Nick, Nook and Crannies of Life

Show Off Your Skills, Add Portfolio

Arnel Colar — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:28:00 +0000

Prove that you have the skills by posting your works in the portfolio of your profile. This can be located it the My Provider Profile on your page. If you have blogs and want to apply at a blogger/technical writer job then post your blogs putting it into your portfolio, add the blogs url and its screenshot. If you are a programmer, you can attach screenshot of your made programs in your portfolio. You cannot attach an executable however, but just attach a screenshot of your works and if the buyer requests for it then give a copy to the buyer. If your just a student and you don’t have anything yet, you can attach your highest achievement. For example, if you have attained a perfect score in your thesis, you can add it on your portfolio to prove that you have the skills.

Here’s a sample portfolio:

Well, I hope you can read it. As you can see, I also add my thesis that I had made on a particular subject before because I got a perfect score there.

This can help you land that job here at oDesk. You can provide proofs of your skills to your buyer by adding anything that you have done in your portfolio that will make your buyer take interest of you.

Proposal Approved

Arnel Colar — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:57:00 +0000

My proposal about adding additional information by asking the readers what they think about my particular news post for the day was approved. From now on, I’ll start adding comments in my every post.

This can make the site interactive. Apart from just reading the news, readers can give us their experiences that relates to the news to make the news more valid.

Suggested a New Idea

Arnel Colar — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:17:00 +0000

In order for my news post to be more interactive to readers, I asked the opinion of my buyer about this idea:

My idea was that I make a comment in my own post every time I write a news post. This comment would ask the experiences/ reactions of the said post of the day so that they can share their experiences and we’ll also share ours. It will also be a way for a news to be more valid. If more people agrees to the news, the news will be more truthful and valid.

If our buyer confirms this, It could intensify my news post everyday.

Sure Pay: Look for oDesk Verified Payment Method Logo

Arnel Colar — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:55:00 +0000

If you are applying for a job here at oDesk please take note of this. Look for the oDesk Verified Payment Method Logo and see if the buyer is verified on oDesk. This is to ensure that you will get sure payments from the buyer.

This is recommended for Hourly rate providers because their payment here at oDesk is paid weekly. If the buyer has this oDesk Verified Method logo on, the payment will be automatically deducted from the buyer’s credit card (or whatever modes of payment your buyer has) to your account. This ensures that your buyer will not abandon you or will have delayed payments.

This is what to look for if you want an oDesk Verified buyer:

This is located on the top of the buyer’s request page. If you see this on, then you are sure of your payment.

However, this is not applicable for Fixed-Price jobs. The buyer has it’s own payment method because the payment can be received on or before the buyer’s proposed deadline on the project. This is risky because if the buyer doesn’t like your work even if it had been months, the buyer has the option to pay or not to pay you. To decrease the risk, you can request for an upfront payment.

Here’s what it looks like if the buyer is not oDesk Verified:

If you see a Payment Method Not Verified on Hourly rate jobs, be aware. I suggest you look for hourly rate jobs having oDesk Verified Payment Method so that your payments weekly are assured.

Reach Out Everyone

Arnel Colar — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:32:00 +0000

Yesterday, I received a comment from a very interesting person. Here’s the comment:

Hello. I just needed to inform you that some parts of your site are hard to comprehend for me, as I am color blind. I have problems with tritanopia, however there are more forms of color blindness that may also experience problems. I can understand the largest part of the web site Okay, and the areas I have difficulties with I am able to understand by using a custom browser. All the same, it’d be nice if you could remember us color-blind people while undertaking the next web site redesign. Cheers.

This one came from Colin Brakewell. You see, he is color blind but he is reading our site. I never realized that there are readers like this one. In my opinion, I think that people like this should have taken priority when making websites. This is to help such audiences cope up with the world wide web.

oDesk Recommended: Cover Letter

Arnel Colar — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:57:00 +0000

A Cover Letter is important in applying here at oDesk. It is your way of communicating with your would-be employer and saying that you are fit for the job. A good cover letter can gain better results. Here are some tips on how to make a good cover letter:

1. Must not be generic.

Buyers know what is a generic cover letter and what is not. Do not attempt to get a generic cover letter to send it to your buyer. It won’t land you that job.

2. Must have a purpose

The purpose of the cover letter is simple. Provide all the necessary information to the Buyer in order for the buyer to take interest of you.

3. Impress

Making a good cover letter reflects your personality. Know your audience…well, in this case, Buyer. Take note of the Buyers location and time and if it ever has a company profile take note of that also. Impress your Buyer by noting all the achievements and skills that you may have, related to what you are applying for. Remember that when you are writing a cover letter, you are also showing your communicating skills.

