How to Find Job in Odesk.com

This is my continuation topic on HOW TO BE A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT (VA)

Let just say you finish making your profile in Odesk, you have already polish it (with your pictures, skills, etc) , you have taken all the exams, and you are ready to apply for a job.


How to Find Job in Odesk?
Finding job, look at the top of your odesk website, there "Find Providers & job" then you click that and it will come out all the jobs (there are lot of criteria like lets click the Administrative Support)


Administrative Support

• Data Entry (625)
• Personal Assistant (501)
• Web Research (391)
• Email Response Handling (44)
• Transcription (112)
• Other - Administrative Support (403)

they categorize each job availability and how many so you click which category you want to apply. So when you click Data Entry. All of the Data Entry job ad will show. Just a reminder, when you apply a job, be sure its an odesk verified payor. How do you know? Well, when you click the job ad , the post will come out. At the top, if its color green (odesk verified payor) then this company's credit card is reliable.       

Now, odesk made some few changes, you can find it after you click DATA entry and when you see the job ad (the summary below is buyer- Money (green color) that means this buyer has history and the star means its the feed back from the employee/provider.       Also look at their job history, if they have hired ppl and pay their employees so you will know that this company is paying their employee or not, there is also feedbacks from the employee (you can check that by clicking on the ad and scroll down- it has all the information need, the buyer/employer required - some buyer would required that the provider/applicant have odesk history, has a certain certificate).          Pls. note: do not work if they are not odesk verified payor (you can see a green color, near the apply button -yellow color), some employer would ask for free sample, do not accept. Either they hire you or they dont.    

HOW TO BE A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT (VA)?

Are you fed up with the life of working 9am to 5pm job? Or your working in a call center coz you thought that is the only means your going to get big salary. This blog is about those people who are looking for other options or means of livelihood and you don’t know where to start.

Let me tell you, there is other work that you never heard before (if you’re the traditional type- office, company, etc. meaning you have to be person to person, officemate, etc) then this might be new to you.

In today’s generation, everything is computerize and that means even your job is virtual (computerized). You don’t have to travel from your home to the office/company. All you need is your computer, your internet connection and headset (if required) and be sure you have basic skills about computer such as MSWord, MsExcel, copy and paste (data entry), surfing around internet (web research). And if you have special skills like computer programming (java, html, etc), accounting (quickbook), design (photoshop, coreldraw, 3D Max, etc), your rates or you can ask the buyer/client to pay you from $8 to up per hour with your expertise.

I have been working as a Virtual Assistant for almost more than a year now. Even though VA is not a regular job where you get benefits like SSS, health care, etc. and its contractual BUT if ever you got a project or work that is full time (just like mine), the salary is great than the callcenter in here in Phils.

Working in a callcenter is not good, it has inconsistent time or shifting time where your bio-clock is ruined, its inconsistent coz that is what requires in the callcenter- 24/7 and I heard a lot of my friends who work in the callcenter, have more health problems such as kidney, nervous breakdown, etc. only few ppl really can take it.

My life on previous job when I was in China as a secretary, shipping clerk, supervisor, etc. I work 10hrs to 14 and sometimes more when the job require and there is no overtime fee and I was really stress, homesick and unhappy ( it amaze me how I was able to stay 6 to 7yrs).

“Do you enjoy your work?”

A funny story:

A man was walking in a park, taking pictures as he went along. He saw 2 men in workmen’s overalls. One of them had a shovel, digging a hole in the park. Then another guy comes along and covers the hole. After that, they move to another spot and the first guy digs another hole while the 2nd guy covers again.

The man thought, “ My gosh, what are these two guys doing? Dig a hole, cover it. Dig a hole, cover it.”

When he could not contain it anymore, he went to the 2 guys and said, “Excuse me, what are you doing?”

The first guy said, “Well, you see, we’re supposed to be 3 guys here. The government pays me to dig a hole. The government pays this other guys to cover the hole. The guy who’s supposed to be between us is sick. He’s absent but we have to work. The guy in the middle is supposed to plant a tree, but he’s not here.” (toink)

Some employees know what to do, but they don’t know why they do what they do. They think that’s the only way to make a living, not knowing why they are doing there in the first place.

When I asked people, “Do you enjoy your work?” the most common answer I get are “Yes” and “Well, work is work. It puts food on the table.” OR “I can’t be choosy, I am lucky I got the job with the global crisis right now, its really hard to find any job at all”.

There are so many wonderful ways of putting food on the table, why pick something that you don’t enjoy? And worst, you got very little income that is not enough to feed your 4 kids and not compensating your value as an employee (working yourself to death and agreeing to every task your boss ask you to do).

I know a lot of my friends and acquaintances who work the 9am to 5pm shift and being payed very little. Worst, they travel 1 hr from home to work and they have to wake up very early to feed their kids, take a shower, dress up, eat, etc before going to work and usually they are late on their work.