REVIEW OF JOBSITES

The world is going into a recession. More and more offices are cutting staff in a frantic drive to cut costs and survive. Small proprietorship firms have done away completely with their staff. So, who does their work??
The answer is freelance professionals from all around the world.... from US to Philippines, from India to Germany, from France to China.

A question... Will this trend of outsourcing ever reverse?
You do not need to be a rocket scientist to answer this. Just simple wisdom would do.
The answer is NO. A big NO.

Companies have already come to know the advantage of outsourcing their work to quality freelancers who work for lower costs. These freelancers could exist anywhere in the world. The lure of saving huge money shuts out any disadvantages of outsourcing; especially in these troubled times. Recession may stop or reverse soon, but the trend of outsourcing will only go up. After all, 95% companies in the world work to make profits... and more profits. The rest 5% shut down.

This bitter truth has given rise to thousands of jobsites around the world. They are flourishing. At present, there are more than two thousand jobsites world over, thou you will never hear the names of most. But freelancers are often misguided to wrong sites where they would never find a job. They reach there either through ads or clever SEO.

So, how do you find a jobsite which will give you best results without wasting your time and money on other websites? What are the criteria you need to look at while registering in a job site.

Let me make your work easy. I list below few important points to choose a freelance site:

A) Ratio of number of Jobs TO number of Freelancers (Probability of getting a job)
B) Free membership
C) Quality of Freelancers
D) Vastness of fields and softwares
E) Ease of Finding a quality Freelancer

Now, I will review top job sites against the above criteria.

A) Ratio of number of Jobs TO number of Freelancers (Probability of getting a job)

Do not go by the vast statistics of freelancers and projects awarded shown on the homepage of job sites. The reality is bitter. Freelancers are often misguided by the 7 digit figures shown on the sites.What really matters is how many jobs are there per freelancer.
This criteria is perhaps the most important one to register on a site. This criteria calculates the probability of you actually getting a job. The probability is calculated using this formula =

Number of Freelancers registered X 100%

Number of Projects posted

I have ranked the websites below:

www.MailaFreelancer.com : 35 % probability of getting a job; 2-3 freelancers invited to bid per job
www.Guru.com : 15 % probability of getting a job; 7 biddings per job
www.project4hire.com: 10 % probability of getting a job; 10 biddings per job
www.Elance.com : 7 % probability of getting a job; 15 biddings per job
www.GetaFreelancer.com : 3 % probability of getting a job; 30 biddings per job

P.S. : In www.MailaFreelancer.com bids are through invitation only.

B) Free membership

This will count if you are new to freelancing world. I would suggest following free sites to learn the basics of freelancing. On an average, you need at least 4 months to receive your first job. Then you can graduate to other sites.

C) Quality of Freelancers

This is a very important criteria. This will dictate not only awarding the project but also the possibility of the work provider returning to the same jobsite again. On many jobsites, clients usually cancel projects because the quality of freelancers is not good. This usually happens with sites who attract a large number of freelancers through free sign-ups. The result is that more that 60% freelancers in such sites are non-serious. Serious freelancers have to have to suffer as a result of that. On a good jobsite, the client will return again and again.
So, the rankings are:

www.MailaFreelancer.com : Paid membership only (although in beta stage, this site has been a surprise, the quality and portfolios of freelancers is very good here )
www.Odesk.com : odesk conducts special tests to check the readiness and seriousness of freelancers to work.
www.Elance.com: part free, part paid
www.limeexchange.com: Low market penetration. part free, part paid
www.Guru.com: part free, part paid

D) Vastness of fields and softwares

It means the number of services provided through the freelance site. This helps in word-of-mouth promotion. Work providers usually like to visit a site which feels like it caters to everything even if what he wants is just one freelancer specialized in one field. (They like to go wherever the crowd is)

www.Elance.com: Provides almost all the services that can be offered online
www.Odesk.com
www.GetaFreelancer.com
www.MailaFreelancer.com
www.Guru.com

E) Ease of Finding a quality Freelancer

This criteria means a lot to the clients. This will boost project awarding rate. It will also ensure that the Client returns to the same site again for future works.

www.MailaFreelancer.com : Easiest interface I have seen yet on any Freelance site. You can see all the freelancers, their rates, their works, their profile, everything right on one webpage. You can even mail them your project right from the same page. No need for client login. Total time taken: 3-5 minutes
www.Odesk.com : Total time taken 20 minutes
www.GetaFreelancer.com ,www.Elance.com, www.Guru.com: Time taken 30-40 minutes

Thats it. I covered the 5 most important points regarding selecting a job site. It should also guide you make decisions on job sites that will be online in near future.

Whatever it is, I would advise you to get up and start applying yourself. After all, the trend of outsourcing is not going to reverse. Happy Freelancing.

REVIEW OF JOBSITES

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Most Important question

Too many Jobsites???? How to choose the best???