How to get a first job on freelancer and odesk?

@biby89 (215)
Serbia And Montenegro
May 13, 2011 2:22pm CST
I just joined these two websites today and I was searching the net a lot to find information. About one thing I am sure 100%, those are legit sites. Right? :) I applied for a few jobs now and I am waiting for some kind of respond. I applied for data entry jobs mostly. I am not sure if I am going to get a job soon and my hopes were so high few days ago. I even done some tests on both sites and results were surprisingly bad. I think I have seen there that some tests I can do again, in June, but yet, it's important I can do it again. :) So I was wondering what is your experience about those sites and which one you like more. Was it hard getting a first job? Thanx in advance.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@Vick77 (488)
• Mexico
13 May 11
Hi, I work as freelencer since a few months ago in freelancer.com only I have not tried much at odesk. I'm doing good extra money working as freelancer, in fact more than I expected at the beginning. And yes, is so hard to get your first job in those sites, i think is due to many reasons, the most important maybe is the fact you are new and don't have any good review yet, the employers are a little skeptical about the people that don't have at least one good review. Second, there are more people trying to get the jobs, and you have to convince the buyers you are capable of do a excellent work, with a good price and the most important the reliability, I work in the design jobs principally and there the samples are so important to the buyers to see you can do a good job. Once you get your first job and get a good review the thing becomes a little easier. if you have more doubts or questions about the freelancer jobs you can ask. Regards...
@biby89 (215)
• Serbia And Montenegro
14 May 11
Thank you very much for your answer. Thank you for letting me know about your experience and sharing your thoughts. I am thinking about learning about some program so that I can do more jobs, for now I am applying just for data entry and I read on the net that it is a good choice for the first job. I hope I will succeed soon, so that I can really work on that site a lot. How important you think it is to have many tests passed? Thank you in advance.
@Vick77 (488)
• Mexico
16 May 11
You can take the freelancer orientation exam in freelancer.com, is free and easy to pass, but you only have to take it when you know well the site rules and general usage, all other exams have a cost and could not ensure you going to get a job soon. The other exams are related to the skills you have I've not tried to do any until now so I don't know how difficult could be, I'm getting jobs even without passing any of the pay exams, maybe soon I'll take some just for increase my chances, I don't know if really helps.
@stylewaves (1060)
• India
14 May 11
Hello dude , am also registered with those sites , but not applied for any jobs , may be i will try after getting positive reply in your discussion
@biby89 (215)
• Serbia And Montenegro
14 May 11
I think won't find any negative information about these sites, so go for it, apply for some jobs. You have nothing to lose, sometimes it takes a lot of time to get the first job. I am ready to wait, just need some thoughts about getting the first job easier. Good luck to both of us :)
@Sanitary (3968)
• Singapore
17 May 11
I've forgotten about the procedure in securing a job from odesk. ALl i know is that u need to take some kind of test, u have to pass it before u qualify for those jobs. ON top of that, types of jobs u get depends on what kind of test u do as well. When it comes to freelancer, it's a basic test on how well u know the site, being an employer or worker. After u done the test, u may proceed to bid on the projects to your strengths. DO look around for other bidders, do your calculation, promote yourself to the owner. It's like an interview, owner of the project will decide.
• Philippines
5 Jun 12
Hello mate, I've been at odesk for quite sometime now and it's a lot easier applying for jobs there. You just need to bid for some projects/job posts that you know so well and bid lower than your competitors. You can increase your chance of hiring if you include sample of your previous works. I'm new at freelancer and until now I haven't got any jobs from it. Though I tried its Freemarket but didn't got any sales as of the moment. Anyways, keep it up. I'm sure you can find more jobs and increase your profile's credibility. All the best, va.atwork