4. Content

Aside from impressing your buyer, it also must contain good content. A good content answers the following questions:

why you want to work at that specific company,
why you fit with that company
how you qualify for the position to which you applying.

5. Formal

A cover letter should be in paragraph form (save bulleted lists for your resume) with a conversational, though formal, tone.

The first paragraph should be brief, perhaps two or three sentences, stating
what job you are applying for and how you learned about it any personal contacts you have in or with the company your general qualifications for the job.

The body of your letter should consist of one to three longer paragraphs in which you expand upon your qualifications for the position. Pick out the most relevant qualifications listed in your resume and discuss them in detail, demonstrating how your background and experience qualify you for the job. Be as specific as possible, and refer the reader to your resume for additional details.

The concluding paragraph of your letter should request an interview (or some other response, as appropriate). State where and when you can be reached, and express your willingness to come to an interview or supply further information. Close by thanking your reader for his or her time and consideration.

In addition to that, A good cover letter must NOT contain any misspelled words. Address it to your Buyer by stating its name. If you don’t know the name, you can use Mr,,Ms.,Miss,Mrs.Sir,Ma’am. and most of all, be natural. Do not attempt to make cover letters that does not reflect you.

oDesk Term: Hourly and Fixed-Price

Arnel Colar — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Applied for a job and confused about these terms: Hourly, Fixed-Price? Here are some tips.

Hourly

If you apply for an Hourly job here are the advantages:

* Hours Worked = Verified Payment

* You will get paid weekly.

* You won’t meet deadlines.

* Your hours worked will be credited on your oDesk Profile

You will need to sign into your oDesk Team Application for this to happen. If you don’t have the skills, then an hourly rate would best fit you.

Fixed-Price

If you apply for an Hourly job here are the advantages:

* No need to log hours.

* You can request for an upfront payment.

But there are disadvantages:

* You will have to meet deadlines.

* You’ll have no guarantee. If the buyer doesn’t want your work he has to option to pay or not pay you.

* You will earn the same amount of money even if you have finished it ahead of your deadline.

* Your hours worked in a Fixed-Price jobs will not be credited on your oDesk Profile.

Hourly rates are small, yet you are sure of your payment. Fixed-Price rates, on the other hand, are high but the payment is not guaranteed. If you are sure that you can meet deadlines and you posses the skill then you can do Fixed-Price jobs. For newbies, it’s best to do Hourly jobs for this will build up your experience here at oDesk.

My First Comment

Arnel Colar — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:00:00 +0000

You will not enjoy it when you write a blog and no one is reading about it.This job has given me the opportunity to
be productive and enhance my skills. Writing news post gave me a chance to show the world what I am made of.. Doing a news post, I gained a hundred visitors a day. And that, I felt like I’m popular. Look! I got my first comment:

It’s inspiring to see positive comments like this one. It motivates me to do my job seriously knowing that there are readers following this site and my news posts.

First Job at oDesk, News Writer

Arnel Colar — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:11:00 +0000

It had been weeks since I started working at oDesk and I had a very fun experience. So I decided to write a blog about my experience here at oDesk.

I am assigned to write a news post about HYIP (High Yield Investment Program). I don’t know what this is but researching for news about HYIPs I manage to at least learn its nature. Here is the website that I’m putting up my news post: http://www.hyipprofits.com. It started when I started and the site had been on the top of google search. Try searching for hyip profits and this site is the first one on the list. The site’s progress was good and that made us (the team) happy.

We are only 3 members in a team.

1. Our buyer, that made the site and does SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and some HYIP related reviews.

2. Social Bookmarker, i don’t know what this is

3. and Me, a news writer and also a blog commenter. My second task was just added days ago and It was fun doing it.

I hope that I’ll last in this job. It is not my dream job but It can help me to land my dream job if I do this seriously.

No Skills? No Worry!

Arnel Colar — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:10:00 +0000

If you can’t seem to apply on the jobs available in oDesk because you don’t posses the necessary skills, worry no more because oDesk has jobs even to those that knows only how to surf the net.

When searching for jobs, click under Administrative Support, Data Entry.

There you’ll see the easiest jobs you will ever find. Simple copy and paste, make Facebook accounts, copy captchas, blog commenting, forum commenting, and every simple job you can imagine, you can find it here.

Look:

This one is looking for a blog commenter. You don’t need to have any technical skills to post a comment right?

This one is looking for someone to do the copy and paste for him. We all know how to copy and paste, so this job is so easy.

For people who just know how to surf the net, use word processors(MSWord), or do copy and paste, then this section(Data Entry) is your perfect starting point to earn here at oDesk.