Applying for jobs is the main reason why you are here in odesk. You can apply for as many jobs that you can but you have to make sure you can handle all of them. More jobs mean more responsibility and more time to spend working. But then again, it can give you a lot of incomes and earnings.
Here are the Tips when Applying for a Job:
1. Complete your Profile Account. You have to make sure that you have completed your Profile Account before applying for any jobs. Your Profile Account will serve as your resume and your buyers will look into it as a reference of your experiences. A well written Profile can help you attract more buyers and will help you get more jobs. Take time to build your Profile and you will see the benefits later.
2. Consider the Skills you have. Don’t just apply and apply to different jobs posted in oDesk. Apply only in the jobs that you think suits your skills and abilities. Its either you will be rejected on the spot by the buyer or your performance will be low resulting bad feedback from your buyers.
3. Apply for the Jobs with oDesk Verified Payment Method. It is the green text besides the apply button when you search for a job. I highly recommend that you stick with this job posts because oDesk already confirmed the Buyer’s Payment Method. It means that you have an assurance that your buyer will pay you once you finish the job. Although you can still apply in the job posts that doesn’t have it but the possibility of not being paid is high. So it is up to you o take that risk. I preferred applying for those jobs with verified payment method and I believe that most of the professional providers in oDesk would agree to me.
4. Check the Feedback of the Buyer. You may want to check the feedback of your buyers so you can have a glimpse on their work etiquette. It is also best to know some information about your probable buyer. It is because we really don’t have an idea who they are. Although, I can say that most of the buyers there are good. Or I am just lucky that all of my buyers were good and very considerate. Hehe.
5. Come up with a good Cover Letter. In your cover letter, you have to convince your buyers why they should hire you. And what separates you from the rest of the candidates. Don’t add some information not related to the job. Be specific and don’t tell your life story because buyers don’t bother to read that. Just put your greatest assets that can make the job successful, what you can do for them, tell your location, be honest, put the hours you can work for them or the estimated time you can finish the job and some other more related to the job.
6. Be reasonable with your Rate. When you are a newbie like me before, most of the time you will be rejected by the buyers due to lack of oDesk experience. But don’t worry because there are lots of other buyers looking for some providers that can work for them in a low rate. The competition will be tight as some of the providers tend to lower their rate. So you may also want to consider lowering your rate for the meantime just until you get enough oDesk experience. It’s hard to land on jobs when you hard headedly offer a high pay rate even though you have great skills because most of the buyers will go for the ones with low pay rate than yours. It is the reality in oDesk so you might as well deal with it. Although, there are still buyers that consider the skills of the providers first and don’t bother to pay them even if they have high pay rate. In the end, it will still be up to you if you think you deserve that kind of pay rate or not.
7. Access other Competitors’ Profile. Learn something about other candidates in that job post. Try to see their Profile if you stand a chance against them or on how you can plan a better Cover Letter so you can increase the odds of being hired. I don’t say that you give up easily but if you can see that other providers are a lot better than you try to move on to other jobs. Then again, it never hurts to try. :)
8. Take some more oDesk Exams. Taking some exams will raise your chances of being hired. But don’t take the entire set of tests; just the related ones that you think can boost your Profile and competency. It also raises the number of jobs you can apply for the week. More tests mean more job opportunities.
9. Be Patient. Have patience when applying for a job and don’t be discourage when you are getting a lot of rejected applications at first. Remember that there are also lots of other providers waiting for their chances to be hired. Just wait for a while and sooner or later someone will recognize you and hire you foe a job.
10. Keep Applying for more Jobs. Never loose hope, while waiting for a reply from your recent job application you may look for more job posts and apply to them. Hundreds of jobs were being posted everyday in oDesk so there are lots of opportunities. If your job applications reaches its maximum capacity, try to delete some old applications to give way for new opportunities.
All tips that are mentioned above are based on my own experience and I could say it works for me. You may have other point of views regarding this topic. And if you do, share it. I will be more happy to hear it from you.
Just always bear in mind to stay focus, be honest and never quit. Quitting will not bring you any good and you will just be wasting a big opportunity offered by oDesk. Just be patient and be optimistic.