job and home work to make money Odesk Experiences get a job and home work to make money

Outsourcing – Odesk Experiences vs. Elance

After having a few bad freelance experiences with Elance.com I decided to look elsewhere for outsourcing certain web development tasks and research.
I have been using Odesk for a few weeks now and I can honestly say I like the service, the features, and the providers. The first thing I did when I created my account  was to sign up as a provider. I wanted to see what types of hoops a provider had to jump through in order to be listed.  The very first thing you must do is take a basic functionality and usability type of exam to ensure that you understand how Odesk functions. This was a painless although slightly annoying process but necessary in order to ensure basic understanding. Additionally, Odesk had other exams listed and recommended that I tak ea few in order to bolster confidence for my potential employer.
Exams
Odesk also offers internal testing and self evaluation for certain skills. Completing one of these exams adds ratings to your profile and I can tell you from experience that they aren’t a cake walk. Additionally, these are timed exams so you cant fake it by trying to Google the answers because you will likely run out of time. I consider myself knowledgeable in the network and systems security arena and I must say that the network security exam wasn’t easy. I expected it to have good questions but not tough ones and I would consider them to be a solid prescreening qualifier. However, there are those rare individuals that can pass any exam but have no practical experience and this is where the interview process and work portfolio comes into play.
Screening Candidates
Avoid the temptation to hire the candidate with the absolute lowest price. In my experience you will not be happy with the deliverable or perhaps an equally important factor, communication. Candidates with the lowest price may be trying to get a foot in the door and establish a reputation or they might just be cheap because they lack sufficient skills and you are paying them to learn. You can get good deals and find quality candidates at really low rates but it will be a gamble. Instead of price alone make sure you look at the cover letter, number of Odesk hours and feedback score. Now, regarding the feedback score, be sure to look at the total number of feedback entries vs. the score average. One or two entries may not be enough to provide the necessary assurances.

 Payment
As a provider you will need to setup a credit card for automatic payment to your project providers. Payments for hourly services occur based upon the following schedule :
Monday
The work week begins at 12 a.m. GMT
Sunday
The work week ends at 11:59 p.m. GMT
The provider receives his/her timelog for review and is responsible for making sure it is accurate.
Any offline time should be added
All non-work time should be removed
Monday
The deadline for the Work Dairy is Monday 12 p.m. (Noon) GMT. At that time, the final timelog is sent to the Buyer for review and the dispute period begins.
The Buyer sees $X in Pending Debit
The Provider sees $Y in Pending Credit
Wednesday
The review period ends Wednesday evening, PST
Thursday
The Buyer’s invoice is now due.
Buyer will see a negative Balance in the "Your Balance" box on the top left of Provider Console
Buyer’s credit card is charged Thursday evening
Next Wednesday
The provider’s earnings become available.
Provider will see a positive Balance in "Your Balance" box on the top left of Provider Console
After Security Period has passed, provider can withdraw balance.
Summary
This post barely touches the surface of Odesk and the associated benefits as well as the vast number of features. So far I have enjoyed using the Odesk service and the detailed reporting features. I intend to continue documenting my experiences with Odesk as I learn more. Additionally, I will be reviewing other services as I become aware of them. If you have any service that you would recommend or any experience that you would like to share (positive or negative) along the lines of outsourcing services please feel free.