oDesk charges on a personal or corporate credit cards.
How does check payment work?
- You talk with a oDesk representative, who will determine your eligibility for this payment method.
- If you are approved, we will work with you to determine what security deposit would be appropriate given the amount you spend on oDesk and the period of time it takes your finance department to pay invoices.
- You send oDesk a check for the amount of your security deposit.
- When your security deposit check clears your payment method is marked “verified” and you can hire providers on oDesk.
- You receive an invoice each week, and pay as per your terms.
Click here to read the full help article.
Sounds great! How do I sign up?
You go to the Payment Methods page and click on the link in the “Check” payment method. This will initiated a request and an oDesk representative will contact you.
What are the restrictions?
You must:
(a) have a US bank account
(b) participate in an account screening interview and be approved
(c) pay a minimum security deposit of $2000
Will the security deposit be refunded?
Yes, when you choose to no longer pay by check, your security deposit will be applied to your remaining liabilities and you will be able to withdraw any remaining funds.
I’m an international business and I would like to participate in this.
We are currently only allowing US buyers to participate in this program. We anticipate expanding this program to international buyers using wire very soon.