Sunday, February 20, 2011

Odesk: Helping companies get their work done and freelancers be paid for a job well done!

The internet has been one of the major and successful invention by mankind. It has served its purpose and more. The internet was initially used for research until it has now evolved into this social communication tool that allows you to connect with your friends and loved ones all over the world, be informed about the current situation of countries that are a thousand miles away from where you are and a lot more. 

The internet has also been a means of creating income for people by freelancing over the web or by monetizing on their blogs. 

Odesk was founded in 2003 by Odysseas Tsatalos and Stratis Karamanlakis. 

 

Odesk

 

 

 

Look and Feel

Being a part of Odesk myself, the user interface of the website is very straightforward. It tells you the notifications or messages you receive from potential employers or from Odesk itself. It also shows you the pending transactions you might have, the teams you are in if you are currently doing a project.

It is easy to browse through the available projects as it is sorted depending on the categories they fall in.

If you feel like you are missing out on something in Odesk, you can always go on the right hand side of the page where they offer assistance in case you have questions about the website, the terms of payment, the work diary, etc.

 

Protection for Jobseekers

It is a mandate for all freelancing websites to make sure that their contractors are legit and will pay the jobseekers proper compensation. Of course, this is sometimes being waived when the applicant agrees to the 'one-time payment' clause which prompts jobseekers when the project is not on an hourly basis.

Apart from this clause, Odesk (I believe) investigates the validity of the project by setting criterias on considering projects to be posted on their website. Even if you have already submitted your bid on the project, they send notifications that the project is cancelled because it did not meet Odesk's requirements (Internet Police huh!).

Over-all, Odesk continues to be a tool bridging contractors and online freelancers.  

 

images courtesy of:- 

http://www.clipartof.com

http://stealwp.com


Saturday, February 12, 2011

Change is good

I have just seen the latest news flash about President Mubarak stepping down and handing over his duties to the military. 

After almost 20 days of protests, the Egyptians have gotten what they wanted - for their President to step down. As I read through the tweets in Twitter, you can sense the jubilation for Egyptians and other nationalities that the unrest is now over. The people were heard (finally) and the country now faces a new chapter, a new beginning. 

We all like new beginnings, a fresh start which is why I guess we always look forward for the New Year because it gives us a clean slate.

Now that the people of Egypt have proven that they can be united for one purpose, I hope they also use the same 'urge' to rebuild their country. In an economist's point of view, the country has lost a lot in terms of its financial standing however this can work on their advantage or disadvantage - it depends on how foreign and local investors would see how things will go in the coming days.  

I am positive that Egypt can rise up and be one as a nation - they were able to join forces regardless of background, financial standing, etc what more in re-building their nation?