On Hiring at oDesk

I told you that I do some work through oDesk. I have some wonderful long-term clients there, it's the easiest way for overseas customers to pay me, and back when I used to have slow spells, it was a good place to go and quickly find some cool assignment to keep me busy. Nowadays, I still work through oDesk when I'm invited to participate in something fun, and I certainly recommend it to other freelance tech workers.

I also hire people at oDesk sometimes, and I recommended that to people, too. I live in an area with very little unemployment, none at all among tech workers, and it's never easy to find local people for jobs. So you'd think that when, in a group of people moaning about the difficulty of finding good help, I mention oDesk, there'd be general rejoicing.

In fact, there can sometimes be trepidation.

Worries about quality control or the time involved in overseeing the work are usually at the top of the list. I understand that. My own hiring experience at oDesk, until recently, was limited to inviting people I knew (folks I'd worked with on various projects) to apply for a job which we'd already discussed.

But then I needed a video intro for a new website. Jay Jaro made me a terrific logo and we wanted it developed into a brief introduction which could be used on a series of videos. I asked around locally (okay, I begged people to fit it in) without success. My usual guy kindly explained to me that it wouldn't be worth opening the software for my little job.

I understand. But oDesk has hundreds of thousands of workers, and someone, I felt sure, would have the skills and the willingness to open that software and create an intro for me.

My concern was that I'd get hundreds of unqualified applicants I'd have to sift through while my own work languished. No such thing. I had 11 applicants, three of whom were impressively qualified. Their time estimates for the job ranged from a couple of hours to two weeks. Their hourly rates ranged from $3.00 an hour (and I guess if you're charging three bucks an hour you have to spend two weeks on a job to make it worthwhile) to $78.00 an hour -- still very reasonable. I interviewed one person, Chad Taber of MediaHappens, and he did the job for me in 40 minutes on the very day I hired him. It was not exactly what we had envisioned, but was in fact much better, because I'm rotten at envisioning graphic stuff. You can see it at the top of the page here.

From my experience as a buyer at oDesk, I have advice for those who are considering going that route. Since I'm a provider at oDesk as well, I've seen lots of hirings, so I think I've got enough experience to make my advice useful.

• Tell all the details of the job. People can't tell whether they're qualified or not if they can't tell what you need. Specify the software or language you want used if you know that, say how open you are to creativity on the part of the professional you plan to hire, link to examples of the kind of thing you want done. Don't be shy.
• Give specific criteria. We mentioned that we would only consider people who provided the two things we asked for: links to similar projects they'd done, and an estimate of the time it would require. I figure someone who doesn't follow directions when applying for a job is going to have trouble with directions on the job itself,and I also wanted to make sure I could communicate with the artist.
  
• If you insist on a particular nationality, announce that you plan to hire whoever gives you the lowest bid, caution people not to apply unless they're hardworking, or otherwise demonstrate that you are an unappealing buyer, then you deserve what you get.

Interestingly enough, Chad lives about four hours from me. I didn't know that when I hired him, of course -- there's always a point where you get around to sharing time zones and that's when it came up -- but I found it ironic that I hired a neighbor at the global workplace.