Online freelancing on oDesk

First and foremost I am writing this article from my own personal experience on oDesk. I started out around about my final year of high school and since then worked with numerous clients around the world. Back then jobs were occasional and well paid. These days good paying jobs are more scarce, although the concept of online freelancing is expanding. More and more clients are offering jobs, and so long as guidlines are followed, the process is more secure than ever.
If you are after some job experience or have time on your hands and would like to have a go at a project (and obviously make some $$) then oDesk is perfect.

Getting started on oDesk:
http://www.odesk.com

So this is an online application where you register a profile, and choose your area of expertise (I will list these later). You will have opportunities to take tests. Have a crack at a couple (and PASS them) to prove your potential clients that you are fired up and ready to go. You may get sent out a contract which you will sign and keep. You may also apply for a FREE shiny Debit Card which looks like this:
















This is probably the simplest option to receive the $$ on the payday, although not the cheapest. Other methods are also available. (e.g. PayPal, Bank transfer).
Make your profile more appealing by adding a photo of yourself, writing some relevant background information (incl. education, very small resume, work history if any) and your desired hourly rate in US$. The latter is tricky, look around on other people's profiles and compare your skills vs. theirs. Feel free to send me an e-mail - I'll be happy to advice you on this.
Complete the above and you are ready to apply for your first job!

The following are just some of the oDesk job fields:

- Web Development
- Design and Multimedia
- Writing and Translatoin
- Customer Service
- IT and Software development
- Administrative support
- Sales and marketing
- Networking and Information systems
- Business services



Next up, I'll be disucissing work experience on odesk, maximising your chances of landing jobs, giving away hints and tips, do's and dont's and more.
Keep an eye out for Part 2 of this post!