Freelance Writing and oDesk – what oDesk can give you

by Kristine

I’ve once written about oDesk here when I first tried out the system. A few months later, and I am writing such again. Why? Because I find a lot of potential things in oDesk.

As a full-time web worker, freelancer, work-at-home worker, or however you want to call me, I see that oDesk helps a lot of Filipino people who seem to can’t get their asses off their houses and work (read: the unemployed.) By registering in oDesk, people can actually earn money to pay for their Internet connection and electricity bills, plus get to supplement their income – or even sustain a full-time job.

Sure, others pay really low (especially when people from oDesk learn that you are from the Philippines – because they would surely haggle lower and lower prices) but I guess this is the fact that we have a lower standard of living as compared to a New York freelance writer. Being a Filipino freelance writer, you can charge at $5/article and live through the day (read: a livable wage.) But we want more, don’t we?

OK, let me go through some useful things that oDesk brings to the freelance writing industry (the freelance industry, actually, in general…) in the Philippines.

An alternative for in-between careers – Okay, admit it. There are times that you want to just slap that resignation letter in front of your boss and resign from your work. Or perhaps you are now ready to pursue your dream in another company! Now, while you think about what you want to do with your career life, you really don’t want to be stagnant, do you? So enter oDesk and voila – you do something while you are in that awkward stage in your career life. Hello, computer.
A past-time for the waiting – Next to those people who are in-between their careers are the people who are waiting for their dream company’s call. So you’ve passed your resume three months ago and you still want to wait. Okay, I don’t have anything against that. But oh no, you want to buy something! Bummer. You don’t have anymore money. What do you do? You hook up to the Internet,and try off at oDesk. Finally – you have something to do while you wait for that phone call.
Income for the ‘forever in waiting’ – So you have been waiting for, what, 3.5 months now – and still no calls. You’ve just earned yourself a title called ‘forever in waiting’ or unemployed. Yes, I am mean sometimes. Anyway, you work in oDesk because you are unemployet. But fear no more – now you can safely say that ‘Hey, duh. I’m not unemployed. How can I earn in US dollars if I don’t work?’ then grin and leave.
International convergence – Working in oDesk gives you the chance to meet people all over the world. That includes weird English grammar, strange English accent, and many more. Believe me – -they are useful in the long run. Why? Because you get to interact with these people and get to know what goes on in their minds: their culture and their attitudes. In the end, you interact with international people better!
Personal growth and development – Since you don’t have a stupid supervisor who keeps on barking behind your back, you get to work on your own and independently. Hence, you learn and grow better because you know that you do this out of your own wants – and not because somebody is watching you. Do you get my point? Of course, oDesk has the team room..but then it’s easy to know when it takes the screenshots so you can always squeeze in a time of Facebook in between…
No more MRTs & LRTs! – Ahh, my favorite. oDesk lets you work at home – as simple as that. You don’t push and get to be pushed in the stuffed trains of those lines. Bleh. Goodbye, rush hour!
Goodbye, weird payroll systems – You don’t have to go to the HR, file those hours, sign these and those…then come back because they had your records submerged in flood water. *fumes* :p kidding aside, oDesk removes the hassles of those salary systems. Enough said. You get your money when you want it :p
Extra money for shopping! – Err, self-explanatory? Hahahaha. oDesk supplements your existing income so you get to have more money saved! (and hopefully, less spent…)
I can’t wake up early – This is probably one of the hardest things that I’d do. oDesk allows me to wake up when I want (well, except for hourly rates which require you to be online at a certain period of time…) but still, it’s a good thing to keep in mind that I can wake up when I want and still be productive.
The easily bored worker – There are some workers who hate methods and repetitive work. Well, guess what? oDesk offers thousand of work for you, so you get to choose which and what you want to apply for. Personally, I easily get bored, as well. But with oDesk, I’ve seen (and applied for) a number of jobs which are totally different from each other. From being a writer, to a gamer and to a singer – I’ve been all those in oDesk. And I never get bored typing cover letters to each one of them.

You see, oDesk really has a lot of potentials. Of course, not only to the provider (freelancers) but also to the buyers (employers.) I guess I would be writing about those for the next blog post…Right now, my bed is calling me to sleepppp…zzzz..

For those who are interested in applying for oDesk, click HERE.
For those who want to hire freelancers (like me!) from oDesk, click HERE.

Good night everyone! I hope you liked this entry!

Liked the post? Subscribe, share or tweet all you want! :)