Ever since I've embraced a life online and have found relative success (if I do say so myself) as an oDesk provider, not too few people have asked me, "How do I get a job in oDesk?" While it's not that easy landing one as you'll be competing with thousands of other providers, it's not that hard either. You just need to find the right opportunity, and then go after it. Here are a few tips that can help you get started.
- Be a hundred and one percent determined to get a job.
That means being online or on standby as much of the time as you can, looking out for new jobs that might suit you, responding to interviews as soon as you can, and in general, letting employers know that you can make time for them and for the job on hand. After all, landing an online job is not something one can do half-heartedly. If you're not really into it, it would be more difficult to get that first break.
- Use your online time wisely.
Don't have a job yet? Then use whatever time you have to polish your skills or learn new ones. When John and I first started as freelance writers, we didn't even know what the term "keyword" meant, or even what SEO stood for. And while we were still fortunate to land decent writing jobs and just learned along the way, the road to online (again, relative) success would have been much smoother had we known what we do now.
The biggest setback that you will have to deal with when looking for that elusive first oDesk job is that you have nothing to show for yet -- no hours worked, no high-rated feedback, no glowing recommendation. But if you've got something that can give you an edge over the others, there's no better time than now to show people what stuff you're made of. Take as many oDesk skills tests as you can, write a blog, or impress them with your resumé. Whatever you come up with, the important thing is to give potential employers enough reason to sit up and take notice of you.
- Don't be afraid of rejection.
The logic here is simple. The more jobs you apply for, the greater the chances of your getting an interview. Of course, you could just as easily be turned down by all of them, but really, you've got nothing to lose at this point.
- Always be ready for that first job.
Lastly, here's one thing that you should always ask yourself: Are you really ready for your first oDesk job? Nothing would perhaps turn a client off more than anything else than a provider that's been hired but backs off at the last minute, or worse, is unable to complete the job. If you've indicated a certain number of hours in your application, or declared any skills or knowledge about certain applications, make sure you can follow through with that.
Even now, I can still remember the rush that came over me when I got my first
Assignment ###### Has Begun notification from oDesk. If you're bent on making a career of online freelancing, then stay tuned for my next few posts where I will share more details on the above tips on how to get an oDesk job.
